How to Use merchant ship in a Sentence

merchant ship

noun
  • About 3,500 merchant ships went down in the Atlantic over the course of the war.
    Bruce Henderson, charlotteobserver, 11 June 2018
  • In May, the U.S. said, Iran seized two merchant ships within one week.
    Matt Seyler, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Divers have been attempting to locate the merchant ship since the 1970s.
    Fox News, 23 June 2020
  • In May, Iran seized two merchant ships within one week.
    Luis Martinez, ABC News, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Hundreds of merchant ships docked within sight of the plazas, the air rang with the sound of church bells and cockfights, and the streets teemed with smugglers.
    Néstor Martí, Smithsonian, 18 Apr. 2018
  • He was rescued by a merchant ship more than 2,000 miles southeast of Hawaii.
    María Verza, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 July 2023
  • Later in the day on June 13, a merchant ship supplied the fishing boat with food and supplies.
    Isabelle Butera, USA TODAY, 21 June 2023
  • Rome then requested merchant ships in the area to join the rescue efforts.
    Reuters, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2023
  • The city has been trying to rid itself of the rodent, which came to New York on merchant ships, for at least two centuries.
    Joseph Pisani, WSJ, 31 Mar. 2023
  • The merchant ship Waimarama fell victim to a fate common to most of the civilian vessels.
    Jonathan W. Jordan, WSJ, 11 June 2021
  • By the time merchant ships arrived in Canton (the port known today as Guangzhou) in the winter, the Chinese had already drunk the best of their wares.
    Charlene Wang De Chen, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Oct. 2023
  • The survivors floated on inner tubes until a merchant ship found them and took them to the island this week.
    Peter Aitken, Fox News, 9 Aug. 2023
  • And in the midst of all this, a merchant ship laden with ceramics and luxury goods went down off the coast of Indonesia.
    Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 16 May 2018
  • Over the radio, the remarks made by the captain of the suspect merchant ship do not coincide with his course tracked by radar.
    Jim Wilson, Popular Mechanics, 22 Apr. 2021
  • The request, which the Panther was required to honor, was at least the third time that day, Jan. 11, that the Libyans had called on a merchant ship to assist migrants.
    New York Times, 20 Mar. 2020
  • In the end, Rose notes, compared to the success of the naval blockade, the attacks on Union merchant ships amounted to little more than a nuisance.
    Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Mar. 2023
  • The average size was around 80 men, many more than the usual crew of a merchant ship, which often counted no more than 20.
    National Geographic, 2 July 2020
  • The wooden fishing boats that crisscross the bay now weave around massive merchant ships loaded with iron and steel.
    Photographs and Text By Dado Galdieri, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2018
  • Five merchant ships were involved in the rescue of the Sincerity Ace’s sailors.
    Costas Paris, WSJ, 2 Jan. 2019
  • Franklin was talking to his cousin, Timothy Folger, who was the captain of a merchant ship.
    Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 2 May 2017
  • In 1801, Paine opined that merchant ships crossing the embattled Atlantic should fly rainbow flags as a sign of peace.
    Neima Jahromi, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2018
  • At least four merchant ships, six coast guard ships and a helicopter were searching for survivors amid calm seas.
    Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2020
  • The crew abandoned ship at 0830 and an hour later were hauled aboard an armed merchant ship, which took them to Penang, a major port town on the Malayan Peninsula.
    CBS News, 16 Sep. 2020
  • He was saved by a merchant ship, taken to Thailand as a refugee, then came to Philadelphia.
    Jeff Gammage, Philly.com, 27 Apr. 2018
  • After the first alert, a Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships spotted the boat sailing north, according to the Greek coast guard.
    Kate Perez, USA TODAY, 14 June 2023
  • More than 1,000 merchant ships escorted by U.S., British and Canadian naval ships took part in the convoys.
    Gene Sloan, USA TODAY, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Growing tensions with the Spanish Empire would soon would lead to war, and the English needed cannon to arm their merchant ships and navy.
    Andrew Lawler, Smithsonian, 21 Sep. 2019
  • The wreck of a merchant ship that vanished in the Bermuda Triangle in 1925 is revealing its secrets.
    Fox News, 7 Feb. 2020
  • The Navy actually taking out four of these little Houthi ships that were attacking a merchant ship in the region.
    ABC News, 31 Dec. 2023
  • In response to the tragedy, new safety regulations were adopted for merchant ships.
    Christine Rousselle, Fox News, 1 Sep. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'merchant ship.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: