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 auxiliary.
Transport
These cargo ships are the main core of the river and sea fleet. They are designed to transport a variety of goods. This group has its own internal classification: cargo ships, utility and special. Actually, cargo can be bulk and dry cargo, and they include vessels of various purposes and types.
Each of these types will be considered in detail, including general-purpose and specialized dry cargo carriers, on which strictly defined cargoes are transported. General cargo cargo vessels intended for general transportation. They belong to the most common type.
Dry cargo vessels
Dry cargo vessels are ships with spacious holds that occupy their entire bulk. They are one-, two- and three-deck, depending on the size of the vessel. In the engine room, most often there is a diesel installation, it is located either in the stern, or shifted closer to the bow by a couple of cargo holds. For each hold, cargo ship projects provide for their own hatch or even more than one that closes mechanically.
Cargo vehicles are cranes or single booms with a lifting capacity of up to ten tons, and heavy vessels are supplied with more powerful ones - up to two hundred tons. Modern marine cargo ships have refrigerated holds for perishable goods and diptanks for edible liquid oils. But river bulk carriers, regardless of size and capacity, are equipped with only one cargo hold, it is more convenient to carry out loading and unloading operations.
Specialized ships
Such bulk carriers can be divided into groups of refrigerated, trailer, container ships, timber carriers, ships for the transport of cars, bulk cargo, livestock and the like. Refrigerators transport perishable products - fruits, fish or meat. In cargo holds - reliable thermal insulation, refrigeration units providing constant cooling with a temperature from five degrees to minus twenty-five. Modern refrigerators can not only maintain temperature, but also produce quick freezing, they belong to production and transport refrigerators. Dry cargo vessels designed for transporting fruits are equipped with enhanced ventilation of all holds.
Technical characteristics of cargo ships include a carrying capacity of up to twelve thousand tons, the speed of such dry cargo vessels is higher than that of general vessels, since the products are perishable and require possibly quick delivery. Container carriers transport pre-packaged goods in containers weighing from ten to twenty tons each, and the vessel itself lifts twenty thousand tons and moves at a speed of up to thirty knots. Containers are quickly and easily loaded and unloaded due to the fact that the deck of container ships is adapted for wider opening above the holds. Most often, loading and unloading are carried out by means of the terminal - gantry cranes. Timber trucks are a type of container carrier, these are barges called lighter carriers, they are unloaded from the vessel directly onto the water and towed to the pier.
Trailers
Today, all sea powers have this type of vessel, since it is a powerful, high-speed ship and allows quick loading and unloading - about ten times faster than on ships that are not equipped with special trailers, on which goods are simply imported and exported from the ship. Industrial development has significantly expanded and strengthened trade between countries; now it is necessary to transport construction equipment, agricultural, and transport vehicles over long distances. Sea and river cargo ships perform such tasks as well as possible.
Trailers carry goods in caravans that just 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 running type of cargo ship to date. They are constantly being improved. In addition to cargo in holds, many trailers are adapted to transport containers on the upper deck. Such ships even got their name - piggyback.
Bulkers
Bulk cargo is transported by specialized vessels - bulk carriers. This may be ore and ore concentrates, coal, fertilizers, building materials, grain and the like. More than seventy percent of all dry cargo transported by sea or river are bulk cargoes, and therefore the number of vehicles is growing very quickly: today more than twenty percent of the world's fleet tonnage belongs to this type.
Bulkers are divided into universal, for heavy cargo and for light. Many ships are adapted for dual purposes: there - ore, back - oil or cars, or cotton, but whatever. This type - single deck vessels, with a superstructure and engine room at the stern. Their carrying capacity is simply huge - up to one hundred and fifty thousand tons, but the speed is not high - up to sixteen knots. Cargoes are transported in holds with inclined walls for self-distribution of cargo - both longitudinally and transversely. Tanks for ballast water are located between the side and the walls. Sometimes longitudinal bulkheads are made in the holds to reduce heel if the load is displaced, and the second bottom is designed with reinforcements and a thickened flooring for the convenience of cargo operations.
Liquid vessels
This type of vessel is divided into tankers for oil products, crude oil, fuel oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene; on gas carriers; vessels for the transport of chemicals - molten sulfur, acids and the like; on transports for liquid goods - 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 one-deck vessel, superstructure and engine room are aft.
