A ship's hold, in older ships, was below the orlop deck, the lower part of the interior of a ship's hull, especially when considered as storage space, as for cargo. In later merchant vessels it extended up through the decks to the underside of the weather deck. Italian Full rigged ship Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976 A ship is a large watercraft capable of deep water navigation. ... The orlop deck is the lowest deck in a ship. ... A hull is the body or frame of a ship or boat. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...