Aggregate mining vessels engage in the extraction of sand and gravel from the seabed for use in the construction industry. The aggregate can only be removed from licensed areas and these are strictly controlled by the government.

Extremely accurate navigation is called for as such ships are all fitted with a sealed ‘black box’ that records the vessel’s position enabling officials ashore to track and monitor exactly where sand and gravel are being extracted from, hence safeguarding the nation’s natural raw resources.

 

British industry relies on shipments of raw materials from around the world, and massive bulk carriers, storeys high, ply the oceans with cavernous holds stacked with everything from iron ore and coal, to grain and phosphate. Iron ore mining operations are dominated by China, Australia and Brazil. Coal is mined in over 100 different countries and distributed worldwide. Bulk carriers vary in size from under 10,000 gross tonnage (gt) that undertake shorter voyages, and are able to navigate narrower channels delivering the cargo to much closer to the point of demand, to huge vessels exceeding 175,000 gt.

 

Container ships are the main ship type used to transport the world’s manufactured goods. Every day a vast array of consumer products from iPods and scooters to televisions and computers, roll off the production lines in the Far East and elsewhere, to be transported overseas from factory to market, aboard fleets of huge container vessels. The largest container ships are over 300 metres in length and capable of carrying more than 13,000 twenty-foot long containers.

 

98 % of the communications capacity of the planet is provided by cables laid beneath the world’s oceans. Crews operate specialist cable vessels to control the complex operations of the laying, retrieving and repairing of cables, tasks that often take place at enormous depths.

 

 

Cruising is a fast growing sector for world tourism, and ever larger, more luxurious cruise ships are being constructed, like Cunard’s Queen Mary 2. Cruise liners range from giants capable of carrying in excess of 5,000 passengers, to smaller, more specialist vessels with crews utilising state-of-the-art technology to ensure world-class levels of comfort, cuisine and safety.

 

A vast range of specialist vessels play an integral role in the exploration and production of oil and gas from beneath some of the world’s wildest oceans. Supply vessels carry essential supplies to the rigs, including everything from fresh water, food and sanitary supplies, to lubricating oil, spare parts and new machinery. Enormous skill is required to navigate and accurately hold the position of an unloading supply vessel within feet of a rig when high winds and waves are pounding the ship.

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Indispensable for an island nation, a variety of vessels supply the service of moving vehicles and people across the sea. Ferries range considerably in size, but whether the traffic they carry is freight, holiday-makers’ cars or passengers on foot, ferries are designed with efficiency in mind but, even though timetables must be maintained, passenger safety is always paramount.

 

Some of the largest ships in the world carry crude oil from the major centres of production to refineries all around the globe. Smaller products tankers carry out local distribution from refineries to where the products are required. Such ships can carry many different products in separate cargo tanks, which could include petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel.

 

 

Tugs play an important part in the operation of many of the world’s largest ships. Fleets of enormously powerful harbour tugs will often escort large vessels into port and assist with their manoeuvring in the close confines of harbours and restricted areas. Larger sea-going tugs undertake many of the world’s longest tows, repositioning the worlds rigs thousands of miles at a time. And when ships get into difficulty, the worlds salvage fleet is on-hand to assist offering firefighting services, towage and other emergency services.

The oil and gas exploration and production industries of the world are supported by a vast range of very specialist vessels which include standby vessels. These vessels provide  emergency and rescue services, as well as undertaking more routine tasks such as maintaining exclusion zones around installations and moving personal and supplier between local facilities.

 

 

Survey vessels are a further example of the many very specialist vessels plying the oceans of the world carrying out very complex tasks. These vessels often carry additional personal who will be experts in their own field, from geologists to meteorologists, seismologist to scientists in a vary array of other specialist fields.