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Can Cruise Ships Tip Over?
Ship Stability and Safety
Written
by Martin
Stafford
Wondering
how stable cruise ships can really be?
If you’ll
be on a cruise soon and you wonder if the possibility of it tipping over is
high, read on ahead to be informed!
Can cruise
ships tip over?
While
it’s not uncommon for cruise ships to tip to one side (no matter how far off to
one side), they are designed in such a way that they won’t tip over.
This
design includes carefully planned weight distribution and stabilizers.
For many
people, going on a cruise is a once in a lifetime experience that they should
definitely not miss.
While
most will think the ship is failsafe, others may need to have some concerns
addressed first. One of these concerns may be whether the cruise ship tip over.
Perhaps
you’ve seen in a movie that a luxury liner tips over
because a gigantic wave (or perhaps a humungous sea monster) knocked it out.
A cruise
ship tipping to one side is something that happens fairly often. This is
because of how it is affected by the movement of waves.
Gentle to
moderate waves will certainly make for some side-to-side swaying action.
Meanwhile,
larger waves won’t cause the entire ship to completely tip over to the point
that it cannot be righted up.
What Keeps a Boat from Tipping Over
A cruise
ship keeps itself from being completely tipped over to one side
because it is designed to have a balance between buoyancy and weight.
A ship’s
buoyancy is maintained by the topmost part of the ship and it is weighed down
by the bottommost part.
This
buoyancy and weight are managed in the exact middle part of the ship to
maintain its centering.
If the
ship is too buoyant, it will maintain a more upward position while in the
water.
However,
if a cruise ship has too much weight, much of it will be pulled down closer to
underwater. The balance between the two is what we call floating.
Matters of Stability
A
carefully-planned out balance between buoyancy and weight also
results in a ship’s stability. The design of the ship itself determines this.
If you
look at most cruise ships, much of it can be found right below the water.
What
pulls the ship down are the heavier parts of the ship that are needed for its
operation – cargo, engines and machinery, living quarters for the crew, fuel,
and all the other things that most cruise ship goers don’t really come in
contact with.
These
things are heavy, so they are placed at the bottom of the ship to maintain its
center of gravity.
The
heavier objects being placed lower in the boat stabilizes
the buoyancy of the entire ship, keeping it grounded underwater.
Rooms and
amenities that are considered lighter – such as the theaters, restaurants,
pools, dining rooms, etc. – are found on the upper levels of the ship.
They are
considered to be light because they aren’t densely packed like the things that
maintain the center of gravity.
They are
light because they contain a lot of room and space for air and movement of the
passengers.
The
stability of the ship is maintained from one end to the other because the
things that determine its center of gravity are spread throughout the ship’s
entire width.
This
great YouTube video addresses in detail the explanation to the question “can
cruise ships tip over?”
It
clearly explains and illustrates this concept for you to understand how cruise
ships maintain their stability:
Cruise Ships and Large Waves: A Lesson on Stability
Some
people might worry that an exceptionally large wave – like those seen in movies
– might cause a cruise ship to tip over or capsize.
There are
many movies that show this, but the good news is that those are all just
cinematic effects and rarely happen in real life. The good news is that it
won’t.
The most
that a large wave can do is to create a wild and rough ‘back and forth’
motion on the ship.
If you
are inside the cruise ship when this happens, you might panic. Visions of the
movie ‘Titanic’ or ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ could come to mind.
However,
in today’s times, it is unlikely for something like that to happen to a cruise
ship that’s hit by a large wave. This is because of the ship’s stabilizers.
In huge
water transportation such as a cruise ship, you will want as little wave
movement as possible to keep things on the upper decks as steady as possible.
This is
achieved by stabilizers found at the lower half of a cruise ship. These
stabilizers counteract the tipping force of the ship caused by the waves.
They act
like invisible hands the keep the side of the cruise ship from tipping over
completely, and instead gently pushing it back to the middle and upper side to
maintain a gentler buoyancy.
This
below explanation of how exactly stabilizers work to keep cruise ships upright
is something useful to watch.
