Ship Types
This type of ship constructed in such a way that she can easily stack containers near and on top of each other as well as on deck. A vessel designed to carry standard intermodal containers enabling efficient loading, unloading, and transport to and from the vessel.
Ocean going merchant ship designed to transport a unit load of standard-sized containers 8 feet square and 20 or 40 feet long. The hull is divided into cells that are easily accessible through large hatches, and more containers can be loaded on deck atop the closed hatches. Loading and unloading can proceed simultaneously using giant traveling cranes at special berths. Container ships usually carry in the range of 25,000 to 50,000 deadweight tons. Whereas a general-cargo ship may spend as much as 70 percent of its life in port loading and discharging cargo, a container ship can be turned around in 36 hours or less, spending as little as 20 percent of its time in port. Specialized types of container ships are the LASH and SeaBee which carry floating containers (or "lighters,") and RoRo ships, which may carry containers on truck trailers.
Tanker
A tanker is a bulk carrier designed to transport liquid cargo, most often petroleum products. Oil tankers vary in size from small coastal vessels of 1,500 tons deadweight, through medium-sized ship of 60,000 tons, to the giant VLCCs (very large crude carriers).
The Ship is designed for the carriage of oil in bulk, her cargo space consisting of several or many tanks. Tankers load their cargo by gravity from the shore or by shore pumps and discharge using their own pumps.
Reefer
A Reefer is a refrigerator ship; a vessel designed to carry goods requiring refrigeration, such as meat and fruit. A reefer ship has insulated holds into which cold air is passed at the temperature appropriate to the goods being carried.
Reeferships may be split into two categories:
Sidedoor vessels have sidedoors that is lowered to the quay and serve as loading/discharging ramps for the forklifts. In the rear of the sidedoor there is a double pallet elevator, which brings the cargo to the respective decks. This special design makes the vessels particularly well suited for short distance trade.
Conventional vessels have a traditional cargo operation with hatches and cranes/derricks well suited for the handling of palletized and loose cargo.
Offshore Rigs & drill ships
Drilling for oil in the ocean is one of the greatest technological breakthroughs in recent decades, and many new techniques have been developed to profit from the abundance of oil underneath the ocean floor. While drilling for oil has been around for hundreds of years in one form or the another, the effective extraction of petroleum from beneath the sea floor did not surface until the last forty years. The search for oil often turns out to be unproductive, but this practice is vital for the economic future of many nations.
A Drill ship is a type of Offshore Rig.
These are usually one of two types:
1. a ship which was designed and built to be a drilling vessel; or
2. an older vessel which has been refitted with drilling equipment.
Drillships are self-propelled, carrying a complete ship's crew while underway, as well as a crew of drilling personnel. Drillships are moored either by the standard anchoring system or by dynamic positioning of the vessel. Dynamic positioning is the use of a computer-operated inboard thruster system, which keeps the vessel on location without the use of anchors. This arrangement allows vessels to drill in ultra-deep water.
Tugs
A Tug is a small vessel designed to tow or push large ships or barges. Tugs have powerful diesel engines and are essential to docks and ports to manoeuvre large ships into their berths. Pusher tugs are also used to push enormous trains of barges on the rivers and inland waterways. Salvage tugs provide assistance to ships in distress and engage in such work as towing drilling rigs and oil production platforms.
Tugboats are quite strong for their size. Early tugboats had steam engines; today diesel engines are used. Tugboat engines typically produce 750 to 3000 horsepower (500 to 2000 kW), but larger boats (used in deep waters) can have power ratings up to 25.000 hp (20.000 kW). The engines are often the same as those used in railroad engines, but typically drive the propellor mechanically instead of converting the engine output to power electric motors, as is common for railroad engines. For safety, tugboats engines feature two of each critical part for redundancy.
