Transportation by waterways today is considered one of the cheapest ways of transporting goods between the continents. Shipping along the sea route is of great importance for the transport and commodity relations of many states. In addition, this method of transportation is used because transportation by sea is as safe as possible.
In particular, when it is required to transport natural gas and oil. They are transported in a liquefied state, used in a variety of spheres. Countries such as France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Italy and Japan do not have their own deposits, so the gas to these countries is delivered by cargo ships of a special modification, the so-called gas carriers. The gas is transferred to a liquid state for the convenience of transportation, for which it is squeezed or subjected to extreme freezing. Due to this, the gas volume decreases by more than six hundred times. Therefore, transportation of liquefied gas is a rather dangerous process. Transportation of liquefied matter is carried out with the use of special tanks that are made of carbon steel. They are located both in the hold and on the deck. In the event that the gas is liquefied by atmospheric pressure, it is transported in membrane tanks and thermally insulated, which are made of steel, aluminum and special alloys. The shape of the input tanks varies – it can be a prism, a cylinder, a sphere, a cube. Those vessels that are intended for the transport of liquefied gases are also equipped with additional equipment – in particular, cooling devices, liquefying installations, and various sensors that monitor the temperature of the cargo and the pressure inside the tanks.
Specialized vessels are also used to transport other goods that are no less expensive and dangerous – for example, oil products and oil. For transportation of oil, tankers are used – these are large vessels specially designed for transportation of fuel substances. The requirements and conditions for such transportation are always very high, because there are cases of leaks, and as a consequence, pollution of water masses and shorelines with oil products. Transportation of goods by sea transport is also relevant for those products that need to be transported at certain temperatures. In particular, it can be chilled food.
Vegetables and fruits, meat and poultry, fish and seafood … In the course of sea cargo transportation of such goods it is important to monitor the temperature regime, the level of moisture. The cargo must be protected from the effects of atmospheric phenomena. Sea transport of food products is usually carried out by refrigerators. Such ships require regular ship management services in Hamburg which is one of the most popular ports in Europe. It is important to note that sanitary and hygienic standards on such vessels are extremely high. Sea transportations are permissible for other cargo categories – for example, for transportation of bulk dry cargo. These can be fuel cells or food, building materials and chemicals. For their transportation dry cargo is used. There are also certain vessels designed for sea freight of various types of rolling equipment – these can be any variety of cars, vans, tractors, special machinery and road machinery. By the way, usually the loading platforms are equipped in such a way that the loading equipment is not required – the rolling mechanisms themselves move down special ramps to the side. However, rollers are used – such as lo-ro, for loading with a loading crane, and ro-ro, and other port agency services in Hamburg, which are used for horizontal loading. Cargoes for special purposes, as well as loads of non-standard form or special equipment is transported by special vessels. For the loading process, ballast is used. The possibilities of shipping allow us to keep this type of transportation of goods as an important link in all world trade practices.
