Double Hulls

[Bounders]

Does anyone know what, if any, cruise lines use double hulls all the way to the water line in their ships?

[mom says]

I thought they only had double bottoms, not full double hulls.

[CruiserBruce]

It is my understanding double hulls is more about preventing contents from spilling, for example, in an oil tanker incident, rather than keeping water out. Water tight compartments are for keeping water from spreading throughout the ship.

 

That being said, I know double hulling was promoted by a certain TV show, to prevent a Costa Concordia type incident. Of course TV is always right, with their perfect 20/20 hindsight. Just like the recent report that a female falling from a Carnival ship was caused by lack of newest technology motion detection cameras mounted on the side of the ship. No cruise ship has them currently, but because someone has developed them, Carnival is at fault for not installing them, regardless of any research indicating their effectiveness or value. Not the female who was admittedly drunk at the time, and was rescued by the Carnival ship.

Edited January 19, 2014 by CruiserBruce

[luddite]

Not a clue. Why do you ask?

[EdmPair]

If any do, it would be the newest ships. I have not just now gone back, but have looked in the past at the company web pages for new ships by Princess and NCL and do not recall any mention of double hulls. Also, my memory agrees with a previous poster that it is used to contain leaked fluid cargo. No matter how drunk some cruise goers get, they are NOT yet fluid cargo. Hence, I doubt any do and doubt it would help.

[papcx]

Does anyone know what, if any, cruise lines use double hulls all the way to the water line in their ships?

 

Hi Bounders.

 

Welcome to cc, and congrats on a very weird first post.

 

Ifaik, no cruise ships have double hulls, but there are many more knowledgable people on here who may say differently.

 

Does not having a double hull concern you?

[MCC retired]

Double hulls ? Unusual concern for sure.

The Titanic had a double hull .

[MCC retired]

Double hulls ? Unusual concern for sure.

The Titanic had a double hull .

 

Correction : Double Bottom .

[phish tales]

wow-----

double hull ?????????????????????????

double bottom ?????????????????????

 

well now we have something else to worry about.:confused::confused::confused:

Edited January 19, 2014 by phish tales

[Xmansmom]

It is my understanding double hulls is more about preventing contents from spilling, for example, in an oil tanker incident, rather than keeping water out. Water tight compartments are for keeping water from spreading throughout the ship.

 

I believe that you are correct. If a hole was struck in a double hull then the void space would fill with water and while it might not fill the rest of the ship it could fill enough to sink the ship dependant on the sea conditions and the size of the void. At a minimum it would cause the ship to sink lower in the sea. Think about it, it is the same type of principle that a submarine works on. The submarine takes on water, it sinks, it shoots the water out, it surfaces. If a ship had a large void take on water with no way to discharge it, it would be a huge problem.

[reedl]

If the OP is worried about something like the Costa Concordia happening, I would worry about a million more things than that. Remember the people who "drive" the ship are trained professionals who know where every single piece of land underneath the water is, and certainly do not want to hit anything. The issue in that ship was the idiot captain ordered the crew to do something that was plainly wrong.

 

Furthermore, the ships that travel around are taking the same exact route over and over again, so they will now deviate from the previous routes anyways.

 

So, bottom line, I would not worry about the ship hitting an obstruction in the water.

[Bounders]

I am not "worried" about ships not having double hulls. I am curious.

[ldubs]

If the OP is worried about something like the Costa Concordia happening, I would worry about a million more things than that. Remember the people who "drive" the ship are trained professionals who know where every single piece of land underneath the water is, and certainly do not want to hit anything. The issue in that ship was the idiot captain ordered the crew to do something that was plainly wrong.

 

Furthermore, the ships that travel around are taking the same exact route over and over again, so they will now deviate from the previous routes anyways.

 

So, bottom line, I would not worry about the ship hitting an obstruction in the water.

 

So, "wrong" things and route deviations do happen even with the highly trained professionals.

[ehfl]

I don't think it would be practical on a cruise ship. It's used in oil tankers, but the disadvantages outweight the advantages for a cruise ship.

[EdmPair]

I wanted to find the technical difference between Double Hull and Double Bottom so went to Wikipedia for Double Hull and found this line:

"Double hulls or double bottoms have been required in all passenger ships for decades as part of the Safety Of Life At Sea or SOLAS Convention." It gives a footnote link which goes to nothing more.

Not correct as others have said, but would not be the first time Wiki was wrong.