The cargo part is divided by bulkheads into compartments called tanks. Some of them serve as ballast water for the return flight. On the nose is the pump room. tankers are extremely fire hazard, therefore equipped with powerful fire protection systems. Their carrying capacity is from a thousand tons from distributors to four hundred thousand tons from supertankers - the world's largest vessels. River bulk carriers are also not offended with carrying capacity, some have it up to twelve thousand tons. These are also extremely powerful cargo ships. The photo above is a marine tanker, and below is a river tanker.
Gas carriers
These ships transport liquefied gases - methane, propane, butane, ammonia, as well as natural gases, which are a valuable raw material and excellent fuel. Typically, gas is either liquefied, or chilled, or under pressure. Gas carriers for projects are fundamentally different from tankers, because they have nested cylindrical tanks - horizontal or vertical, spherical or rectangular. Gas carrier insulation must be very reliable.
Cargo operations are carried out using a special system, which includes pumps, compressors, pipelines and an intermediate tank. Ballast in working tanks is not supposed to be accepted, and therefore it is equipped on the sides or in a double bottom. Gas transportation is always explosive, therefore there is a powerful ventilation system and gas leakage alarm. Fire extinguishing occurs using carbon dioxide. At present, the class of combined vessels is in demand, which is very beneficial for sea and river transport - empty runs are excluded. So there were cotton carriers, oil carriers and the like vessels.
RS-300
From 1967 to 1984, three 38 shipyards of the USSR produced project 388M seiners of the RS-300 cargo ship type. Four hundred eighty-six such seiners were built, among which those that served as fishing, fishing, and mining vessels. In addition, on the basis of this particular project, thirty-three more research vessels appeared (for example, the famous "Prudent"). For the purposes of scientific research, about one and a half dozen such vessels have long worked.
When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the need for them disappeared, some ships passed into private ownership, and most of them served their own and went into jail. The remaining ones were re-qualified as fishing ones. In the Far East, such vessels in small quantities, until recently, still worked in the border service. In private hands fishing RS-300 afloat now.
Other classification
In addition to the classification by purpose, cargo vessels can be subdivided according to other characteristics. This is the principle of maintaining on water, the area of navigation, the type of engine, the principle of movement, the 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 cavern, displacement (catamarans).
The principle of movement divides the vessels into self-propelled - with a power plant, non-self-propelled - with pushers and tugs, as well as rack-mounted - pontoons, landing stages. In the navigation area, it is possible to distinguish marine vessels, mixed (river-sea) and for inland navigation (river). The latter are intended for short voyages on inland waterways. The type of main engine divides cargo ships into motor ships (internal combustion engine) and diesel engines (electric motor). In the Navy, nuclear powered ships and turbo-boats are also used. Vessels are subdivided according to the type of propulsor into wheeled, screw, water-jet, with propellers and wings. The type of material of the case can be metal, fiberglass, reinforced concrete, wooden. 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 an unprofessional look. The wings are located high, the thickness of the hull, the fuselage, which is clearly striking, a certain "squat" (so that the load is closer to the ground for ease of loading and unloading). More wheels on the chassis, high tail.
Air cargo began in the distant 1911 - from the post office. Of course, there were no special projects, they appeared only in the twenties. The very first pure cargo plane was made in Germany - Air 232. Prior to this, cargoes were transported by slightly adapted Junkers. Airliners built according to special projects for cargo transportation are called freighters. They are not suitable for passengers.
The largest air cargo carriers
The real flying monster - An-225 ("Mriya") was developed at Antonov Design Bureau in 1984, the first flight took place in 1988. The six-engine turbojet high-wing, two-tail plumage and swept wing were supposed to create such a load-carrying capacity in order to transport parts of launch vehicles to the cosmodrome. The Soviet Buran space program called for 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. Hughes H-4 Hercules - a very powerful rarity of 1947, the wingspan is ninety-eight meters. Now this is a museum plane, since it was made in a single copy. Boeing 747-8I - cargo-passenger aircraft, mass-produced in 2008. He lifts four hundred forty-two tons on take-off, but in addition to cargo, he takes on board almost six hundred passengers.