TYPES OF VESSELS

SAILING • BEFORE READING:

• Work with a partner and answer the
following questions:

1. Describe the photo, mention all the

things/objects that you can see.
2. Do you have any experiences related to
sailing? Where did you sail to?
3. Where would you like to go sailing?
4. Are there any famous sailors or ship
captains from your country?
5. If you could choose any 3 people in the
world, who would you like to sail with?
Why?
 VERB TO BE + THERE IS/THERE ARE
READ AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING TEXTS, CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANSWER FROM
THE QUESTIONS IN BRAKETS

When we talk about vessels (there are/there is) several types.

They (are/is) classified according to the purpose she (serve/serves). (There is/there are) the
most common purposes:
• 1) Transportation of cargo or/and passengers;
• 2) Assistance and service. They (are/is) also called “special purpose vessels”);
• 3) The catching of fish (fisherman);
• 4) Peace keeping (warships)
(There is/are) some differences between sea-going, coastal trade and inland waterways.
 TRANSPORTATION
Liners and Tramps:

(There is/there are) vessels that (is/are) designed to transport cargo or/and passenger. They (are/is) called merchant ships.
(There is/there are) other ways to call them, liners or tramps, for example.

A Liner carries cargoes between two fixed destinations.

She (has/have) prearranged sailing schedule, she (has/have) a fixed homeport, port of destination and port(s) of call, fixed
ETA’s and ETD’s (Estimated time of arrival and Estimated time of Departure).
A liner-vessel (is/are) allowed to carry up to 12 passengers.

Tramps (is/are) freighters that (carry/carries) cargoes according to schedules that are not fixed. Homeports, ports of
destination, ports of call, ETA’s and ETD’s (is/are) different with every voyage.
Merchant ships may carry general cargoes, bulk cargoes, refrigerated cargoes, heavy cargoes timber and many more.
 ACTIVITY A. ACCORDING TO THE CONTEXT, TAKE A LOOK AT
THE UNDERLINED WORDS IN THE PARAGRAPH. THEN, SELECT THE
CORRECT MEANING.

1. Design a) things that are carried in a vehicle or ship

2. Merchant b) arranged or agreed previously
3. Liner c) large size or mass
4. Cargo d) a list of dates and times that shows when things will happen or a plan for
them to happen
5. Prearranged
e) wood that is used for building
6. Schedule
f) the process or study of how things look, are made, and function
7. Allow
g) someone who is travelling in a car, plane, etc., but not controlling it
8. Passengers
h) a large ship, like a hotel, that people travel on for pleasure
9. Freighters i) someone whose job is buying and selling goods, usually in large amounts
10. Bulk j) to say that someone can do something
11. Timber k) a ship (or aircraft) that carries freight rather than passengers.
GENERAL CARGO SHIPS
CONTAINER SHIPS

This (is/are), as the name

suggests, a vessel structured
specifically to hold huge
quantities of cargo compacted in
different types of containers.
TO HOLD
HUGE
CONTAINER
The bay-row-tier system

It (follow/follows) a system
of numerical coordinates:

- Length
- Width
- Height
LENGHT, WIDTH AND HEIGHT
The bay-row-tier system

Everything is
recorded in
documents!
- The stowage space of the
container on board the
ship (is/are) stated in
numbers and is (almost
always) recorded in the
shipping documents.

- It (are/is) then also

possible to establish at a
later date where the
Keep a
container was carried record of
during maritime reports!
transport.
 REFRIGERATED CONTAINER SHIPS
(REEFERS)

These vessels carry refrigerated cargo (mainly in refrigerated containers)

Bulk carriers (is/are) a type of ship BULK CARRIER SHIPS
which transports cargoes (generally
dry cargo) in bulk quantities.
The cargo transported in such ships
is loose cargo i.e. without any specific
packaging to it and generally contains
items like food grains, ores and coals
and even cement.
BULK
 TANKER
SHIP

Tanker ships are specialized

vessels for carrying a large
amount of liquid cargo.

Tankers are further sub-divided

into different types on the basis
of the cargo they carry.
 THE MAIN TYPES OF TANKERS
ARE:

• Oil Tankers: Oil tankers mainly carry crude oil and its by-products.

• Liquefied Gas Carriers: A gas carrier (or gas tanker) is a ship designed to transport LPG,
LNG or liquefied chemical gases in bulk.

• Chemical and Product Carriers: A chemical tanker is a type of tanker ship designed to
transport chemicals and different liquid products in bulk
OIL TANKERS
CRUDE OIL
LPG (LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS)
LNG (LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS)
CHEMICALS
 ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF SHIPS

Ro-Ro is an acronym for Roll-

on/roll-off.

Roll-on/roll-off ships are

vessels that are used to carry
wheeled cargo.
PASSENGER SHIP
There are a lot of passenger in
passanger ships.

They (is/are) mainly classified into:

Ferries – Vessels used for transiting

passengers (and vehicles) on short-
distance routes are called ferries.

Cruise Ships – Mainly used for

recreational activities, cruise ships are
like luxurious floating hotels with state-
of-the-art facilities.
 OFFSHORE VESSELS

Offshore vessels mainly

(help/helps) in oil
exploration and construction
jobs at sea.

(There is/are) several types

of Offshore vessels
 COASTERS

Coastal trading vessels, also

known as coasters, are
shallow-hulled ships used for
trade between locations on the
same island or continent. Their
shallow hulls mean that they
can get through reefs where
deeper-hulled seagoing ships
usually cannot. Cars can load
and unload cares in
shallow ports.
SHALLOW-HULLED
FISHING VESSELS

Ships or boats used for

recreational or commercial
fishing at sea are called
fishing vessels.
Fishing vessels are mainly
classified into two types –
trawlers and non-trawling
vessels.
 SPECIALITY VESSELS

Speciality vessels are constructed

and used for specific purposes.
• Tugs: A tug (tugboat) is a boat or ship that maneuvres vessels by pushing or towing them.
• Tenders – A boat or a larger ship used to service or support other boats or ships, generally
by transporting people and/or supplies is called a tender vessel.
• Pilot Crafts– Pilot crafts are used for the transportation of harbor pilots.
• Cable Layers – Cable laying vessels help in laying cables on to the sea bed. 
• Research Vessels – They are special types of vessels used for carrying out a variety of
researches at sea. Some of the most common types of research vessels are – seismic vessels,
hydrographic vessels, oceanographic vessels, polar vessels etc.
• Salvage Vessels – Salvage vessels are vessels engaged in salvage operation; recovery of lost
property at sea.
• Lightships: A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in
waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction.
• Barge Carriers/Lash ship/Lighter aboard ship/Seabee: A barge is a flat-bottomed boat,
built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods.
• Timber Carriers: Vessels that carry timber
• Livestock Carriers: Vessels that carry livestock/animals
• Ice breaker ships: They are used for cutting ice deposits in extremely cold climate
conditions to make waters navigational.
 DREDGERS
• Dredging (is/are) an excavation activity usually carried out underwater,
in shallow seas or freshwater areas with the purpose of gathering up
bottom sediments, removing sand and other types of deposits
• Dredgers are used for several purposes such as making shallow coastal
areas navigational, deep-sea mining etc.
• (There is/there are)two types of dredgers :
• Mechanical dredgers
• Hydraulic dredgers
 Hydraulic dredgers
Mechanical dredgers