Water transport includes inland water transport through rivers, canals, and lakes as well as ocean transport. Inland water transport is the oldest and cheapest mode of transport, with low construction and operating costs. However, it is slow and can only operate in certain areas. Ocean transport has the largest carrying capacity and is indispensable for foreign trade, but requires large capital investments. Water transport utilizes various vessels depending on the context, including ferries, boats, ships, and submarines.

1. WATERBORNE
TRANSPORT

2. Water transport is the cheapest and the oldest
mode of transport.
Operates on a natural track and hence does
not require huge capital investment in the
construction and maintenance of its track
except in case of canals.
The cost of operation is also very less.
It has the largest carrying capacity and is most
suitable for carrying bulky goods over long
distances

3. Kinds of Water Transport:
1. Inland water transport
2. Ocean-transport

4. Inland Water Transport
1. Rivers:
 Natural waterway which can be used as a
means of transport
 Played a very important role prior to the
development of modern means of land
transport.
 Their importance has gradually declined on
account of more reliable and cheaper transport
services offered by the railways.
2. Canals:
 Artificial waterways made for the purpose of
irrigation or navigation or both.
 Requires a huge amount of capital investment
in construction and maintenance of its track

5. The cost of the canal transport is, therefore,
higher than that of river transport.
The cost of providing water for the canals is also a
very big problem of canal transport.
3. Lakes:
 Lakes can be either natural like rivers or artificial
like canals.

6. Advantages of Inland Water
Transport
1. Low Cost
 Rivers do not require any cost of
construction and maintenance.
 Even the cost of construction and
maintenance of canals is much less or they
are used, not only for transport purposes
but also for irrigation.
2. Larger Capacity
 It can carry much larger quantities of heavy
and bulky goods such as coal, and, timber
etc.

7. 3. Flexible Service
 It provides much more flexible service than
railways and can be adjusted to individual
requirements.
4. Safety
 The risks of accidents and breakdowns, in this
form of transport, are minimum as compared to
any other form of transport.

8. Disadvantages of Inland Water
Transport
1. Slow
 Speed of Inland water transport is very slow and
therefore this mode of transport is unsuitable where
time is an important factor.
2. Limited Area of Operation
 It can be used only in a limited area which is served
by deep canals and rivers.
3. Seasonal Character
 cannot be operated throughout the year as water
may freeze during winter or water level may go very
much down during summer.

9. 4. Unreliable
 Sometimes the river changes its course which
causes dislocation in the normal route of the
trade.
5. Unsuitable for Small Business
 not suitable for small traders, as it takes normally
a longer time to carry goods from one place to
another

10. Inland waterways of India
• India has about 14,500 km of navigable
waterways out of which about 5200 km of the
river and 4000 km of canals
• Around 55% of this is used regularly.
• About 44 million tones of cargo is moved
annually through these waterways using
mechanized vessels and country boats.

11. Inland waterways of India
• National waterway 1 - Allahabad–Haldia stretch of
the Ganges–Bhagirathi–Hooghly river of total length 1620 km
was declared as National Waterway-1 (NW-1) in the year
1986.
• National Waterway 2 - Sadiya–Dhubri stretch of
the Brahmaputra river of total length 891 km was declared as
National Waterway-2 (NW-2) in the year 1988.
• National Waterway 3 - Kollam–Kottapuram stretch of West
Coast Canal and Champakara and Udyogmandal canals of
total length 205 km was declared as National Waterway-3
(NW-3) in the year 1993.

12. • National Waterway 4 - Kakinada–Pondicherry stretch of
canals and Bhadrachalam–Rajahmundry stretch
of River Godavari and Wazirabad–Vijayawada stretch
of River Krishna of total length 1095 km was declared
as National Waterway-4 (NW-4) in the year 2008.
• National Waterway 5 - Talcher–Dhamra stretch of
rivers, Charbatia–Dhamra stretch of Matai river
andMahanadi delta rivers of total length 620 km was
declared as National Waterway-5 (NW-5) in the year
2008.
• National Waterway 6 - Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of
121 km of the Barak River is the 6th waterway declared
on January 2013.

14. Ocean transport
• Ocean transport is indispensable for foreign
trade.
• It operates on a natural track, i.e., the sea.
• Thus it does not require any investment in the
construction and maintenance of its track.
• Hence it is the cheapest mode of transport.
Ocean transport includes:
1. Coastal Shipping
2. Overseas Shipping

15. 1. Coastal Shipping:
 for carrying goods from one part to another in a
country.
 It is a cheaper and quicker mode of transport
 most suitable for carrying heavy, bulky and
cheap traffic like coal, iron ore, etc. to distant
places.
 But it can serve only limited areas.
2. Overseas Shipping
There are three types of vessels employed in the
overseas shipping
1. Liners,
2. Tramps,
3. Tankers.

