How far below water do cruise ships go?

That means the vessel has to be extremely wide to compensate for the weight-to-water ratio. Approximately 30 feet (9 meters) of the average large cruise ship sits underwater, but as you'll see below, there are more understandable ways to measure this.



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A whale could not tip over a cruise ship. Although even the largest of blue whales can weigh up to 200 tonnes, the largest cruise ships can weigh up to 220,000 or more. Some cruise ships would carry ten times more freshwater or fuel than the weight of even the largest whales.

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Cruise ships can and have tipped over, but it is extremely rare. One of the most notable incidents was the capsizing of the Costa Concordia in 2012, which resulted in the deaths of 32 people. The accident was attributed to human error and resulted in many changes within the industry, particularly in bridge management.

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A cruise ship will generally have one or two decks underwater, depending on its overall size. On these decks, you will find all the areas that are inaccessible to passengers such as staff accommodation, air conditioning units, the engine room, laundry, and even a jail.

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Cruise ships have a flat bottom, but the front part narrows into a bulbous shape, while the back is slightly elevated.

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While the large ocean cruise ships do not have underwater cabins, you can find underwater cruise ship rooms on river cruise ships. However, while it's common to get a room that is below the waterline, the window will still be above the water.

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Over the past 100 years since the RMS Titanic sank in 1912, only 18 cruise ships and some ocean liners have been publicly known to have sunk. And, over the past 50 years, only four cruise ships have sunk while navigating on a cruise.

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What happens when someone goes overboard on a cruise ship? The ship goes into emergency mode. The bridge will contact the Coast Guard and a search will begin. The ship will stop and the crew will try to pinpoint where and when it happened so they can start a thorough search in that area.

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Cruise ships are made of heavy steel, making them quite weighty. Add passengers and crew, and the ship is even heavier. With all this weight, the vessel can easily roll through rough waters or a rogue wave. It's more dangerous to be on an empty ship as the additional weight acts as a balancer in rough seas.

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Cruise ships are generally built to handle most waves in the ocean – they can routinely sail through 10-15 feet waves without issues. Waves up to 50 feet typically won't sink a ship, but can cause damage.

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The large shape and vibration of the ships seem to intrigue sharks, and they are thus highly attracted to it. Sharks may swim alongside the cruise ship out of curiosity or to see what is inside the ship- bear in mind that sharks may not have the same visual abilities as human beings.

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You can see many animals from all species on a cruise ship that you simply can't find as easily on a land-based trip. The ocean alone is a perfect place to see cute animals - take a long look at the sea next time you're on a cruise, and you might be lucky enough to see dolphins, whales, flying fish or seagulls.

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You're most likely to see dolphins whilst entering or leaving port, rather than in the open sea. These playful, highly intelligent animals will often follow the wake of a ship (the disturbance it causes as it cuts through the water).

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The average speed of a modern cruise ship is roughly 20 knots (23 miles per hour), with maximum speeds reaching about 30 knots (34.5 miles per hour). How fast a ship is able to sail depends on several factors, including the power of its engines, the weather and the conditions at sea.

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At sea, cruise ships survive hurricanes by avoiding them. The seas are rough, the weather is predictably bad, but otherwise not very predictable.

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Some of the major cruise lines have installed what are known as overboard detection systems, technology that is meant to detect when someone has fallen overboard immediately. However, this technology is not required on all cruise vessels, which begs the question, “why?”

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Bottom line, cruise ship passengers can sue if they are injured during the cruise due to another's negligence. However, the process is not easy, and it requires navigating maritime law and a complicated legal system.

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Cruise ships rarely get caught in weather this rough as the cruise lines make every effort to sail away from storms. Ports regularly get skipped, and, in extreme cases, cruise lines will extend a trip in order to move their ships away from bad weather.

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Although smaller than most modern cruise ships, Titanic was a historic 46,328 gross tonnage for its time. In comparison, modern cruise ships have a gross tonnage around 120,000. This is more than 150% heavier than Titanic.

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RMS Titanic The sinking of the biggest passenger ship ever built at the time resulted in the death of more than 1,500 of the 2,208 people onboard.

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Carnival is one world's largest cruise lines, but since it has existed, only one of its vessels has ever sunk, the Costa Concordia in 2012. Although Costa is an Italian cruise ship company, it is owned by Carnival Corporation. From its fleet of Carnival brand cruise ships, none have ever sunk or capsized.

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