Is a ship docked or berthed?

Answer 1

According to the most correct nautical usage, a ship is "docked" only if it is in a wet dock (shut with watertight floodgates or with caisson to maintain constant water level regardless of tides) or a dry dock. It is "berthed" if it is moored to a buoy or to a pier or wharf. The landlubberish notion that "dock" is synonymous with "landing stage," "pier," or "wharf" has spread like a plague, and as a result many now call a ship "docked" when it is moored to such a structure, usually parallel to it and with some crew on board around the clock. In this usage, "berthed" has some implication of a smaller vessel lying perpendicular to the structure to which it is moored and without overnight crew. If you wish to maintain the good old usage, you will say "berthed" for either situation.