Bulbous bows

Harry is right, to further elaborate;

The resistance of a ship is broken into three elements:
1) Frictional resistance (the friction between the water and the hull surface which is proportional to the wetted surface); 2) Wave resistance which is dependent on the hull shape (the energy created by the wave propagation) and 3) Air resistance (the projected fontal area of above-water structure). The bulb reduces the wave resistance by generating an initial wave before the actual bow wave. This initial wave induces an underpressure immediately aft (where the "real" bow starts)of it that reduces the overpressure that occurs when the water hits the "real" bow (cancellation effect).

Bulbs are found in different shapes and sizes depending on the slenderness of the hull, the main dimensions, the hull speed and the hull's loading conditions. A passenger ship has always about the same draught, a tanker can vary with over 20 meters. A bulbous bow need not be totally submerged, it depends on the bulb type. On modern passenger ships the top of the bulb is always above the waterline.

The Normandie's hull was designed by the famed Russian naval architect Yourkevitsj. The bulbous bow was his theory thus subsequently named the "Yourkevitsj Bow". Why contemporary ships did not have this bow even though it was invented? Naval architects are by tradition very conservative. They all have their scepsism to new gadgets - sometimes it was simply considered an un-necessary expence (they do cost money) and may have been so then. Today however, the advantages of the bulb is so well documented you would not go without it. The energy savings may be up to as much as 6-7 %.

Atle.