History and Types of Maritime Services

LEARNING OUTCOMES..

Understand the important role that water plays in worldwide transportation (Section 1.2).
Become familiar with maritime history (Sections 1.3 and 1.4)
Distinguish between different types of ferries (Section 1.5) and cruise ships (Section 1.6).

1.1 OVERVIEW

In this unit you will learn about ships and the effect they have had on worldwide transportation. You will be introduced to the different types of ships available today and how they are important to the movement of people, goods and services and play an important role in recreation and leisure activities.

1.2 ATER:LINKING A WORLD OF TRANSPORT

Consider that 71% of the earth's surface is covered by water.

Water continues to be the vital link between people and the different regions of the world. Today, more than 40,000 cargo ships transport over 90% of world trade. Many of these ships carry people as well as cargo. As you can see from the Table 1.2, oceans cover the largest percentage of the earth's water areas.

Lakes, bays, seas, canals and other water masses are the remaining 7%.

Body Of Water

1.3 HISTORY OF WATER TRANSPORTATION

Since the beginning of time, boats have been used by man as a way to cross water. At first they used flat rafts and crossed rivers using long poles when the water depth made it possible. With time, small boats and sailing vessels were built to sail across greater distances. A need to carry goods and supplies to distant and newly discovered lands helped the cargo trade grow. The cargo shipping industry grew quickly, both technologically and in carrying capacity. Water has played, and will continue to play, a very important role in the economic development of worldwide passenger and cargo travel. As technology has advanced so have this ships.

Ships continue to grow in size, speed, efficiency and comfort. Shipping companies continue to improve their products and services to attract more passengers and make more profit. As a result, two different types of water transportation exist to meet passenger needs, in the form of ferries and cruise liners.

To better understand the importance of each of these water transport categories, we will look at ferries first as they have a much longer history. Nearly every country today can trace the history of ferry services and the important role they have in the development of transportation of passengers and goods. The following descriptions indicate some of the better known and important ferry services in the world today.