The Ship Report, Thursday, February 12, 2026

The Ship Report · Feb 12, 2026 · 9m

The bulbous bow: an odd-looking, but very efficient, ship design featureThere's a unusual-looking ship design feature that's on pretty much all the ships that arrive here on the Columbia. When a ship is loaded, it's out of sight below the waterline, but on ships that are waiting for cargo, like in anchorages, you can sometimes see it.It's called the bulbous bow. It looks like a round or cylindrical protuberance sticking out in front of the ship at the front, below the waterline. Strange looking, yes, but it actually reduces drag, and improves ship efficiency and speed.