Types of Ships
Click on a ship to learn more about it! We’ve included a brief description, a photo of each type of vessel, and links to informative YouTube videos from a wide variety of content creators.
Barge
Barges are slow-moving, flat-bottomed boats. Many barges do not have their own propulsion, requiring that they be moved from place to place by a tug boat. Barges are often used to move smaller amounts of cargo from a larger ship’s dock to a truck or train terminal.
Learn more!
Bulk Carrier
Bulk carriers are designed to carry goods that can be stored in large cargo holds, such as grains, coal, cement, etc.
Learn more!
Cable Laying
Cable laying vessels are designed to operate in the deepest parts of the ocean. These ships lay cables between continents, making transcontinental communication possible.
Learn more!
Chemical Tanker
Chemical tankers are specialized ships designed to safely transport chemicals across oceans. These ships are equipped with tank cleaning equipment, equipment to keep the chemicals stable during transport, and expert personnel to assist during transport.
Learn more!
Container/Cargo Ship
Chemical tankers are specialized ships designed to safely transport chemicals across oceans. These ships are equipped with tank cleaning equipment, equipment to keep the chemicals stable during transport, and expert personnel to assist during transport.
Learn more!
Dredge
Dredgers are used to widen and deepen canals, bayous, rivers, and bays. These are an important part of the shipping industry and make it possible for goods to get closer to their final destinations. Some ships are custom built with dredging cranes and large cargo holds to transport the material dredged from the body of water, while others are dredging cranes on barges, moved around with tugs to their destination.
Learn more!
Dry Cargo
Dry Cargo vessels are similar to Bulk Carriers except that they only carry dry goods such as grain, ore, powdered materials, and other dry goods.
Learn more!
Ferry
Ferries are merchant ships that are used to carry passengers across bodies of water. These ships range in size from carrying only a few people or animals to carrying hundreds of people and cars.
Learn more!
Fishing Vessel
Fishing boats come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Commercial fishing often involves mid-sized boats equipped with netting, buoys, traps, and other fish-catching devices. These boats also have holds that can hold water or ice to keep their catch fresh. Trawlers, Seiners, and Line Vessels, among others, are a few examples of fishing boat designs.
Learn more!
Heavy Lift
Heavy-lift vessels are either semi-submersible, meaning they fill tanks with water to sink slightly, getting underneath their cargo, then releasing the water to pick up the cargo, or ships equipped with especially large cranes that can lift heavy cargo.
Learn more!
HSC
HHSC stands for High-Speed Craft. HSC are usually catamaran or monohull designs with stability as the primary design factory. These ships are often used as ferries but due to their speed, they are limited in size and often carry fewer than 120 people.
Learn more!
Icebreaker
Icebreakers are specialized ships designed to creak through the ice near the north and south poles. These ships are often research vessels or part of a fleet escorting larger ships through icy waters.
Learn more!
Liquid Cargo
Liquid cargo is a general term referring to ships that carry any cargo in liquid form. This can range from chemicals, petroleum, dairy, and more. Usually, ships carrying liquid cargo are specially designed for that cargo such as LNGs and LPGs (We’ll get further into those later on in this series.)
Learn more!
Livestock
Livestock ships are specially designed so they can safely transport live animals. They are subject to appropriate regulation and are usually only used for short voyages. Their cargo includes everything required to care for the animals while in transport including food, water, bedding, medication, etc.
NOTE: Livestock ships are currently under a lot of scrutiny regarding the welfare of the cargo during the journey. Regulations are evolving and changing to help protect animals during transportation. Many exporters have switched to transporting livestock by airplane, due to the shortened time in cramped spaces.
While the United States does import livestock from other countries, including sheep and cattle from Australia, only 8 – 10% of beef sold in the United States is imported.
Learn more!
LNG
LNG is short for Liquid Natural Gas. Due to the volatility of LNG, these ships are specially made so that they are a double-hull design to avoid accidents and keep the LNG at the right pressure and temperature during transportation.
Learn more!
LPG
LPG stands for Liquified Petroleum Gas. These ships are similar to LNGs but used for liquefied petroleum. Their tanks are not as specialized, however, because LPG is more stable during transportation.
Learn more!
Multipurpose
A Multipurpose ship is usually for carrying cargo, however, these vessels are used for carrying a variety of cargo rather than a single type of cargo.
Learn more!
Offshore
Offshore generally refers to specialized vessels used for drilling and the collection of oil or natural gas. These vessels usually have at least some of their own propulsion, allowing them to stay in place in the ocean. Offshore vessels are different than oil platforms, as platforms have large pillars that anchor them to the ground.
Learn more!
Passenger/Cruise Ship
Pax is a commonly used appreciation for “Passenger”. A Pax or Cruise ship is a vessel used predominantly for tourism. These range in size from just a few passengers to thousands of passengers on the largest cruise ships. The largest cruise ship can hold 6,680 passengers!
Learn more!
Pleasure Craft
Pleasure craft are vessels that are owned and operated by individuals. These include larger yachts, small sailboats, speedboats, and wave runners. Canoes, kayaks, and rowboats also fall into this diverse category.
Learn more!
Reefer
A Reefer is a shortened version of Refrigerated Ship. These ships are used to transport goods such as meat, fish, vegetables, dairy, and other items that require temperature-controlled transportation.
Learn more!
RoRo
RoRo is short for Roll on, Roll off. These ships allow cargo to be loaded by rolling them on and off a ramp that folds down in the back of the ship. Cars, trucks, crates, equipment, and more can be loaded and unloaded without the need for a crane.
Learn more!
Sailing Ship
Sailing vessels are less common on today’s oceans but these ships are what allowed explorers to discover the world. These are masted ships with a large variety of sail configurations, allowing ships to sail in the correct direction regardless of the wind direction.
Learn more!
Specialized Ship
There’s no standard definition for a specialized ship. These are commissioned by companies who need to transport something very specific but not normally transported by ship. These are often used for major engineering projects and scientific discovery.
Learn more!
Tug
Tugs are the heartbeat of the shipping industry. These small but strong boats are used to maneuver larger vessels into dock, out of channels, around obstacles, and more.
Learn more!
ULCC
ULCC is an Ultra Large Crude Carrier. It’s simply a bigger version of the VLCC.
Learn more!
VLCC
VLCC creatively stands for Very Large Crude Carrier. These are massive ships that carry crude oil from wells all over the world to ports to be processed and turned into gasoline.
Learn more!
Warship
Many kinds of ships are used for maritime combat and protection including battleships, aircraft carriers, patrol boats, and many, many more.
Learn more!
