View source for Passenger ship

{{short description|Watercraft intended to carry people onboard}}
[[File:QE2-South Queensferry.jpg|thumb|right|An ocean liner, ''[[Queen Elizabeth 2]]'']]
{{Admiralty law}}

A '''passenger ship''' is a [[merchant ship]] whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include [[cargo ship|cargo vessels]] which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters{{Definition needed|date=February 2020}} once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all [[ocean liner]]s were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with [[hold (ship)|cargo holds]] and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all [[cruise ship]]s has this cargo capacity been eliminated.

While typically passenger ships are part of the [[merchant marine]], passenger ships have also been used as [[troopship]]s and are often commissioned as [[naval ship]]s when used, for that purpose.

== Description ==
[[File:SS Normandie.jpg|thumb|An ocean liner, {{SS|Normandie||2}}]]
[[File:MS Freedom of the Seas in its maiden voyage.jpg|thumb|A cruise ship, {{MS|Freedom of the Seas||2}}]]
[[File:Mega smeralda bastia.JPG|thumb|A ferry, {{MS|Mega Smeralda||2}}]]
''Passenger Ship Types:'' Passenger ships include [[ferry|ferries]], which are vessels for day to day or overnight short-sea trips moving passengers and vehicles (whether road or rail); [[ocean liner]]s, which typically are passenger or passenger-cargo vessels transporting passengers and often cargo on longer line voyages; and [[cruise ship]]s, which often transport passengers on round-trips, in which the trip itself and the attractions of the ship and ports visited are the principal draw.

There are several main types:
# [[Cruise ship]]s
# [[ferry|Ferries]]
# [[Ocean liner]]s

=== Passenger ship types ===
[[File:1990- Cruise ship passenger count - annually.svg|thumb|Cruise passenger count has increased about 7-fold since 1990, interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.<ref name=Cruise_202412>{{cite web |title=Growth of the Ocean Cruise Line Industry |url=https://cruisemarketwatch.com/growth/ |publisher=Cruise Market Watch |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241212054234/https://cruisemarketwatch.com/growth/ |archive-date=12 December 2024 |date=December 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
# [[Cruise ship]]s: For a long time, cruise ships were smaller than the old ocean liners had been, but in the 1980s, this changed when Knut Kloster, the director of [[Norwegian Cruise Line|Norwegian Caribbean Lines]], bought one of the biggest surviving liners, the {{SS|France|1960|6}}, and transformed her into a huge cruise ship, which he renamed the SS ''Norway''. Her success demonstrated that there was a market for large cruise ships. Successive classes of ever-larger ships were ordered, until the [[Cunard Line|Cunard]] liner {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth||2}} was finally dethroned from her 56-year reign as the largest passenger ship ever built (a dethronement that led to numerous further dethronements from the same position).
# [[ferry|Ferries]]: They are vessels for day to day or overnight short-sea trips moving passengers and vehicles (whether road or rail). There also exist Cruise ferries, designed for longer routes, lasting from one to a couple of days. They are named such because they tend to include amenities common on cruise ships (pools, discos, spas, etc...)
# [[Ocean liner]]s: An ocean liner is the traditional form of passenger ship. Once such liners operated on scheduled line voyages to all inhabited parts of the world. With the advent of airliners transporting passengers and specialized cargo vessels hauling freight, line voyages have almost died out. But with their decline came an increase in sea trips for pleasure and fun, and in the latter part of the 20th century ocean liners gave way to cruise ships as the predominant form of large passenger ship containing from hundreds to thousands of people, with the main area of activity changing from the [[North Atlantic Ocean]] to the [[Caribbean Sea]].

=== Cruise ships vs. ocean liners ===
Although some ships have characteristics of both types, the design priorities of the two forms are different: ocean liners value speed and traditional luxury while cruise ships value amenities (swimming pools, theaters, ball rooms, casinos, sports facilities, etc.) rather than speed. These priorities produce different designs. In addition, ocean liners typically were built to cross the [[Atlantic Ocean]] between Europe and the [[United States]] or travel even further to South America or Asia while cruise ships typically serve shorter routes with more stops along coastlines or among various islands.

