Shipping
and World Trade
The international
shipping industry is responsible for the carriage of around 90% of world trade.
Shipping is the life
blood of the global economy. Without shipping, intercontinental trade, the bulk
transport of raw materials, and the import/export of affordable food and
manufactured goods would simply not be possible.
Ships are technically
sophisticated, high value assets (larger hi-tech vessels can cost over US $200
million to build), and the operation of merchant ships generates an estimated
annual income of over half a trillion US Dollars in freight rates.
Safety
and Regulation
Shipping is the safest
and most environmentally benign form of commercial transport. Perhaps uniquely
amongst industries involving physical risk, commitment to safety has long
pervaded virtually all deep sea shipping operations. Shipping was amongst the
very first industries to adopt widely implemented international safety
standards.
Because of its
inherently international nature, the safety of shipping is regulated by various
United Nations agencies. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in particular
has developed a comprehensive framework of global maritime safety regulations,
which are enforced on a worldwide basis.
Environmental
Performance
Shipping is the least
environmentally damaging form of commercial transport and, compared with land
based industry, is a comparatively minor contributor to marine pollution from
human activities.
There has been a
substantial reduction in marine pollution over the last 15 years, especially
with regard to the amount of oil spilled into the sea, despite a massive
increase in world sea borne trade.
What about Efficiency ?
Consider
this:
Liner shipping is the
most efficient mode of transportation of goods. In one year, a single large
containership could carry over 200,000 container loads of cargo. While
individual ships vary in size and carrying capacity, many container ships can
transport up to 8,000 containers of finished goods and products on a single
voyage.
Similarly, on a single
voyage, some car carrier ships can handle 7,600 cars. It would require hundreds
of freight aircraft, many miles of rail cars, and fleets of trucks to carry the
goods that can fit on one large liner ship.
Ready
for some fun facts???
Containerships have
the capacity to carry several large warehouses worth of goods on a single
journey.
A large containership
engine weighs up to 2,300 tons has about 1,000 times more power than a family
car.
Large containerships
can be operated by teams of just thirteen people utilizing sophisticated
computer systems.
The ships' computer
systems are highly advanced, enabling the precise routing, transport, loading
and unloading of thousands of containers for every voyage.
If all the containers
from an 11,000 TEU ship were loaded onto a train, it would need to be 44 miles
or 77 kilometers long.
In an average year, a
large container ship travels three-quarters of the distance to the moon. That
means in its lifetime it travels to the moon and back nearly ten times.
A container of
refrigerators can be moved from a factory in Malaysia to Los Angeles -- a
journey of roughly 9,000 miles or 14,484 kilometers -- in just 16 days.
The
cost to transport a bicycle from Thailand to the UK in a container is about
US$10. The typical cost for shipping a DVD/CD player from Asia to Europe or the
U.S. is roughly US$1.50; a kilogram of coffee just fifteen cents, and a can of
beer - a penny.
For
more information and facts on shipping visit: World Shipping Council and International Chamber of Shipping
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