For delivering cargoes to inland ports, the LASH system enables a number of barges to be carried in what amounts to a traveling floating dock. The LASH ship submerges to take on or discharge its cargo of barges. Cable ships lay and repair transoceanic cables. Icebreakers with extra-strong hulls open lanes for other ships through frozen waters. By international law, any ship with space for more than 12 passengers is a passenger ship .
Cruise ships provide a lucrative industry in the United States.
Such cruise ships resemble floating hotels with luxurious amenities. Fishing vessels include small craft, such as trawlers and purse seiners, factory ships aboard which the catch is processed, and whaling ships. The first step in planning a new ship is careful consideration of what it is going to do. The answers to such questions determine a ship's size, its internal layout, and its engines and machinery. Expressing the Size of Ships Oceangoing ships vary greatly in size.