Both the {{ship||Queen Elizabeth 2}} (''QE2'') (1969) and her successor as Cunard's [[flagship]] {{RMS|Queen Mary 2}} (''QM2''), which entered service in 2004, are of hybrid construction. Like [[transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] ocean liners, they are fast ships and strongly built to withstand the rigors of the North Atlantic in line voyage service,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=42 |title=Winter 03-04: A Ship for the Sea |publisher=Cruise Industry News |access-date=2012-05-23}}</ref> but both ships are also designed to operate as cruise ships, with the amenities expected in that trade. ''QM2'' was superseded by the {{MS|Freedom of the Seas||2}} of the [[Royal Caribbean International|Royal Caribbean]] line as the largest passenger ship ever built; however, ''QM2'' still hold the record for the largest ocean liner. The ''Freedom of the Seas'' was superseded by the {{ship||Oasis of the Seas}} in October 2009.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/02/06/royal_caribbean_orders_large_cruise_ship_1139250670/ | title=Royal Caribbean orders $1.24B cruise ship |work=Boston Globe |agency=Associated Press |date=6 February 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220142939/http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/02/06/royal_caribbean_orders_large_cruise_ship_1139250670/ |archive-date=20 February 2009}}</ref>

=== Measures of size ===
{{further|Timeline of largest passenger ships}}
[[File:RMS Titanic sea trials April 2, 1912.jpg|thumb|Ocean liner {{ship||Titanic}} (1912), 46,328 GRT, 52,310 tons displacement]]
[[File:Queen Mary hotel.jpg|thumb|Ocean liner {{RMS|Queen Mary||2}} (1936), approximately 81,000 – 83,000 GRT, displacement over 80,000 tons]]
[[File:Queen Mary II Einlaufen Hamburg Hafengeburtstag 2006 -2.jpg|thumb|Ocean liner {{ship||Queen Mary 2}} (2003), 148,528 GT, approximately 76,000 tons displacement]]
[[File:Oasis of the Seas.jpg|thumb|{{ship||Oasis of the Seas}} (2009), 225,282 GT, approximately 100,000 tons displacement]]

Because of changes in historic measurement systems, it is difficult to make meaningful and accurate comparisons of ship sizes. Historically, [[gross register tonnage]] (GRT) was a measure of the internal volume of certain enclosed areas of a ship divided into  "tons" equivalent to {{convert|100|ft3}} of space. [[Gross tonnage]] (GT) is a comparatively new measure, adopted in 1982 to replace GRT.  It is calculated based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship", and is used to determine things such as a ship's manning regulations, safety rules, registration fees, and port dues.  It is produced by a mathematical formula, and does not distinguish between mechanical and passenger spaces, and thus is not directly comparable to historic GRT measurements.  [[Displacement (ship)|Displacement]], a measure of mass, is not commonly used for passenger vessels.  While a high displacement can indicate better sea keeping abilities,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theyachtreport.com/PROJECT/Papers2001/charles%20rahn.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Gross Tonnage Versus Displacement |last=Rahn |first=Charles |website=theyachtreport.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040407062717/http://www.theyachtreport.com/PROJECT/Papers2001/charles%20rahn.pdf |archive-date=7 April 2004 |access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref> gross tonnage is promoted as the most important measure of size for passenger vessels, as the ratio of gross tonnage per passenger – the Passenger/Space Ratio – gives a sense of the spaciousness of a ship, an important consideration in cruise liners where the onboard amenities are of high importance.<ref>{{cite web | title = Glossary, definition of Passenger Space Ratio | work = Information and Explanations | publisher = choosecruising.com | url = http://www.choosingcruising.co.uk/travel/Information_CL.asp?client=daviswt | access-date = 2007-12-28 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100829021909/http://www.choosingcruising.co.uk/travel/Information_CL.asp?client=daviswt | archive-date = 2010-08-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Cruise Ship Tonnage | publisher = 123Ttravel.com | url = http://www.123travel.com/content-detail.cfm?content_id=68 | access-date = 2007-12-28 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011062436/http://123travel.com/content-detail.cfm?content_id=68 |archive-date = 11 October 2007}}</ref>

