These Things You Daily Use are Shipped by Cargo Ships

Posted by alishayy on May 21st, 2021

The shipping industry makes the world a smaller place. It is because of the efficient transportation using different types of ships, goods of one country are used by people of the whole world. Shipping industry is the reason that Chinese electronic goods are used around the world or oil from the Gulf Countries can be made available in the farthest corners of the earth.

In this article we are going to talk about the importance of shipping in our day to day life. How the very basic household commodities we use come from a totally different part of the world and yet made easily and widely available in our local market.

Ro-ro
Ro-ro refers to 'roll on / roll off'. This name explains how the cargo is discharged and loaded. This concerns cargo that can be driven which is only done by especially trained drivers. Ro-ro is used for cars, busses, trucks, agricultural vehicles and cranes. To transport as many of these vehicles in one go, enormous ro-ro vessels have been built. Some ro-ro vessels have enough room for more than 8,500 cars! In the Antwerp port area, ro-ro is chiefly on the Left bank.

Breakbulk

Paper, wood, bags of cocoa, rolls of steel, parts of wind turbines; these are all products that can be transported in a container or simply put on a vessel. The name says it, it breaks easily. To be able to lift general cargo, it is often packaged on pallets, in crates or racks. A crane or forklift truck can easily load or discharge the goods. Antwerp's dockworkers have considerable expertise with this kind of work and an outstanding reputation, which has allowed Antwerp to grow into the leading breakbulk port in the world.

Dry bulk

Dry bulk refers to grain, coal, iron ore, cement, sugar, salt and sand. They are not packaged separately, but transported in large quantities in the hold of a ship, wagon or lorry. A lot of the dry bulk arriving in Antwerp is processed into construction products. Blast furnaces use iron ore and coal to produce steel. But there are also tastier examples. A lot of yeast arrives in bulk in Antwerp, which is used to make beer or whisky.

Liquid bulk
Crude oil, petrol, fuel oil, vegetable oils and even wine; all liquid products which are often transported on big tankers or through a pipeline to the next destination. A lot of liquid bulk passes through the Port of Antwerp every year. For the refineries, crude oil is the raw material they need to produce new goods, such as fuel oil, petrol and kerosene. These products also find their way as liquid bulk to the next destination. People heat their houses with fuel oil or aircraft at Brussels Airport use kerosene from the Port of Antwerp.

Container cargo

Toys, televisions, DVDs, clothing, meat and computers; containers are the best way to transport these and many similar products. By efficiently loading the goods, they can be transported simultaneously in large quantities. One twenty foot container can hold the shopping of 300 trolleys! Or 3,000 game computers! Or 1,000,000 pencils! And the goods are well protected against the elements by the container's metal walls. The fixed size of the containers also has a major advantage. The standard sizes mean containers fit on sea-going vessels, lorries, inland barges and train wagons.