balancing act

[guest]

my boss and i are having an arguement, maybe someone can help? Is there any water used to balance an ocean liner inside of the hull, say to counteract wind or waves?

[wackyeng]

Some cargo ships use linked ballast tanks to help controlling the roll, but in the case of ocean liners, the common solution is the use of hydro stabs.

[tspeer]

I don't know about ocean liners, but cargo ships have to flood ballast tanks when they are not loaded. The reason is to reduce bending stress on the hull as well as making it ride better and improve the stability.