There are mother ships in space lingo. Ships are females to increase the crews' moral or fondness towards it. They will fight harder to defend it, stick with it when it give challenges, save it- mend it, care for it, so on... This is also why homelands are so often motherlands. It is preservation propaganda. They bring you to a new life when you go to a new land. They are also curvy.

A ship is "she" to give honor and affection to it. Hurricanes traditionally have gone by female names until recently. Feminists (assertive women) have complained about hurricanes being called by women's names, so now they alternate between women's and men's names, and there is a predetermined list of names that are alphabetically listed, from which the names are used.

In english we use feminine pronouns when we refer to carriers. This is why a ship is a she, just like a country is a she...they both carry people. It is however important to note that this is becoming less and less relevant as most people do not pay so much attention to it nowadays. Hope this helps.

A ship is an elegant lady! When you see those tall ships with all those sails and how gracefully she glides through the waves, you know you are looking at a beautiful lady. Of course a ship is she; so are cars and so is luck and liberty, so are countries except Germany which is the fatherland.

I don't think being named after a woman or having a female owner is the answer. Many ships are named after men. In every language that has masculine and feminine genders, ships are feminine. If I had to guess, it's because the ship can be seen as a source of protection and sustenance - like a mother. It is the same reason the earth is more often referred to in terms reserved for a mother.