The
concept is explained in simple language and the illustrations allow you to
clearly understand how exactly stabilizers work to ensure the cruise ship’s
safety:
Falling Overboard
While
strong waves won’t cause a cruise ship to tip over, there is also the danger of
a person falling overboard.
This
often happens when the ship is experiencing choppy conditions and you happen to
be in a position that will toss you over.
You are
most likely near the ledge to fall overboard. While this is a reality, it
shouldn’t prevent you from wanting to go on a cruise ship.
For one,
the statistics of this happening is quite low. In nearly twenty years, data
shows that there have been around 300 people who have fallen overboard.
Compare
this to the nearly 20 million individuals who take cruise ship vacations every
year and you will understand that it is a very small number indeed!
Moreover,
a cruise ship has safety standards and implements to keep this occurrence rare.
Public
decks have high railings that are measured in such a way that you won’t fall
off if you lean over it even when on calm waters.
There are
security cameras all around the ship for close monitoring and to ensure the
safety of everyone on board.
In fact,
many accidents of people falling overboard are due to drunken incidents and
reckless behavior and not because of any faulty design of the ship
itself.
In cases
where it might seem like someone would be tossed overboard by a fellow
passenger who has had one too many glasses of wine, cruise ship bartenders are
trained to stop serving such passengers.
There are
also physicians, emergency medical
personnel, and cruise safety officers on board in case they are needed in an
emergency at any time.
So while
there is a small statistic of people falling overboard, bear in mind that this
is often because of human errors.
And when
it comes to human error, statistics show that this is more often than not the
fault of the passengers.
Are Cruise Ships Safe?
Any
passenger will want to be assured of safety before riding a cruise ship. If
this is your concern, read up! Here is some interesting information that will
assure you of a cruise ship’s safety:
· The most a cruise ship will lean over is 60 degrees before it rights
itself up. This might seem like a pretty far lean, but experts say that this
rarely happens.
· Bigger and taller cruise ships are not in more danger of capsizing or
tipping. The cruise ships of today might seem bigger compared to three decades
ago, but they are smartly-designed.
Newer
ships may seem top-heavy, but that is mostly a visual aesthetic thing. Much of
the heavy load is still found on the lower decks to maintain a cruise ship’s
stability and center of gravity.
· If a tsunami comes near a cruise ship that’s already set sail,
it won’t affect the cruise ship much. A natural phenomenon like a tsunami would
go unnoticed while at sea, and thereby keep a cruise ship unaffected.
· Cruise ships never leave the port without conducting fire and boat
drills. Safety is a top concern for cruise ships, which is why it must always
educate (and re-educate) its crew and passengers about what to do in case they
need to abandon the ship or look for safety.
· This is similar to what airplanes do before and during takeoff, where
flight attendants orient the passengers about safety protocols so they know
what to do in case of an emergency.
The Reason for a Sinking Ship
While
cruise ships have a low margin of error, there have been a number of incidents
wherein ships have sunk.
This is
mostly due to navigational errors that have caused the ship to hit large rocks
that damage the hull enough to make it sink.
Other
large, immovable objects in its way like a small island, a reef, or an iceberg
could sink a cruise ship should it come into contact with it (Titanic of
course).
Other
reasons for a cruise ship to sink would be equipment malfunction, but again
this happens very infrequently.
Can Cruise Ships Tip Over?
To
revisit our initial question, can cruise ships tip over?
Cruise
ships can tip to one side or the other if their stabilizers aren’t effective at
countering large waves; although this is rare. However, they are designed to
not completely tip over.
So if you
are going on a cruise ship, rest assured the ship will not tip over. Just avoid
drinking too much so that you don’t tip over!
Engineer; sailboat racer; kayak racer; goes
fishing almost every weekend; is afraid of heights
We are the boating geeks! We're a group of
friends who share a passion for everything do to with boating and being on the
water. We bring years of experience ranging from boat repair, boat sales and
running a charter sailing company. We geek out about almost anything that
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