Cargo Ships. Part-One.

General.

This is the official term used for most shipping under that of the Bulk carrier, Chemical and Oil tankers. The general cargo ship comes in various sizes and they are used for a mixture of cargo's, basically what ever order or contract they can get.

Timber, fertiliser, gravel, grains scrap, rubbish are some of the general cargo's, they operate into and out of all sizes of ports and facilities. Some of this ships are in fact glorified river barges, while others at one time were known as Coasters because they kept close to the coasts in their travels.

Most of these ships today carry their own excavators or small cranes, if the quay has no facility.

Today there are so many specialised ships that are dedicated to various roles, but the cargo ship will live on because of the demand to move all sorts of small amounts of goods and 'that is a great thing in its self.'

Bulk Carrier.

Large Cargo Vessels.

As long as humans can go to sea and there will be trade between nations, there will always be a need for large cargo vessels. Super tankers for crude oil and gas, bulk carriers for all dried goods.

These are the best means of moving 70-80,000 tonnes of coal, mineral ores, wheat, other grains and man made goods. Ships seem to be getting bigger and crews to service them lower, yet more vessels are being built every year. South-Korea and Japan seem to be the places to get the latest vessels, with their state of the art computer control systems.