SHIPPING General

Aspects

Merchant ships are designed to carry cargo.

Some are also designed to carry passengers.
Nowadays, most merchant ships are built to
carry cargo, but a few still carry passengers.

Merchant vessels can operate in the following three

basic ways. They can operate as liners. These are
employed on regular routes on a fixed timetable. A
list of their arrival and departure dates is published
in advance and they sail whether full or not. Liners
can be classed as either deep-sea liners or shortsea liners.

The former carry mainly containerized cargo

across the oceans of the world; the latter
carry containerized or conventional cargo on
shorter routes.

Ferries are also classed as liners. These offer a daily

or weekly service for passengers and vehicles
across channels and narrow seas. A few ships are
still employed as passenger liners. They not only
carry passengers but also some cargo on routes
from Europe to North America and to the Far East.
Nowadays the passenger trade is very small and
passenger liners usually operate as cruise ships for
part of the year.

vessels do not sail on regular routes or keep to a

fixed timetable, but are employed where there is
cargo for them to carry. Tramps can be classed as
deep-sea tramps or short-sea tramps. A number are
classed as coasters. These ply on coastal routes and
up rivers to inland ports. The traditional tramp
cargoes are dry bulk cargoes, but some are
designed to carry general cargoes.

A large number of merchant ships operate as

specialized vessels. These are designed to carry a
particular type of cargo. There are several types of
specialized vessel. The most common are oil
tankers. They are owned by the major oil companies
or by independent operators. Two other types of
liquid bulk carrier of growing importance are
chemical carriers and liquefied natural gas (LNG)
carriers.

Use your imagination to try to

answer these questions:
Why do only a few merchant ships
carry passengers nowadays?
Why do passenger liners operate as
cruise ships for part of the year?
Why are tramps mainly designed to
carry dry bulk cargoes?
What other types of specialized
vessel can you think of?

GRAMMAR - Quantifiers

Quantifiers, or amount words, indicate the approximate

quantity or amount of the noun they qualify or represent.
Study the table below which gives the most
commonly used quantifiers.

Study the following points and

examples:
1. All, most, many, much, some, several, (a few, (a) Little, can be
used without a noun
to avoid repetition
e.g. All liners carry passengers or cargo. All follow regular routes.
Some cargo is carried in holds. Some is carried on deck. (Note:
Much is normally used in only negative and interrogative
sentences.
e.g. He had not much money so he walked into town. Is there
much cargo to be unloaded?)
2. When a large number, a large amount and a lot are followed by
a noun, of must
be used
e.g. A large number of merchant ships carry bulk cargo.

Complete the table below to show which

quantifiers can be used with the countable
noun 'passengers' and the uncountable noun
'money'. Two have been done for you. If the
noun cannot be used with a particular
quantifier, you must leave a blank space.

 3. No and none are used as follows:

e.g. No tankers can carry passengers. None should
discharge oil into the sea.
4. There is a positive/negative contrast between a
little and little and between a few
and few. Study the difference in meaning in these
sentence pairs:
There was a little time before the ship sailed, so he
stayed ashore longer.
There was little time before the ship sailed, so he
went on board immediately.
A few people were sitting on deck, because the
sun was shining.

Choose a suitable quantifier and either 'passengers' or 'money'

to complete these sentences:

travel by cargo liner.

is needed to operate a shipping fleet.
enjoy being at sea when it is rough.
are allowed down in the engine room.
on board ship should be kept in a
safe place.

Logical connectives
Structures can be linked in a number of ways. One
way is by using connecting words such as and, or,
but.

Study how they are used in these examples:

1. And is a general purpose link
Passenger liners carry passengers.
Passenger liners carry cargo.
(a) + (b) Passenger liners carry passengers and
cargo. Here it means they carry both and
suggests at the same time.

 2. Or adds an alternative
Cargo liners are designed to carry containerized
cargoes.
Cargo liners are designed to carry conventional cargoes.
(a) + (b) Cargo liners are designed to carry
containerized or conventional cargoes. If and were used
here it would suggest 'at the same time'.
3. But suggests contrast or the addition of something
unexpected
Merchant ships are classified by type and trade.
Warships are classified by type and size.
(a) + (b) Merchant ships are classified by type and
trade, but warships are classified by type and size.

Exercise 1.
Join the following groups of sentences using
and, or, but, as appropriate:

 Sometimes the linking of two structures can be

made more complete by putting a word before
the connecting word. This tells us to expect an
addition or an alternative a little later. Study
these samples.
1. Additions: both . .. and; not only .. . but also
Some ferries carry both passengers and cars.
Some ferries carry not only passengers but also
cars.
2. Alternatives: either ... or; neither... nor
(negative)
Merchant ships are designed to carry either
liquid or dry cargo.
The sailor had neither money nor his passport.

 Exercise l.
Rewrite these sentences using the above pairs
of connecting words as appropriate in as many
ways as possible, but keeping the original
meaning:
(a) He failed the practical exam and the
written exam.
(b) A cadet can train as a Deck or an Engineer
Officer.
(c) The crew saved the ship and the cargo.
They had no food and no water for two days.
Some ferries carry passengers and vehicles.
Merchant ships operate as tramps or liners.