Tugboats are highly manoeuvrable due to their propulsion units. Instead of a normal propeller, often the so called Schottel propulsion system or the Voith-Schneider propulsion system are used on tugboats designed for tasks such as ship docking and marine construction. Conventional propeller/rudder configurations are more efficient for port-to-port towing. Thrust is sometimes enhanced by the installation of Kort nozzles.
The Kort nozzle is a sturdy cylindrical structure around a special propeller having minimum clearance between the propeller blades and the inner wall of the Kort nozzle. The thrust : power ratio is enhanced because the water approaches the propeller in a linear configuration and exits the nozzle the same way.
A revolutionary new type of tugboat has been invented in the Netherlands. The so-called carrousel tug comprises of a design where not the propulsion determines the flexibility and effectiveness of the tugboat's manoeuvres, but a steel construction on deck, consisting of two steel rings. The inner ring is fixed to the ship, and the second ring rotates freely and carries a hook or winch. The ship cannot only manoeuvre now 360 degrees independent from the seegoing ship, but due to the fact that the towing point rotates towards the point nearest to the seagoing ship (the towline force always stays over the ship's center of Gravity), the tug cannot capsize anymore. This is considered to be the safest tugboat at the moment. Only one prototype exists, but the first new builds are expected to sail in 2006.
Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug
Research Vessels
A research vessel facilitates the collection of fisheries, geophysical, oceanographic and environmental data and provides practical training for marine scientists. It is fitted with state of the art scientific equipment and enables marine scientists to carry out for example environmental, geological/ hydrographic and fisheries surveys, data buoy deployment and recovery.
The Marine Institute has two research vessels currently mapping Ireland's marine resource (which is over 220 million acres!).
Institute's vessel the RV Celtic Voyager is 31.4m and facilitates the collection of fisheries, geological, oceanographic and environmental data. It also provides practical training for the next generation of marine scientists.
The recently built RV Celtic Explorer arrived in Galway on the 30th December 2002 and provides the capability to undertake scientific investigations further offshore, making the entire EEZ accessible for the first time. The vessel was funded under the National Development Plan 2000-2006.
You can track the two Marine Institute research vessels by clicking on the link below.
http://www.marine.ie/rnd+facilities/research+vessels/vessel+tracking/default.asp
Hydrographic Vessels
These vessels carry out geological surveys for Hydrographic Offices whose task is to is to provide for reliable surveys of the waters in the area of responsibility, and to deliver a nautical information service to commercial and naval shipping, consisting of charts and nautical publications.
Cruise Ship
A cruise ship, or less commonly cruise liner or luxury liner, is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the amenities of the ship are considered an essential part of the experience.
Cruising has become a major part of the tourism industry, with hundreds of thousands of passengers each year.
Modern Cruise and Passenger ships are run on the lines of a large hotel so a whole range of catering and hospitality support services is needed on board. These ships travel to the four corners of the World and take their passengers to exotic destinations.
Ferries
A ferry is a boat that transports people or vehicles across a body of water and operates on a regular schedule.
At first most ferries were small boats or rafts, propelled by oars or poles and sometimes assisted by sails. Some ferries today still make short passages by winching themselves back and forth along a chain fastened to the shore on both sides. Other ferries rely on the force of the current against the side of the boat to push the ferry. Most ferries for heavier traffic and longer passages are powered by diesel or diesel-electric engines, such as the largest ferry in the world, the GTS Finnjet; others, such as the Staten Island ferry in New York City, are steam powered. Where railroad bridges are impracticable, there are train ferries; these may use paddle wheels for manoeuvrability or may simply be barges pushed by tugs.
An innovation during the latter half of the 20th cent. was the “fast ferry,” high-speed ferries that have become an important component of transportation systems around the globe. This alternative provides a critical link for commuters and travelers in many world regions. Such passenger-only or combination motor vehicle and passenger ferries are relied upon in coastal ports in Europe, Asia, and Australia. The designs of these ferries incorporate features of catamarans, hydrofoils, and air-cushion vehicles.
Take a virtual tour of the Largest Car Ferry in the World, the Irish Ferries MV Ulysses