Maritime transport involves the shipment of cargo and passengers via waterways using various types of vessels. Historically, general cargo ships transported a variety of goods but bulk carriers and container ships now dominate dry cargo transport due to their efficiency. Bulk carriers carry cargo like grains and ores in large holds while container ships carry standardized containers that can be transferred between ships, trucks and trains. Specialized vessels also exist like tankers for liquids, reefer ships for perishables, roll-on/roll-off ships for vehicles and passenger ships. As global population grows, maritime transport plays an essential role in sustainable development and trade through low-cost shipment of goods worldwide.

1. MARTIME
TRANSPORT

2. Maritime Transport
-maritime transport, fluvial transport, or more generally waterborne
transport is the transport of people(passenger) or goods(cargo) via
waterways.
-is the shipment of goods (cargo) and people by sea and other
waterways. Port operations are a necessary tool to enable maritime trade
between trading partners.
-maritime comes from the Latin word maritimus, which means “of the
sea”.
-can be realized over any distance by boat, ship, sailboat or barge,
over oceans and lakes, through canals or along rivers.

3. MARITIME HISTORY
-is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers
a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach,
although national and regional histories remain predominant.
-is a broad overaching subject that includes fishing , whaling,
international maritime law, naval history, the history of ships, ship design,
ship building, the history of navigation etc.
-while there is no way to know who invented the first ship, the first
named ship historians know about is the Praise of Two Lands. The Praise
of Two Lands was a large Egyptian ship built under the pharaoh Sneferu
around 2600 B.C. and made out of cedar wood.

4. Transport modes are the means by which passengers and freight
achieve mobility. They are mobile transport assets and fall into one of
three basic type; land (road, rail, and pipe lines), water (shipping), and air.
The main elements of air transportation instruction are runways,
hours of operations, and warehousing space.
IMPORTANCE
As the world’s population continues to grow, particularly in
developing countries, low-cost and efficient Maritime Transport has an
essential role to play in growth and sustainable development. Shipping
helps ensure that the benefits of trade and commerce are more evenly
spread.

5. Vessel Types Explained Modern seagoing commercial vessels
come in all shapes and sizes and are designed to carry a wide
variety of cargoes. This article will attempt to provide a brief
overview of the main types that are plying the oceans today and
give some history as to how each design has evolved. To begin,
the main cargo types should be defined. For the purposes of
this article, cargoes shall be divided into dry, liquid and
specialised, with each of these divided further into sub
categories. Dry cargoes include bulk, general and breakbulk,
containers, reefer and Ro-Ro. Liquid cargoes are predominantly
oil based but may also include chemicals and liquefied gasses.
Specialised cargoes include passengers, livestock and heavy-
lift/project.

6. Dry Cargo Ships: Historically, dry cargo vessels were
the mainstay of the world's merchant fleet. Known as
general cargo vessels, they would be "geared", that is
equipped with their own cargo loading equipment,
usually in the form of derricks. The cargo would be
stowed in different holds and the speed and
effectiveness of the loading/unloading process would
depend on the skill of the ship's crew and the port
workers or "Stevedores". Such ships would sometimes
operate a regular service between two or more ports as
"liners", but could also operate in the "tramp trade" where
vessels would go wherever they were required.

7. BULK CARRIERS/
DRY CARGO

8. Bulk Carriers: For dry cargoes with a high weight to cost ratio such
as coal, grain and ore, economies of scale have produced the
modern bulk carrier. These usually large vessels are divided up into
several separate holds covered by hatches. In port, cargo is loaded
by conveyor and spouts or by crane and grab. Some bulk carriers
are geared (usually a crane is located between each hatch) to allow
the loading and unloading of cargo at berths without the need for
shore equipment. For unloading, cranes with grabs are the norm
although specialised equipment may be used for certain cargoes.
When vessels unload using cranes and grabs, personnel and
vehicles will often be placed inside the holds to assist the process.
Cargo will usually be unloaded into hoppers and will then be
transferred by conveyor to silos or open storage, smaller vessels
may discharge directly into road vehicles.

9. General Cargo Vessels: Although largely replace by
bulk and container carriers, general cargo vessels still
operate throughout the world. Cargo is usually in the
form of pallets or bags and is known as breakbulk.
There may be specialised handling facilities for such
cargo, but usually loading and unloading is carried
out using cranes and straps (for boxes) or slings (for
bags). Loose or irregular cargo is also carried, in this
case the vessel's crew and port stevedores will pack
the cargo to minimise damage and maximise the
utilisation of space.

10. Container Vessels: Containers have become the
main way of transporting manufactured goods
around the world. A container can be transferred
between truck, train and ship relatively easily and is
a standard size to simplify transportation.
Containers can accommodate anything from
foodstuffs to electrical equipment to automobiles.
Containers are also used to transport bagged and
palletised goods, liquids and refrigerated cargo.

12. CONTAINER VESSEL

13. Reefer Vessels: Ships designed to carry a refrigerated cargo
usually comprising perishable goods such as fruit or meat
are known as "Reefer Vessels". Cargo is stowed in holds
which are then sealed and temperature controlled. Traditional
reefer vessels have been largely replaced by the use of
reefer containers which may be carried on board a container
vessel.

14. REEFER VESSEL/ RO-RO VESSELS

15. Tankers: These are little more than oil drums with an
engine. Though the most common tanker hauls oil, there
are other tankers that haul many different types of liquids
and gases. You can spot a tanker by the large amount of
piping forward of the bridge on the main deck. The piping
is for loading and off loading the cargo. There will be no
large hatch covers like there is on general cargo ships
and bulk carries, but there will be much smaller
manholes at each tank for workers who need to climb
down into the holds to work.

16. LIQUEFIED
GAS
CARRIERS

17. CRUDE/CHEMIC
AL CARRIERS

18. TUGS

19. PASSENGER VESSELS