Historically, a ship's GRT and displacement were somewhat similar in number.  For example, ''Titanic'', put in service in 1912, had a GRT of 46,328 and a displacement reported at over 52,000 tons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/dimensions.html |url-status=dead |title=Titanic's Dimensions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060527173651/http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/dimensions.html |archive-date=27 May 2006 }}</ref> Similarly, Cunard Line's mid-1930s {{RMS|Queen Mary}} and RMS ''Queen Elizabeth'' were of approximately 81,000 – 83,000 GRT and had displacements of over 80,000 tons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atlanticliners.com/rms_queen_mary_home.htm |title=Queen Mary Home |website=Atlanticliners.com |access-date=2012-05-23}}</ref>

Today, due to changes in construction, engineering, function, architecture, and, crucially, measurement system – which measures functionally all of a ship's internal volume, not just part of it – modern passenger ships' GT values are much higher than their displacements. The Cunard Queens' current successor, the 148,528 GT  ''Queen Mary 2'',<ref name = CGMIX>{{cite web |publisher=United States Coast Guard Maritime Information Exchange |url=http://psix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=639884 |title=Queen Mary 2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523002150/http://psix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=639884 |archive-date=2013-05-23 |access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref><ref name = Lloyds>{{csr|register=LR|id=9241061|shipname=Queen Mary 2|access-date=2012-07-19}}</ref> has been estimated to only displace approximately 76,000 tons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.twbookmark.com/books/8/0821228846/chapter_excerpt18434.html |title=Queen Mary 2 |last=Maxtone-Graham |first=John |website=twbookmark.com |access-date=2006-06-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060628024538/http://www.twbookmark.com/books/8/0821228846/chapter_excerpt18434.html |archive-date=2006-06-28 }}</ref> With the completion in 2009 of the first of the over 225,000 GT {{sclass|Oasis|cruise ship|0}} cruise ships, ''Oasis of the Seas'', passenger ships' displacements rose to 100,000 tons,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/travel/getaways/us/florida/articles/2006/02/07/if_royal_caribbean_builds_it_6400_could_come/ |title=If Royal Caribbean builds it, 6,400 could come |work=[[Boston Globe]] |agency=Associated Press |date=7 February 2006 |access-date=16 October 2021}}</ref> well less than half their GT.

This new class is characteristic of an explosive growth in gross tonnage, which has more than doubled from the largest cruise ships of the late 1990s. This reflects the much lower relative weight of enclosed space in the comparatively light [[superstructure]] of a ship versus its heavily reinforced and machinery-laden hull space, as cruise ships have grown slab-sided vertically from their maximum beam to accommodate more passengers within a given hull size.

== Safety regulations ==
{{See also|International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea}}
Passenger ships are subject to two major [[International Maritime Organization]] requirements : to perform ''[[Muster drill|musters of the passengers]] (...) within 24 hours after their embarkation'' and to be able to perform full abandonment ''within a period of 30 minutes from the time the abandon-ship signal is given''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/archive/2012/01-jan/18/a-ship-is-its-2018own-best-lifeboat2019|title=A ship is its 'own best lifeboat'|date=18 January 2012|work=Lloyd's List Australia|access-date=20 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521045701/http://www.lloydslistdcn.com.au/archive/2012/01-jan/18/a-ship-is-its-2018own-best-lifeboat2019|archive-date=21 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Transportation Research Board]] research from 2019 reported passenger vessels, much more than freight vessels, are subject to degradations in stability as a result of increases in lightship weight. Passenger vessels appear to be more pressing candidates for lightship weight-tracking programs than freight vessels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=National Academies of Sciences|first=Engineering|url=https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25565/review-and-update-of-us-coast-guard-vessel-stability-regulations-and-guidance|title=Review and Update of U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Stability Regulations and Guidance|date=2020-01-09|doi=10.17226/25565|isbn=978-0-309-49721-3|s2cid=203502771}}</ref>

