<P> Beaching is the process in which a ship or boat is laid ashore, or grounded deliberately in shallow water . This is more usual with small flat - bottomed boats . Larger ships may be beached deliberately, for instance in an emergency a damaged ship might be beached to prevent it from sinking in deep water . Some vessels are designed to be loaded and unloaded by beaching; vessels of this type used by the military to disembark troops under fire are called landing craft . </P> <P> During the age of sail vessels were sometimes beached to allow them to be rolled over for the hull to be maintained, a process called careening . </P>

To run a ship on the beach or on land