A lifeboat or liferaft is a small, rigid or inflatable boat carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard a ship. Lifeboat drills are required by law on larger commercial ships. Rafts (liferafts) are also used. In the military, a lifeboat may double as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors usually carry inflatable liferafts, though a few prefer small proactive lifeboats that are harder to sink and can be sailed to safety.
Partially enclosed lifeboats on a passenger liner
Proactive lifeboat-safety dinghy for recreational cruisers
Lifeboats at shore shortly after the Costa Concordia capsized on the coast of Isola del Giglio
An image depicting the sinking of RMS Titanic surrounded by lifeboats
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
A recreational motorboat with an outboard motor
Silver model of a boat, tomb PG 789, Royal Cemetery of Ur, 2600–2500 BCE
Boats with sails in Bangladesh
Traditional Toba Batak boat (c. 1870), photograph by Kristen Feilberg