Types of ship

On the basis of cargo carried, dimensions,etc..ships are classified into:

• Container ships

• Bulk carriers

• Ro-Ro Ferries

• Passenger ships

• Offshore vessels

• Tanker ships

• Naval ships

• Fishing vessels

• Specialist ships

• Reefer ship

• Dredgers

Container ships

A vessel designed specifically for transporting huge quantities of cargo compacted in different types of containers.

Types of Container Ships On Basis Of Sizes:

• Panamax

• Suezmax

• Post-panamax

• Post-suezmax

• Post-malaccamax

The initiation of the container shipping forms in the maritime cargo industry is considered a huge development for the industry.

IMO's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) includes, in its chapter VI on carriage of cargoes, requirements for stowage and securing of cargo or cargo units (such as containers)

Bulk carriers

A vessel which is specifically designed for carrying large quantities of non-packaged commodities such as grains, coal, cement, iron ore etc. Bulk carriers were developed in the 1950s . Roughly around 5,000 bulk carriers trade around the world.

International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea defines a bulk carrier as, “A ship constructed with a single deck, top side tanks and hopper side tanks in cargo spaces and intended to carry dry cargo in bulk primarily; an ore carrier; or a combination carrier.”

IMO's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) includes, in its chapter VI on carriage of cargoes, chapter Xll on additional safety measures for bulk carriers.

Classification includes:

• Conventional bulkers

• Geared bulker

• Gearless bulker

• Self-discharging bulker

• Lakers

• BIBO (Bulk-In, Bags Out)

The main advantage of bulk carriers is its flexibility to carry wide variety of cargoes to ports even with low infrastructure.

The major hazard is cargo shift and liquefaction of cargoes (apart from this there are many other factors).

Ro-Ro Ferries(roll-on/roll-off)

A vessel specifically designed for carrying wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, trailers, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter.

The roll-on/roll-off ship is defined in the November 1995 amendments to Chapter II-1 of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974 as being "a passenger ship with ro-ro cargo spaces or special category spaces".

The November 1995 SOLAS conference adopted a series of amendments to SOLAS, based on proposals put forward by the Panel of Experts on the safety of roll on-roll off passenger ships which was established in December 1994 following the sinking of the ferry Estonia.

One of the ro-ro ship's most important roles is as a passenger/car ferry, particularly on short-sea routes.

Classification includes:

• Pure Car Carrier (PCC) and Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) RoRo Ships.

• Container Vessel + Ro-Ro (ConRo) Ship.

• General Cargo + Ro-Ro Ship (GenRo) Ships

• RoPax (roll-on/roll-off passenger)

• Complete RoRo Ships

Image byJarkkoManty

Passenger ships

As the name suggests, Ships which are designed for carrying people.

The classifications are :

• Ferries : vessels used for carrying passenger and vehicles over short distances.

• Cruise ship: luxurious ships carrying people on voyages just for leisure.

As per IMO any ship carrying more than 12 passengers on international voyages is classified as passenger ship and must comply with all relevant IMO regulations.

Passenger ships in operation today are subject to a vast array of regulations and standards covering every aspect of ship construction and operation.

International Safety Management (ISM) Code for passenger ships in 1998 was an important step in providing an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships and for pollution prevention.

Imageby limbovision

Offshore vessels

Offshore vessels mainly help in oil exploration and construction jobs at sea and for carrying out other specified operations.

They can be classified into:

• seismic survey ships

• platform supply vessels (PSV)

• anchor handling tugs

• anchor handling tug and supply vessels (AHTS)

• offshore construction vessels (OCV)

• ROV support vessels

• dive support vessels

• stand-by vessels

• inspection, maintenance and repair vessels (IMR)

And a variety of combinations of these.

Imageby Vinding

Tanker ships

Ships designed for carrying large amount of liquid cargo. Tankers carry wide range of products like oil, liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),Fresh water,Wine, Chemicals such as ammonia, chlorine, etc...

Based on the type of cargo carried,

The main types of tankers are:

• Oil Tankers

• Liquefied Gas Carriers

• Chemical and Product Carriers

• juice tankers

• wine tankers

• integrated tug barges

Based on size, tankers are classified into:

• VLCC (Very Large Crude Carriers)

• ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carriers)

• Panamax

• Aframax

• Suezmax

• Capesize

• Handymax

Image by GTraschuetz

Naval ships

Military ship used by navy. Naval ships are the means by which a nation extends its military power on sea to protect the sea areas and to prevent enemies to use sea to transport military forces. Naval ships also protect merchant ships from pirates.

Image by Military_Material

Fishing vessels

A Fishing vessel means any vessel used commercially for catching fish, whales, seals, walrus or other living resources of the sea.

There are also three fundamental ways of catching fish:

• By towing trawls or dredges;

• By surrounding the shoals by nets, purse seines

• By static means, lines, nets or pots

Fishing vessels are classified into:

• Commercial fishing vessels - such vessels catch seafood and fish for commercial profit.

• Artisanal fishing vessels- small scale, low technology fishing boats which are owned by individuals.

• Recreational fishing vessels- boats in which fishing is carried just for the purpose of entertainment. The main intention of such vessels is not fishing.

Image by moritz320

Specialist ships

Specially designed vessels for carrying out specific tasks. As per IMO, Special purpose ship (SPS) means "a mechanically self-propelled ship which by reason of its function carries on board more than 12 special personnel". (SPS Code para 1.3.12)

Some of them are:

• Live stock carrier

• Ice breaker ships

• Research vessels

• Barge carriers

• Tug boats

tug boat-Image by wfhayes

Reefer ship

Ships designated for carrying commodities under temperature controll such as fish,meat, diary products.

Such products will get contaminated if a specific temperature is not maintained.

Image by papazachariasa

Dredgers

Ships designated for excavation and scraping of the sea bed is called the Dredger.

Dredging operations are carried out for:

• Increasing depth of channels for easy navigation

• Removal of contaminants, due to oil spill, natural calamities.

• For creating new harbor