vessel - ship
Once again my student working with cargo and shipment issues.
She said in her job they always talk about vessels, but she had also seen the word vessel use when trying to book a cruise one day.
I would have thought that was a ship.
A vessel for cargo, a ship for cruises.
Is this a question of size?
13 Answers
Anything that carries something (floating in the water and maybe elsewhere) is a vessel .. I think.
A vessel is the means to carry something, as 'our heart is the vessel that carries our soul'.
A ship is a particular kind of vessel that's all.
So that is what I was taught. Let's wait our linguistics experts to give the exact meaning. 
Well, they certainly do not do that in FedEx, they only talk about vessels.
Well, when you consider the business that FedEx does, it should not surprise you that they use the term vessel. While clearly very alliterative, it might sound a bit odd were they to brag of having "the largest fleet of shipping ships in the shipping industry available to ship more shipments to shipping destinations." 
Rather than speaking of "shiping ships" it probably just sounds less redundant to speak of "shipping vessels."
An artery is a blood vessel , it does not denote size merely something which carries
or conveys things. Any vessel larger than a rowing boat is usualy refered to as a
ship whether it is a naval or commercial vessel it is called a ship.
But there are exceptions as in "Tug boat" which in reality is large enough to be called
a ship but traditionaly is always tug boat. Vessel may refer to:
* Marine vessel or boat
* Bowl (vessel)
* Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body
* Drinking vessel, a container for holding drinkable liquids
* Lymph vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph
* Pressure vessel, a container designed to hold fluids at a pressure different from the ambient pressure
Sailing vessel can refer to:
* Sailing ship
* Sailboat
* Ice boat
* Land yacht
A "ship" in English refers to a large vessel (el navío).
A "boat" is a smaller vessel (el barco).
Almost anything that floats and can transport something could be called a "vessel"
Even something as small as this
coracle /'kQrEkl/ sustantivo bote (ovalado o circular) (hecho de varas entretejidas y cubierto de un material impermeable)
A ship is a large boat and both are vessels, although if you called your row boat a vessel people would laugh at you.
I think ship is used more commonly in the US to say either cruise ship or cargo ship. Vessel is interchangeable with ship in conversation, regardless of technical definitions, but I hear (and use) ship more than vessel.
"Vessel" is sometimes preferred by poets, due to its broader range of meanings. When used to refer to a boat or ship, it does not clearly indicate size, although it's rare to refer to small boats as vessels.
A vessel for cargo, a ship for cruises.
Maybe not:
U.S. Congress passes the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act of 2010
Vessel is a very broad term when referencing water craft. The definition I link to indicates it is used for watercraft larger than a rowboat, but used primarily for ships. The word vessel usually references an object that carries something. In the case of ships, its cargo or passengers (thus a cruise ship and a cargo ship can both be called a vessel). So, primarily, it will be used for ships, but I assure you we—regardless of the dictionary's definition—may use the term for almost any watercraft, whether it carries anything or not and almost no matter how big or small...or at least I do.
I would feel comfortable referring to jet-skis, row-boats, and remote controlled submarines as vessels. And even toy or model boats.
For things like remote-controlled submarines or boat-like vessels, which might not really carry anything, I feel comfortable calling them vessels because they are derived from objects that are vessels. For instance, a remote-controlled submarine, even though it is small and carries nothing, is still a submarine (manned submarines truly are vessels because they carry people).
Some water-going objects I wouldn't generally call vessels: surfboards and torpedos (remote controlled or not). In my mind, surfboards are boards and torpedos are weapons.
Any size of a boat can be correctly referred to as a vessel. We usually do not use the word to refer to a small boat although it is correct to do so.
Naval vessel
Any vessel larger than a rowing boat is usualy refered to as a
ship whether it is a navel or commercial vessel it is called a ship.
Well, they certainly do not do that in FedEx, they only talk about vessels. 
A "ship" in English refers to a large vessel (el navío).
A "boat" is a smaller vessel (el barco).
Very confusing
We are talking about enormous cargo vessels here....so should they use ship??
Unless Saki's answer is correct...hmmm
