Much before the invention of, ships were there which helped humans to travel and trade. The first shipping recorded dated back almost 10,000 years ago. Even in today’s world, years after the origination of airplanes, the use and need for ships have not decreased even a bit. About 90% of the trade in the world depends only on the shipping industry and this is the reason why it is considered as a primary means of trade transportation.

Besides this, Merchant Navy is a field where specifically designed ships are used to be able to transport huge cargos from one place to another. This is why they use different types of ships and here, we have made a list of some of the modern ships which are used in the merchant navy.

If you’re interested in ships, also read the differences between a ship and a boat (Boat Vs Ship).  

• Container Ships:

These are specially designed ships which are used to carry heavy containers. Shipping containers are huge containers with great strength to withstand shipment, handling, and storage. A large container ship is capable of storing up to 15,000 containers and it can cost almost between 10 million to a huge sum of 100 million, depending in the ship’s design and technology.

• Cruise Ships:

Cruise ships are passenger ships and are also called as a cruise liner. It is mostly designed and used for pleasure voyages. The interesting part is that the experience of being on a luxurious cruise ship is more important and enjoyable than the destination. Leisure cruising was introduced in the year 1822. Currently, the world’s largest cruise ship is the ‘Harmony of the Seas’ which is owned by the Royal Caribbean International Cruise Line. This cruise can house almost 6,360 passengers at a time.

• Ferries:

This vessel is a merchant vessel which is used to carry passengers, vehicles and sometimes cargos as well, across the water body. They are usually operated on a regular basis and mostly provide a return service also.

• Oil/Gas Tankers:

Oil or gas cannot be transported in a usual container ship and this the reason why special vessels are designed for the transportation of oil and gas. These special vessels are called as Oil/Gas tankers and the largest oil tanker ship was the ‘Seawise Giant’ which broke up in the year 2009.

• Chemical Carriers:

These ships are mainly designed for the bulk transportation of chemicals. These ships often carry sensitive cargo and thus they follow many safety rules and regulations for the safe and sound transportation of the same.

• Cable Layers:

These ships are designed and used to lay the underwater cables for the purpose of telecommunication and electric power transmission. Cable Layers are further classified into two subcategories which is based on their purpose and these categories are Cable repair ships and cable-laying ships.

• Car Carriers:

They are also known as Roll-on/roll-off ships and are mainly designed to transport wheeled cargos such as trucks, cars, trailers, tractors etc.

The above mentioned ships are just fa ew of the merchant vessels which are being used across the world today. However, there are many other vessels under operation which are used in the purpose of trade.