Updated at: 05-09-2021 - By: micdot

In this section we will discuss the various types of ships that are used by different nations. We will start with the most common types and then move onto the rarest.

We will also discuss how the design and construction of a ship affects its speed and how this in turn affects the type of ship it is best suited for.

Container Ships

Container Ships

Container ships are among the largest floating structures in the world. They are used to transport large quantities of cargo around the globe. These massive vessels can carry over 18,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. A TEU is a unit of cargo volume equal to 20 feet of a container. The world’s largest container ship is called the Maersk Memphis and it can hold 2,091 twenty-foot containers. That makes it equal to 16,241 TEUs.

Container ships are built for long-term use and they are very stable. They are powered by a combination of two or three main engines that are connected to a single screw. This type of propulsion system enables the container ship to travel at high speeds with very low consumption of fuel. The engines are arranged in such a way that they do not require a lot of maintenance and they have very long life spans.

Container ships are used all over the world for transporting goods of all kinds. They can carry a wide variety of cargo ranging from automobiles and motorcycles to heavy machinery and building supplies. Even household goods like furniture and appliances are often loaded onto container ships and transported to different parts of the world.

Bulk Carrier Ships

Bulk Carrier Ships

A bulk carrier is a large ship that is built to transport huge amounts of material like grain or ore. Bulk carriers are much larger than common cargo ships. They have massive hulls and enormous holds. The largest bulk carriers can carry up to 150,000 tons of cargo. Bulk carriers are so big, they have their own dedicated navigation channels.

Bulk carriers are almost always oil-fueled and have very efficient propulsion systems. They also have enormous propellers that are driven by extremely powerful engines.

These ships are used all over the world for the transport of all kinds of materials. They are so large and require so much horsepower, they are extremely useful for moving cargo in remote locations that have no other practical way to get the material where it needs to go.

Tanker Ships

Tanker Ships

A tanker ship is a large vessel that carries liquid in tanks. These ships are used for transporting all kinds of liquids, from gasoline to oil to water to chemicals. When you see one of these vessels in port, it looks like a mountain of metal sticking out of the water. The tanks are usually domed and painted bright orange to make them easily visible.

There are many different types of tankers. Some are freighters that carry huge amounts of product for long distances. Others are tankers that carry smaller amounts of product for shorter distances. These smaller tankers are usually called bulk carriers or “tank barges”. Bulk carriers have enormous carrying capacity. They can hold up to 105,000 barrels of product. Tank barges can hold anywhere from 1,500 to 30,000 barrels.

The size of the tanker has very little to do with the size of the tank. The largest tanker in the world is the Suezmax which has a cargo capacity of 147,000 deadweight tons. 

Roll-on Roll-Off Ships

Roll-on Roll-Off Ships

A roll-on/roll-off ship is a large containerized vessel that can transport cargo between two ports on opposite sides of a body of water. It is basically a long, skinny semi-trailer with wheels on each end.  The cargo area of a roll-on/roll-off ship has a low ceiling so it can be loaded and unloaded with forklifts.  This allows the containerized vessels to carry enormous amounts of cargo in an extremely confined space.

There are different types of roll-on/roll-off ships, but they all have a very similar appearance. The one shown here is a dry cargo ship and it was built in 1991 by the Darda Construction Corporation in Los Angeles, California.

It has a gross tonnage of 15,988 and it can transport 3,600 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of cargo. A TEU is a unit of measurement for cargo capacity and it is equal to 40 cubic feet. In this case, that means the vessel can carry about 90,000 cu. ft. of cargo.

Passenger Ships

Passenger Ships

A passenger ship is any boat that carries passengers for a living. They are often used for cruise ships, but can also be ferries, tug boats, and any other type of boat that transports people. The types of boats that are used as passenger ships vary greatly. Some are huge and carry thousands of people. Others are quite small and carry only a few people.

Whatever their size, all passenger ships have certain things in common. They all have a large amount of space below deck. This is where the living quarters are for the crew members. It’s also where the engines and other mechanical systems are located.

Above deck, passenger ships have a large amount of open space. This is where the passengers can sit and enjoy the scenery as the boat makes its way across the water. Some boats have outdoor decks with sun loungers and other amenities. Others may have just a small area to stand and wait for the next stop.

Offshore Vessels

Offshore Vessels

An offshore vessel is a boat which is constructed to be used in offshore locations. These boats are built to withstand the rigors of living and working in an environment which is very different from what you would find on the inland waters of a lake or river.

An offshore vessel must be able to withstand the rigors of living and working in an environment which is very different from what you would find on the inland waters of a lake or river. These boats are designed to operate in oceans, seas, and even large rivers and lakes. They are built with an eye toward efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Offshore vessels are used for many purposes including commercial fishing, exploring for oil and gas, and just plain fun. Whatever your reason for owning one, there is almost no limit to the kind of use you can put it to. If you have the money, you can own almost any type of offshore vessel you could ever want.