===Design considerations===
Passengers on ships without backup generators suffer substantial distress due to lack of water, refrigeration, and sewage systems in the event of loss of the main engines or generators due to fire or other emergency. Power is also unavailable to the crew of the ship to operate electrically powered mechanisms. Lack of an adequate backup system to propel the ship can, in rough seas, render it dead in the water and result in loss of the ship.<ref name=NYT022413>{{cite news|title=Lack of Backup Power Puts Cruise Passengers at the Ocean's Mercy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/business/many-cruise-ship-lack-backup-power-systems-vexing-regulators.html|access-date=February 25, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 24, 2013|first1=Barry |last1=Meier|first2=John |last2=Schwartz}}</ref> The 2006 Revised Passenger Ship Safety Standards address these issues, and others, requiring that ships ordered after July, 2010 conform to safe return to port regulations; however, as of 2013 many ships remain in service which lack this capacity.<ref name = "2006 Revised Passenger Ship Safety Standards" >[http://www.worldcruise-network.com/features/feature95151 "Hidden Depths of SOLAS"] WorldCruise-Network.com 8 September 2010, accessed February 25, 2013 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225074341/http://www.worldcruise-network.com/features/feature95151 |date=25 February 2013 }}</ref>

After October 1, 2010, the [[International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea]] (SOLAS) requires passenger ships operating in international waters must either be constructed or upgraded to exclude combustible materials. It is believed some owners and operators of ships built before 1980, which are required to upgrade or retire their vessels, will be unable to conform to the regulations.<ref name = "2006 Revised Passenger Ship Safety Standards" /> [[Fred. Olsen Cruise Line]]'s {{MV|Black Prince|1966|2}}, built in 1966 was one such ship, but was reported to be headed for inter-island service in Venezuelan waters.<ref name="CBR 2009-05-06">{{cite web |url=http://cruisebusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393:fred-olsen-sells-black-prince-for-further-trading&catid=48:top-headlines-category&Itemid=116 |title=Fred. Olsen sells ''Black Prince'' for further trading |access-date=2009-05-10 |last=Reinikainen |first=Kari |date=2009-05-06 |work=Cruise Business Online |publisher=Cruise Media Oy Ltd |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011122513/http://www.cruisebusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393%3Afred-olsen-sells-black-prince-for-further-trading&catid=48%3Atop-headlines-category&Itemid=116 |archive-date=2009-10-11 }}</ref>

===External safety measures===
The [[International Ice Patrol]] was formed in 1914 after the [[Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the ''Titanic'']] to address the long-outstanding issue of [[iceberg]] collision.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The History of the International Ice Patrol|url=https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/the-history-of-the-international-ice-patrol|access-date=2021-04-09|website=The Maritime Executive}}</ref>

===Other regulations===
Passengers and their luggage at sea are covered by the [[Athens Convention]].<ref name="IMO">{{cite web|url=https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/Athens-Convention-relating-to-the-Carriage-of-Passengers-and-their-Luggage-by-Sea-(PAL).aspx |title=Athens Convention relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (PAL) |publisher=International Maritime Organization |access-date=7 March 2024}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Durand, Jean-François. ''Autour du Monde Paquebots: Cruise Ships Around the World''. Editions marines, 1996. [bilingual text]
*Marin, Pierre-Henri. ''Les paquebots, ambassadeurs des mers'', collection " [[Découvertes Gallimard]] " (nº 75), série Techniques. Paris: Gallimard, 1990.

==External links==
{{Portal|Transport}}
{{Commons category|Passenger ships}}

{{ModernMerchantShipTypes}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passenger Ship}}
[[Category:Passenger ships| ]]
[[Category:Ship types]]