Why don't ferries sink when they open their doors?

Question

When they come into dock they lower their doors to let cars off, why doesn't water come in.

Answer 1

that is not a door but a ramp that is above the water line ferries have no doors.. just a ramp that is raised and lowered to let cars and trucks rool in ok

Answer 2

Wow!...sounds an accident waiting to happen...to me.

I think they open the doors just before they dock (like just a few mtrs from the quay) at this distance the ferry would be barely moving and the water/tide in the harbour wouldn't be rough or cause tooooo much rocking to cause a problem....unless you've seen the ships opent the doors before they enter the harbour....whilst out to sea??

Answer 3

Because the doors are above the water line!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Answer 4

Because they are above the waterline! Check out 'Spirit of Free Enterprise' if you want to know why they sink! My cousin drowned on it!

Answer 5

because there not ploughing into big big waves,and filling the boat up like a fish with its mouth open.

Answer 6

It's illegal.

Answer 7

The access for the vehicles is above the waterline. However if a loading port is left open or fails under way there can be a catastrophic entry of water. Look up "Herald of Free Enterprise" which sank off Zeebrugge, and "Estonia" which went down in the Baltic.

NOTE it's herald, not spirit. The Spirit of .....was Lindbergs transatlantic plane, which certainly didn't sink

Answer 8

Because the bow doors open above the water line.

Answer 9

1 - they don't open a door below the water.  They don't need to, because cars can't drive under water anyway.  The people in the cars don't want to drive into the water in the first place.

2 - Actually, they do sink sometimes, if the doors get open while at sea, and the ferry is rocking up and down.  There have been some bad losses of life that way.