Reasons Why Ships Are Often Associated With Women

Illustration of the ship (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - In the world of shipping, ships that sail a vast ocean are often considered female. Even in English, the ship is called the "she" or "her" pronoun.

"For example, people will say, she will depart", said Pertamina's Vice President of Technical Fleet Management, I Gusti Ngurah Handiyana, quoted by ANTARA.

As an expert in the shipping industry, Ngurah shares the reasons behind this tradition.

"Every time I teach or deliver presentations about ships, I often start with quizzes: Why do ships look like women?" said the ITS Shipship Engineering alumnus.

There are several interesting reasons behind this assumption. The ship, like a woman, needs care and attention to always look beautiful.

It also has a certain period of problem or cycle, such as a docking schedule every 2.5 or five years which should not be ignored.

So, crew members are required to always maintain cleanliness and "move" the ship in order to appear clean and elegant. The shape of the ship that is sleek and feminine curves also strengthens this association.

Even more uniquely, crew members who finished duty sometimes referred to ships that had sailed with them as "widows" or "widows."

"For example, they will say 'It's the widow of Gamsunoro, or the widow of Mount Geulis," added Ngurah, referring to the close relationship between the crew and the ship they once rode.

Ngurah visited Turkey to ensure that the docking of the Gamsunoro ship belonging to PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) went well.

The Gamsunoro ship is one of the tankers or crude oil transport vessels with a capacity of 105.000 Pertamina mainstay DWT which serves international routes.

The ship, which has safely split the red sea some time ago, has entered a routine 5-year maintenance cycle, including upgrading technology to make it more environmentally friendly and can always meet international standards.