How are Ships Made?

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Have you ever wondered why a tiny stone sinks, but a vessel, 1,200 feet long, 216 feet wide, 252 feet high and weighing 227,000 tons, could remain on the water surface? How do ships float? How are ships they made ?

Archimedes gave us the answer about 2,250 years ago and this answer was simple – the lifting force of water. The stone sinks because its density is greater than that of water. The ship floats because its density is less than that of water.

Water pushes the objects having density less than their density towards the surface. With the effect of this pushing force resulting from density differences, the body begins to float. The weight of the object and the buoyancy applied by the water are equal.

If the density of the object is the same density as the water, the whole object will sink into the water, but it will not settle to the bottom and will be suspended.  The weight of the object and the buoyancy applied by the water are equal. If the density of the object is higher than the water, the object continues to sink until the object settles. Here, the weight of the object is greater than the buoyancy applied by the water.

Most modern ships are still built from steel today, although it’s relatively heavy.

That’s why some larger boats are now made from strong, lightweight metals such as aluminum, while smaller ones are often made from light composites such as fiberglass or super-strong plastics.

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels.

It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. The industrial revolution made possible the use of new materials and designs that radically altered shipbuilding. Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both commercial and military, are referred to as “naval engineering”. The construction of boats is a similar activity called boat building.

There are several key points in the design of modern container ships.

The hull, like bulk carriers and general cargo ships, is built around a strong keel. Into this frame is set one or more below-deck cargo holds, numerous tanks, and the engine room. The holds are topped by hatch covers, onto which more containers can be stacked. Many container ships have cargo cranes installed on them, and some have specialized systems for securing containers on board. Modern shipbuilding makes considerable use of prefabricated sections. Entire multi-deck segments of the hull or superstructure will be built elsewhere in the yard, transported to the building dock or slipway, then lifted into place. This is known as “block construction”. The most modern shipyards pre-install equipment, pipes, electrical cables, and any other components within the blocks, to minimize the effort needed to assemble or install components deep within the hull once it is welded together.

Container ships are distinguished into seven major size categories: small feeder, feeder, feedermax, Panamax, Post-Panamax, New Panamax and ultra-large.

South Korea is the world’s largest shipbuilder, followed by China. South Korea’s “big three” shipbuilders – Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering – dominate the global market for large container ships.