Fishing Vessels

Fishing Vessels

A fishing vessel is any boat which is designed primarily for fishing. It can be a commercial fishing boat, a sportfishing boat, or a pleasure craft used for fishing. A fishing vessel is distinguished from other kinds of boats by its configuration and the equipment it carries.

There are many different types of boats used for fishing. The most common are the center console boats (like the ones used by the Walt Disney Company), flats boats, dories, and flats skiffs. All these types of boats are used for various types of fishing.

Some boats are configured specifically for deep sea fishing. These may be large, multi-hulled vessels with a large volume of water between the hulls which helps to isolate the boat from the pounding of the waves. Other boats are configured for inshore fishing. These might be flats boats which have been reconfigured to allow them to go from shallow water to the deep ocean. Some boats are designed for both inshore and deep sea fishing. 

Speciality Vessels

Speciality Vessels

A specialty vessel is any boat which has been designed and built for a specific purpose. For example, there are bass boats, duck boats, fishing boats, gill netters, houseboats, jon boats, launch boats, party boats, racing boats, sea kayaks, ski boats, tuna boats, etc. A good rule of thumb is that if you can use it for more than one purpose, it isn’t a specialty vessel; it’s just a plain ol’ boat.

A few examples of specialty vessels are: A bass boat is a boat used to catch largemouth bass. A gill netter is a type of boat used to catch fish such as flounder and other bottom-feeding fish. A houseboat is a boat built especially to live in; it can be as simple as a pontoon boat with no other amenities or it can be a large luxury home on the water. A jon boat is a small, one-person boat often used for fishing.

High-Speed Craft

High-Speed Craft

A high-speed craft is any boat that can travel at speeds in excess of 45 MPH. This includes both commercial and pleasure boats. Some people consider a speedboat a high-speed craft, even though it only goes up to 30 MPH. A high-speed craft can travel on almost any body of water. It doesn’t matter if the body of water is a lake, a river, a canal or even a ocean.

High-speed crafts have a couple things in common. First, they are very fast and secondly, they have very large engines. These two characteristics combine to make them very efficient. They can travel great distances in a short period of time.

Most high-speed craft have a range of between 150 and 350 horsepower. This gives them enough power to reach speeds in excess of 45 MPH. They are usually between 22 and 32 feet long. This gives them plenty of room to operate with enough space to avoid hitting anything. Most often, they are powered by outboard motors. These are mounted on the stern of the boat and have two propellers.

Dredgers

Dredgers

A dredger is a kind of boat that is used to remove sand from the bottom of a body of water. Sand tends to settle in areas of the body of water that are shallow. A dredger with a long metal arm is dragged across the bottom of the body of water. The dredger has a bucket on the end of the arm. As the dredger is moved across the bottom of the body of water, the bucket is periodically emptied into a waiting truck.

Once all of the sand has been removed from the area being dredged, the boat is moved to another location where more sand needs to be removed. This process continues until all of the sand has been removed from the body of water.

FAQS

How many types of engines are used in a ship?

There are two main types of engines used on a ship. The first type is the diesel engine. A diesel engine is a very efficient engine that can run on either diesel fuel or vegetable oil. It weighs much less than a comparable gasoline engine and it has fewer moving parts. This makes it very rugged and reliable. In fact, a well maintained diesel engine will outlast the entire life of the boat.

The second type of engine is the gasoline engine. A gasoline engine is very similar to a diesel engine except it uses gasoline instead of diesel fuel. In fact, many people believe a gasoline engine is more dependable than a diesel engine. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Gasoline engines are extremely complex devices. They have over thousands of parts. Many of those parts are highly critical to the proper function of the engine. When one or more of those parts become worn or damaged, the engine will not run efficiently.

How many types of boilers are used in a ship?

There are two types of boilers in a ship, a high pressure boiler and a low pressure boiler. The high pressure boiler uses high pressure steam in the boiler, while the low pressure boiler uses the low pressure steam in the boiler.

A high pressure boiler is more efficient than a low pressure boiler, but it produces much more steam. So, a high pressure boiler will be installed in a ship if there is a need for high pressure steam or if the ship has a large steam capacity. On the other hand, a low pressure boiler is more efficient than a high pressure boiler, but it produces less steam.

Conclusion

Ships have been used for many years by different types of people for different reasons. Some people use them for their work, some people use them for their pleasure and some people use them just for exploring new places.

If you are going to buy a ship, you should think about the uses that you are going to put it to. Do you need a big ship or a small one? What is your budget for this purchase? Think about all this and then make your decision.

Hope you like this article!