Maritime Transport

The maritime transport is the Means of the most important transport for the Transport of goods S (Merchant navy). The transport of nobody S by sea route lost much importance because of rise of the commercial Aviation; there remains significantly in only two important crenels: the short crossed S and the Croisière S. One can add to it to be complete the scientific voyages of exploration and the sporting races, which do not concern however strictly speaking transport.

The maritime transport is by nature international, except sometimes in its functions of Cabotage along the coasts of a country.

General presentation

The maritime transport consists in moving goods or men essentially by sea route, even if, occasionally maritime transport can deal with the pre-routing or post-routing (positioning of a container at the charger and its routing with the port, for example). Such a displacement will be covered by a bill of lading within the framework of the regular line or a contract of affreightment within the framework of a service of Tramping (when tonnages are important, for example).

More than 6 billion tons borrow the sea thus (in 2005), ensuring 90% of the world traffic.

This means of transport covers the main part of the raw materials (Pétrole and oil products, coal, Iron ore, Céréale S, Bauxite, Alumine, Phosphate S, etc). Beside this transport in bulk, it also covers the transport of beforehand conditioned products being presented in the form of paperboards, cases, pallet S, barrels, which one has habit to call of the various goods or “various” ( general cargo liner in English).

Since the middle of the Sixties, a new market of sea transport developed: that of the maritime Container S. Of a standardized format: 20 or 40 feet, these “boxes” made fulgurating great strides, revolutionizing at the same time the means of transport but also all the supply chain since the supplier to the final customer. Road transport, railway or even air adapted to make these boxes a “unit of intermodal transport”. The goods, once empotée out of container, do not undergo any more other handling to its final recipient. What is handled is thus the container and not the contents. There is no more breaking bulk.

The container, especially designed to be easily handled, stored, transported, quickly will present a certain number of advantages:

less damages and breaks
less losses and flights (not being visible, the goods do not cause temptation as much any more!)
a reduction of the costs by an improvement of the productivity to the loading: the ships charge and discharge more quickly thus spend less time to the ports (a ship with the port is a center of cost, and at the sea, a center of receipts).

The maritime transport of containers is done, more and more, by means of integral Porte-conteneurs, specialized. The holds are arranged in cells, true cells, and a system of rails makes it possible to guide by slip the containers there.

A true race with gigantism started to reach today of the 8500 equivalent twenty feet, even 10 000 according to the last orders of largest (the Danish Maersk is world number one for example and also has largest container ships in the world).

However, this race with gigantism is likely to be blown, these ships becoming difficult to show a profit and excluded from many European or different ports in consequence of weakness of depth of the latter or insufficiency food.

World merchant fleet

The world merchant fleet is made up various types of vessels. The table below presents the distribution of this fleet between these various types.

Speakers of the maritime transport

; The Ship-owner: It is the person who strictly speaking deals with the Maritime transport. That he is owner, operating or simple Affréteur, i.e. hirer out of a ship, his role is to transport the goods of a point has at a point B by the sea, in time and good state. To maintain with flood its company it is in relation to many other speakers:

* Transit S or Commission agent S which is the customers of the goods;

* the warehouseman S which carry out the harbor operations;

* companies of towing, piloting;

* the maritime insurers who ensure the ship, the Cargaison and who assume the responsibility in the event of accident (P&I protection and indemnity club ).

In the ports where it is not installed the ship-owner will entrust all these tasks to a Shipping agent trustee .

; The Shipping agent: It is the representative of the ship-owner, he fills the administrative formalities and deals with all the needs for ship before its arrival and at the time of its stay in port (tug boats, controls, repairs, relationships to the maritime administration, etc), of the needs for the crew (raises, medical visit, etc) and for the management of the cargo. The regulation obliges the ships to have an agent indicated on the spot.

; The Transport commissioner: It is the person who organizes the transport of the factory to the store. It chooses different the Transporteur S which it needs according to the goods that the charger entrusts to him. It has relations with the shipping agent for the reservation of the Fret S and the delivery of the goods.

; The shipchandler: It is the company which refuels (supplies, in tobaccos, specific alcohols, food products and all other requests.) the ships.

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