Which term describes the ship’s own weight excluding cargo, fuel, and stores?

• A. Lightship
• B. Deadweight
• C. Displacement
• D. Payload

Answer: (A)

Lightship describes the ship’s own weight without cargo, fuel, or stores. It’s the baseline mass of the vessel—the hull, machinery, and permanent fittings—before anything is loaded. This term is used to separate the vessel’s inherent weight from what it can carry. The other terms describe different things: displacement is the total weight of the ship when afloat (including everything aboard), and deadweight is how much weight the vessel can carry beyond its lightship (cargo, fuel, stores, and ballast). Payload usually refers to the cargo portion carried, not the ship’s own weight. For example, if the lightship is 5,000 tons and the full-load displacement is 12,000 tons, the deadweight is 7,000 tons, representing the cargo, fuel, stores, and ballast the ship can carry.