16. 1. Liners
– ships which have regular fixed routes, time and
charges
– They provide a uniform and regular service
– Liners sail on scheduled dates and time,
whether full of cargo or not.
2. Tramps
– ships which have no fixed routes
– They have no set rules or rate schedule & they
do not sail till they have full cargo.
– They can be chartered by exporters and are
ready to sail anywhere and at any time.
3. Tankers
– vessels which are specially designed to carry oil,
petrol and such other liquids.

17. Advantages of Ocean transport
• Operates on a natural track. Hence, does not require huge
amount of capital investment in the construction and
maintenance of track.
• Cheapest - Due to the smooth surface of sea, less tractive
power is required for operation which results in a lesser
cost of operation.
• Largest carrying capacity as compared to any other
transport.
• The risk of damage in transit of the goods is also less as
compared to other modes of transport.
• Only suitable mode of transport for carrying heavy and
bulky goods to distant places.
• Indispensable to foreign trade.

18. MODES OF WATER TRANSPORTATION
1. Ferry
2. Boat
3. Ship
4. Submarine

19. FERRY
• Ferry- is a boat or ship (a merchant vessel)
used to carry primarily passengers, and
sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a
body of water.
• Most ferries operate on regular, frequent,
return services.
• A passenger ferry with many stops, is
sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.

20. FERRY

21. TYPES OF FERRY
• Ferry designs depend on the length of the
route, the passenger or vehicle capacity
required, speed requirements and the water
conditions the craft must deal with.

22. • Double-ended- ferries have interchangeable
bows and sterns, allowing them to shuttle
back and forth between two terminals
without having to turn around. Well-known
double-ended ferry systems include the
Staten Island Ferry, Washington State
Ferries, etc.

23. • Hovercraft were developed in the 1960s and
1970s to carry cars. The hovercraft was
superseded by catamarans which are nearly
as fast and are less affected by sea and
weather conditions. Only one service now
remains, a foot passenger service between
Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight (UK).

24. • Hydrofoils -have the advantage of higher
cruising speeds. Passenger-only hydrofoils also
proved a practical, fast and relatively
economical solution in the Canary Islands but
were recently replaced by faster catamaran
"high speed" ferries that can carry cars.

25. • Catamarans are normally associated with high-
speed ferry services. The largest catamarans in
the world is the Stena HSS class, between the
United Kingdom and Ireland, displacing 19,638
tonnes and can accommodate 375 passenger cars
and 1,500 passengers.

26. Roll-on/roll-off ferry
• Cruiseferry is
a ship that
combines the
features of a
cruise ship

27. Pontoon ferries carry vehicles across rivers and
lakes and are widely used in less-developed
countries
• A Train ferry
is a ship
designed to
carry railway
vehicles.

28. •Foot ferries are small craft used to ferry foot
passengers, and often also cyclists, over rivers.
• Cable or chain ferry, which is usually a pontoon
ferry, where the ferry is propelled along and
steered by cables connected to each shore.

29. Boat
• A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float
or plane, to work or travel on water.
• Small boats are typically found on inland (lakes)
or in protected coastal areas.
• Boats such as the whaleboat were designed for
operation from a ship in an offshore
environment.

30. Boats can be categorized into three main types:
• Unpowered or human-powered boats.
Unpowered boats include rafts and floats meant
for one-way downstream travel. Human-powered
boats include canoes, kayaks,etc.
• Sailboats, which are propelled solely by means of
sails.
• Motorboats, which are propelled by mechanical
means, such as engines.

31. Ship
• A ship is a large watercraft.
• Ships are generally distinguished from boats
based on size, shape and cargo or passenger
capacity.
• Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a
variety of activities, such as the transport of
people or goods, fishing, entertainment,
public safety and warfare.

32. Ship

33. Types of Ships
• Dry cargo ships - tramp freighters, bulk
carriers, cargo liners, container vessels, barge
carriers, refrigerated cargo ships, timber
carriers, livestock & light vehicle carriers.
• Liquid cargo ships - Oil tankers, liquefied gas
carriers, chemical carriers.
• Passenger vessels

34. SUBMARINE
• A submarine is a watercraft capable of
independent operation underwater.