I watched a documentary about ships a few months ago. I knew these bulbous additions were supposed to help in some way on large displacement hull,s but didn't know they are added to cancel the effect of the bow wave, which in turn creates drag. I think I've got this right, first of all the water has to be lifted (energy) then the trough also creates drag (more energy), this is then multiplied several times before it reaches the stern. The bulb cancels it out and smoothing out the wave and cutting the amount of energy needed.
