9. Give brief answers to the following questions.

1. What is hull?

2. What are bulkheads?

3. What does the hull contain?

4. What is the main deck?

5. What is the superstructure?

6. Why do most hulls have a rounded stern?

7. What are stabilizing systems and what are they used for?

8. Where is the bridge situated?

9. What equipment does the bridge accommodate?

10. What does the ship's safety equipment depend on?

11. What does life-saving apparatus include?

The engine is fitted near the bottom of the ship in the engine room. The engine drives the propeller at the stern of a ship. The engines of most ships are steam turbines, gas turbines, or diesel engines. The largest and fastest ships have steam turbines. Steam produced in the boilers spins the bladed wheels of the turbine. The turbine, through a series of gears, drives the propeller shaft and makes the propeller revolve. On turboelectric ships, the turbine turns a generator that produces electricity for a motor. The motor, in turn, drives the propeller. Almost all merchant ships use oil as the fuel to heat the boilers that create the steam. On nuclear-powered ships, a nuclear reactor creates the steam. Many of the most advanced ships have gas turbines. Gas turbines work much like steam turbines but use hot gases instead of steam.

The propellers, also called screws, move a ship through the water. The engine turns a shaft that juts out underwater from the stern. The propeller is bolted to the end of the shaft. Most propellers have four blades. As a propeller turns, it screws itself through the water and so pushes the ship forward. Most small ships have one propeller. Many larger vessels have two propellers, and very big ships have four. Additional screws increase a ship's power and make the vessel easier to maneuver. For example, a twin-screw ship can be swung around quickly by going forward on one propeller and backward on the other. Some ships have an extra propeller called a bow thruster. This propeller, which is located in the bow, turns the ship more rapidly than stern propellers alone.

The rudder is a large flat piece of metal that steers a ship. It is hinged to the stern (right aft below the water line) and so can be swung like a door. The rudder is connected to the helm (steering wheel) on the ship's bridge. When a sailor at the helm turns the wheel to the right, the rudder moves to the right, causing the stern to swing left and the bow to swing right. When the helm is turned to the left, the rudder and bow swing to the left.

Other parts and equipment of a ship include funnels (smokestacks) situated near the bridge to discharge smoke and exhaust fumes, an anchor on the left and right sides of the bow, and enough lifeboats to hold all persons onboard. Modern ships have power-driven winches to raise or lower the anchors and to bring in or let out the mooring lines used to tie vessels at a pier. Power-driven winches also operate the cranes for loading and unloading cargo. The cargo is loaded and discharged to the holds through the cargo hatches. Cargo holds have different devices which serve to protect the cargo from damage. The water which gets into the hold or condensates on its metal walls is collected in bilges and pumped out of them by hold pumps. The bilges are protected from corrosion by cement or special anti-corrosion coating and by limber boards.

Hatchways have coamings – metal rims which fringe them and are raised a little above the deck level. The coamings serve to support hatch covers.

The windlass is a special type of winch used to raise and lower the anchors and to handle the forward mooring lines. Cargo gear is designed for speed and flexibility for handling breakbulk, palletized, or container cargo. Booms that are fitted to the masts are called derricks; they are necessary for cargo operations, especially if there is no possibility to use harbour’s cranes. Derricks are operated by winches. Cranes are fitted on many vessels to reduce manpower requirements. Some ships have special heavy-lift derricks that may serve one or more holds. Ships having derricks also have cargo masts and cargo posts (or Sampson posts) on deck.

Modern ships also have high-speed pumps to pump out ballast water or to pump up seawater in case of fire. Radio-telegraph equipment keeps ships in constant touch with the rest of the world.