This article is considered accurate for the current version (1.58) of the game.
“
This BMS shipping vessel, the Bowhead, is specially designed to carry large quantities of resource containers and fitted with compartments for resource Harvesters. Named for a great whale, the Bassett Motor Society ensures that resources get delivered to the front lines where they’re needed and when they’re needed due to efficient loading bay design and a sturdy frame.
„
— In-game description
The BMS - Bowhead (also known as a Resource Ship) is a large logistical Naval Vehicle specially designed to harvest and transport large amounts of raw resources. In addition to being able to carry large amount of raw resources, it can store the necessary vehicles/equipment to harvest/transport them.
Controls the movement of the ship, and can see the remaining fuel in the tank, the speed in knots, and the azimuth of the ship in degree.
Can see the distance and angle to the closest repair location (Dry Dock).
Spotter
Can view 230m in every direction with distance and azimuth displayed.
Can act as the ship commander to direct the other crew members.
Engineer
Not an actual seat
Switches each of the two ship engines below deck between "Forward" and "Reverse" mode using a Wrench while crouching
The entrance for each seat is marked on the floor by white paint.
Additional soldiers can be on the ship's decks for various purposes (transport, bail water in bottom deck, fix leaks, etc...). The ship can have a total of 30 players onboard, any more and it cannot cross region borders.
Armament
Automated Defenses:
It has one AI Naval Turret on its deck that is only active when anchored (AI status shown via the small flag next to the turret). They rapidly shoot Mortar Shells at smaller ships (anything that's not a Large Ship) and amphibious vehicles on water that are between 75 and 200 meters from the turret, except if the targets are within 35m of a region border.
Inventory
It has two interactive storages on its top deck that acts like Resource Transfer Stations. Each has a single inventory slot and an item stockpile that holds only loose resources like a Resource Transfer Station but with a capacity of 32,500.
The cargo area on the bottom deck has 15 inventory slots and a stockpile that can hold 30,000 loose resources like a Resource Transfer Station but it can also hold Harvesters and 20 (empty) Resource Containers.
The loading pad in the cargo allows to interact with the three stockpiles by placing a shippable on it with a crane.
Can ram and instantly destroy ice on frozen bodies of water during Snow Storms
Cannot move while anchored.
Health & Armor
The BMS - Bowhead has 55000 HP. It has "Large Ship" armor resistance: it can soak small arms fire, shrapnel, 12.7mm machine guns, and it is immune to Flamethrowers. It's also fairly resistant to anti-tank weaponry. High explosive shells are very effective against it. It has Tank Armor. With it, in best case scenario, penetrating projectiles only have a 10% chance of penetrating and doing damage. That chance goes up quickly if the armor is worn or if it is shot from up close or with ammo that has penetration bonuses. As a Large Ship, its health, Tank Armor, and subsystems can only be repaired at a Dry Dock, costs 10 Naval Shell Plating, and takes some time.
Sinking Mechanic:
With their massive health, large ships are hard to kill the normal way, but they can also be sunk.
Interactions
Friendly soldiers in the water can instantly climb aboard the ship with E while next to it.
You can drop items on the ship decks.
The ship has 4 Gangway ramps that can be toggled with E. The anchor must be lowered and there must be solid flat ground for the gangway to deploy (Shipyard, Beach, docks, Dry Dock, Navy Pier, etc...).
The ship's bottom deck contains 2 rooms separated by bulkhead doors which can be toggled with E. Closing a room's bulkheads prevent water from leaks from spreading to the adjacent rooms.
Water in the ship rooms can be bailed using a Water Bucket (reloading) and thrown overboard.
The ship can be reserved for a Squad (via a button in the menu) to prevent any non members from toggling the ship's anchor or changing the engine settings and to allow members to eject any player from the driver seat with the "Eject Driver" button in the menu . The reservation doesn't prevent other friendly players from using the ship's seats, toggling the cargo hold, or accessing the ship's stockpiles however.
Anchor
The anchor interaction area is marked by an arrow at the very front of the ship on the Starboard side (right). On top of the standard requirements, the anchor cannot be raised if the ship's cargo hold is open or if the cargo area isn't clear.
Respawn
The Resource Ship does not act as a "Forward" Spawn Point and players can't deploy on it from the Home Region.
Region Borders
The ship can cross a region border with up to 30 players on board, provided the destination would not exceed its population capacity; otherwise the ship must wait in queue. While preparing to cross the border, the ship must be idle for 60 seconds. Moving, firing any ship weapons or interacting with its stockpile resets this timer.
