For risk or reliability assessment of ship structures against particular hazardous situations such as total loss or sinking due to hull girder collapse, the short-term based response analysis rather than the long-term response analysis is required to determine wave-induced bending moments when the ship encounters a storm of specific duration and with a specified small encounter probability. In the present study, the effects of operational condition and sea states on wave-induced bending moments of large merchant vessels are investigated. A series of the short-term response analyses for a hypothetical VLCC and a Capesize bulk carrier (CSBC) are carried out with varying operational condition and sea states which include ship speed, significant wave height and wave persistence time, using the linear-strip theory based program ABS/SHIPMOTION and the MIT sea-keeping tables. The computed results are also compared with the IACS design formula predictions. The results and insights developed from the present study are summarized.