Comprehensive reading

Exercise 8. Look through the text and then decide which statement is TRUE/FALSE.

• In case of flooding the watertight compartments allow a ship to be afloat with a hole.

• Bulkheads are the special decks.

• All the structures below the main deck make up the superstructure.

• Overloading and faulty loading can lead to severe damage of a ship.

• Usually cargo is stowed in the tanks.

The main parts of a ship are the hull, the engines, the propellers, and the rudder. The main body of a ship is called the hull. The hull is the watertight shell of a ship. It is divided into a number of horizontal surfaces called decks. Bulkheads are walls built between the decks, forming compartments. Each compartment has special doors that, when closed, make it watertight. Those dividing up compartments are known as tween decks* on which the cargo rests. If water floods one compartment because of an accident, closing the doors will trap the water there and prevent it from flooding other compartments. Watertight compartments enable a ship to float even with a hole in its hull. The hull is divided into three parts: fore end, amid­ships and after end. The deck at the top of the hull is called the main deck. This deck covers the holds where the cargo is stowed. Several more decks may be above it. All the structures above the main deck make up the superstructure. At the fore end is the forecastle. At the after end the bridge super­structure and the poop are combined.

The ship's position below water must be closely watched. The overall shape of a hull is designed to make the ship as stable (steady) as possible. A ship must not roll (rock from side to side) or pitch (rock from front to back) too much. Most modern ships also use stabilizing systems to reduce rolling.

The angle that a ship is making fore and aft with the water is known as trim. The levels are read by numbers painted on the ship’s stem and called draught marks. A list or inclination from one side to another, caused by faulty loading, is known as heel. In the course of loading load lines must be watched above all. The load lines are engraved and then painted on the both sides of ships. The divided circle on the left shows the depth to which the ship may be loaded in summer time. Below this line are, on the grid to the right, two lines. The one marked W means winter loading, the lower one marked WNA means the maximum depth to which the ship may be loaded if she is going across the North Atlantic in winter. The other marks above these are: T for tropical, F for fresh water. These lines are shown on the ship’s Load Line Certificate. In case of overloading a ship, so that these lines are under water, the penalties are severe.

* the translation of the words in italics can be found in the exercise 1.

Exercise 9. Translate the text and write down all the pieces of equipment and machinery.

To have more space for cargo the engine room is located at the aft and near the bottom. 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. Many of the most advanced ships have gas turbines. Gas turbines work much like steam turbines but use hot gases instead of steam.

On a ship, the engine room or ER commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage stability (аварийная остойчивость) of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be separated into various spaces. The engine room is one of these spaces and is usually the largest compartment of the machinery space. The ER houses the vessel's power plant, usually some variations of a heat engine - diesel engine, gas or steam turbine. It should be mentioned that the engine room of cargo ships typically contains several engines for different purposes. On some ships, the machinery space may comprise more than one engine room, such as forward and aft, or port or starboard engine rooms, or may be simply numbered. On a steamship, power for both electricity and propulsion is provided by one or more large boilers giving rise to the alternate name boiler room.

On a large percentage of vessels, ships and boats, the engine room is located near the bottom, and at the rear end of the vessel, and usually comprises few compartments. This design maximizes the cargo carrying capacity of the vessel and situates the main engine close to the propeller. With the increased use of diesel electric propulsion packages, the engine room(s) may be located well forward, low or high on the vessel, depending on the vessel use.

If equipped with internal combustion or turbine engines, engine rooms employ some means of providing air for the operation of the engines and associated ventilation. If individuals are normally present in these rooms, additional ventilation should be available to keep engine room temperatures to acceptable limits.

to house – быть оборудованным,

to comprise - содержать

power plant – силовая установка, энергоустановка