types of ships

TYPES OF SHIPS

A ship is a large buoyant 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. Historically, a "ship" was a sailing vessel with at least three square-rigged masts and a full bowsprit.

Ships and boats have developed alongside humanity. In armed conflict and in daily life they have become an integral

part of modern commercial and military systems. Fishing boats are used by millions of fishermen throughout the world. Military forces operate vessels for combat and to

transport and support forces ashore. Commercial vessels, nearly 35,000 in number, carried 7.4 billion tons of cargo in 2007. As of 2011, there are about 104,304 ships with IMO

numbers in the world.

BULK CARRIER

A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds.

CONTAINER CARRIER

Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

GENERAL CARGO

Ships used to move packaged merchandise from one locationto another. Due to the vast range of cargo materials, these ships are often designed specifically for the cargo which they will carry. Cranes and other heavy equipment needed to move, load and unload cargo are usually on-board. General cargo vessels are vital to international trade.

VEHICLE CARRIER

Vehicle carriers are multi-deck cargo ships designed to carry new cars and trucks (IHS/Fairplay). The cargo is loaded via ramps.

LIVESTOCK CARRIER

Livestock carriers are those ships, which specialiseexclusively in the transportation of large numbers of live animals together with their requirements for the voyage. (food, water, sawdust bedding, medication, etc.). Voyages on livestock carriers generally last from three days to three to four weeks.

REFRIGERATED CARGO SHIP/REEFER

A reefer ship is a refrigerated cargo ship; a type of ship typically used to transport perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled transportation, such as fruit, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foods.

FISHING SHIP

A fishing vessel is a boat or ship use to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.

OIL TANKER

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tankerand the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries.

GAS TANKER/CARRIER

A gas carrier (or gas tanker) is a shipdesigned to transport LPG, LNG or liquefied chemical gases in bulk.

CHEMICAL TANKER

A chemical tanker is a type of tanker ship designed to transport chemicals in bulk. As defined in MARPOL Annex II, chemical tanker means a ship constructed or adapted for carrying in bulk any liquid product listed in chapter 17 of the International Bulk Chemical Code.

PASSENGER SHIP

A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight.