Cargo ships and their classification

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Any domestic classification of ships is based primarily on their purpose. Cargo ships are classified in the same way. Civilians are divided into fishing, transport, belonging to the technical fleet and service and support.

Transport

These cargo ships are the main core of the river and sea fleet. They are designed to carry a variety of goods. This group has its own internal classification: cargo ships, cargo-passenger and special. Actually, cargo ships are liquid and dry cargo, and they include vessels of various purposes and types.

Each of these types will be considered in detail, including general-purpose dry-cargo ships and specialized ones, which transport strictly defined cargoes. Cargo ships intended for general transportation are general purpose. They belong to the most common type.

Dry cargo ships

Dry cargo ships are ships with spacious holds occupying their entire main part. They are one-, two- and three-deck, depending on the size of the vessel. Most often in the engine roomdiesel installation, it is located either in the stern, or shifted closer to the bow by a couple of cargo holds. For each hold, the projects of cargo ships provide for their own hatch or even more than one, which closes mechanically.

Cargo means are cranes or individual booms with a lifting capacity of up to ten tons, and heavy ships are supplied with stronger ones - up to two hundred tons. Modern offshore cargo ships have refrigerated holds for perishable cargoes and deep tanks for edible liquid oils. But river dry cargo ships, regardless of size and capacity, are equipped with only one cargo hold, so it is more convenient to carry out loading and unloading operations.

Specialized Vessels

Such bulk carriers can be divided into groups into refrigerated, trailer, container ships, timber carriers, vehicles for transporting cars, bulk cargo, livestock and the like. Refrigerators transport perishable products - fruits, fish or meat. In the cargo holds - reliable thermal insulation, refrigeration units that provide constant cooling with a temperature of five degrees to minus twenty-five. Modern refrigerators can not only maintain the temperature, but also produce rapid freezing, they are classified as production and transport refrigerators. Bulk carriers designed to transport fruit are equipped with enhanced ventilation in all holds.

The technical characteristics of cargo ships provide for a carrying capacity of up to twelve thousand tons, the speed of such dry cargo ships is higher than that ofgeneral purpose ships, since the products are perishable and require the fastest possible delivery. Container ships transport pre-packaged cargo in containers weighing between ten and twenty tons each, and the ship itself lifts twenty thousand tons and travels at speeds up to thirty knots. Containers are quickly and easily loaded and unloaded due to the fact that the deck of container ships is adapted to a wider opening above the holds. Most often, loading and unloading is carried out by means of the terminal - portal cranes. Timber carriers are a type of container ship, these are barges called lighter carriers, they are unloaded from the ship directly onto the water and towed to the pier.

Trailers

Today, all maritime powers have ships of this type, since this ship is powerful, fast and allows you to quickly load and unload - about ten times faster than on ships that are not equipped with special trailers, on which cargo is simply imported and removed from the ship. Industrial development has significantly expanded and strengthened trade between countries, now it is necessary to transport construction equipment, agricultural, and transport equipment over long distances. Sea and river cargo ships are the best at performing such tasks.

Trailers transport goods in trailers that simply roll into the holds. The carrying capacity of trailers is from one thousand to ten thousand tons, and the speed is up to twenty-six knots. This is the most promising and currently running type of cargo ship. They are constantly being improved. Manytrailers, in addition to cargo in the holds, are adapted to transport containers on the upper deck. Such ships even got their name - piggyback.

Bulk carriers

Bulk cargo is transported by specialized ships - bulk carriers. It can be ore and ore concentrates, coal, mineral fertilizers, building materials, grain, and the like. More than seventy percent of all dry cargo transported by sea or river routes is bulk cargo, and therefore the number of vehicles is growing very quickly: today, more than twenty percent of the tonnage of the world fleet belongs to this type.

Bulk carriers are divided into universal, for heavy cargo and for light. Many ships are adapted for dual use: there - ore, back - oil or cars, or cotton, whatever. This type is single-deck vessels with superstructure and engine room in the stern. Their carrying capacity is simply huge - up to one hundred and fifty thousand tons, but the speed is low - up to sixteen knots. Cargoes are transported in holds with inclined walls for self-distribution of cargo - both longitudinally and transversely. Between the side and the walls are tanks for water ballast. Sometimes there are longitudinal bulkheads in the holds to reduce roll if the cargo shifts, and the second bottom is designed with reinforcements and thickened flooring for the convenience of cargo operations.

Tunnelers

This type of vessel is divided into tankers for oil products, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene; for gas carriers;vessels for the transport of chemicals - molten sulfur, acids and the like; on transports for liquid cargoes - water, wine, cement. Tankers are the most common in the world: more than forty percent of the world's tonnage in the transport fleet. This is a single deck vessel with superstructure and engine room at the stern.

The cargo section is divided by bulkheads into compartments called tanks. Some of them serve as water ballast for the return flight. On the bow is the pump room. tankers are extremely flammable, therefore they are equipped with powerful fire-fighting systems. Their carrying capacity is from a thousand tons for distributors to four hundred thousand tons for supertankers - the world's largest ships. River tankers are also not offended by their carrying capacity, some have it up to twelve thousand tons. These are also extremely powerful cargo ships. The photo above is an offshore tanker, and below is a river tanker.

Gas carriers

These ships carry liquefied gases - methane, propane, butane, ammonia, as well as natural gases, which are valuable raw materials and excellent fuel. Usually the gas is either liquefied, or refrigerated, or under pressure. Gas carriers according to the projects are fundamentally different from tankers, since they have nested cylindrical tanks - horizontal or vertical, spherical or rectangular. Insulation on gas carriers must be very reliable.

Cargo operations are carried out using a special system, which includes pumps, compressors, pipelines and an intermediate tank. Ballast is not supposed to be taken into working tanks, and therefore it is equipped on the sides or in a double bottom. Gas transportation is always explosive, so there is a powerful ventilation system and a gas leak alarm. Fires are extinguished with carbon dioxide. At present, the class of combined vessels is in demand, which is very beneficial for sea and river transportation - empty runs are excluded. This is how cotton-timber carriers, oil ore carriers and similar vessels appeared.

RS-300

From 1967 to 1984, three shipyards of the USSR produced seiners of project 388M of the "Cargo ship RS-300" type. Four hundred and eighty-six such seiners were built, among which were those that served as commercial, fishing, mining vessels. In addition, thirty-three more research vessels appeared on the basis of this particular project (for example, the famous "Cautious"). For the purposes of scientific research, about a dozen such vessels worked for a long time.

When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the need for them disappeared, some ships became private property, and most of them served their time and got laid up. The rest were retrained in fishing. In the Far East, such vessels in small numbers, until recently, still worked in the border service. In private hands, fishing RS-300s are still afloat.

Other classification

In addition to the classification by purpose, cargo ships can be divided according to other criteria. These are the principle of maintaining on the water, the navigation area, the type of engine, the principle of movement,type of mover, material and shape of the hull. The principle of maintenance can be hydrodynamic - hydrofoils, air cushion, glider, as well as hydrostatic - air cavity, displacement (catamarans).

The principle of movement divides ships into self-propelled - with a power plant, non-self-propelled - with pushers and tugs, as well as rack-mount - pontoons, landing stages. According to the navigation area, it is possible to distinguish sea vessels, mixed (river-sea) and for inland navigation (river). The latter are intended for short trips on inland waterways. The type of main engine divides cargo ships into motor ships (internal combustion engine) and diesels (electric motor). Nuclear-powered and turboships are also used in the navy. Vessels are subdivided according to the type of propulsion into wheeled, screw, water jet, with propellers and wings. The type of body material can be metal, fiberglass, reinforced concrete, wood. Also, ships can be self-propelled and not (barges).

Cargo aircraft

A cargo plane is used to transport not passengers, but a variety of goods and equipment. They are immediately and easily recognized even by a non-professional eye. The wings are located high, the thickness of the hull, the fuselage, which is clearly conspicuous, a certain "squatness" (so that the cargo is closer to the ground for ease of loading and unloading). More wheels per chassis, high tail.

Air transportation of goods began back in 1911 - from the post office. Of course, there were no special projects yet, they appeared only in the twenties. The very first purethe cargo plane was made in Germany - Air 232. Before that, slightly adapted Junkers transported cargo. Airliners built on special projects for cargo transportation are called charterers. They are not adapted for passengers.

The largest air cargo carriers

A real flying monster - An-225 ("Mriya") was developed in Antonov Design Bureau in 1984, the first flight took place in 1988. The six-engine turbojet high-wing wing, twin tail and swept wing were supposed to create such a carrying capacity to transport parts of launch vehicles to the spaceport. The Soviet space program "Buran" assumed the use of this particular aircraft, which is capable of lifting more than two hundred and fifty tons.

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is an American cargo airliner born in 1968, it is a military transporter capable of simultaneously transporting six armored personnel carriers, two tanks, four infantry fighting vehicles, six Apache helicopters. The Hughes H-4 Hercules is a very powerful rarity built in 1947 with a wingspan of ninety-eight meters. Now it is a museum aircraft, since it was made in a single copy. Boeing 747-8I is a cargo-passenger aircraft put into serial production in 2008. He lifts four hundred and forty-two tons on takeoff, but in addition to cargo, he takes on board almost six hundred passengers.