Transport Means & Modes

1- Transport Means :
These means of transport are : Cars (trucks) , Ships, Trains, Planes and Pipes.
These are the means which are used either for carrying people or carrying the goods from one place to another.

2- Transport Mode :
Is the mode or the environment in which the mean is running or moving.
Thus, we could say that the land roads are the mode for cars, buses and trucks. Sea is the mode for ships and marine crafts. Railway is the mode for trains. Air is the mode for the planes. And finally the pipeline is mode for pipe transportation.

First : The Land Roads
When building the roads there are certain requirements which should be considered and require special engineers who are specialized in this aspect in order to meet the local and the international requirements and standards which include the speed limits for cars and trucks, number of lanes, width of each lane, the degree of the steeps and the radius of the curves and many other things.

Factors to be considered when planning for building a road :

The highway roads and those which are designed for heavy lift trucks should pass out towns and cities in order to minimize traffic, noise and pollution inside the towns. When planning for a road or roads network it should be done to be capable of serving the future traffic considering the possibilities of the increasing population, number of cars and trucks and the expected increment in moving goods. Roads should be capable of reaching other places in the future especially those places which are expected to form new towns or production places. Main roads should connect between places of production and places of manufacturing, marine ports, air ports and dry ports. Roads should be provided by the necessary traffic signals and instruction.

Advantages of the Roads
1- The roads are the simplest mode to connect different places than other modes.
2- The traffic on roads can be changed easier than other modes in the cases of emergency.
3- Roads do not need to have special terminals or ports
4- The trucks and cars (means of transport) which using the roads are controlled by their drivers who are capable of finding the alternatives of the roads in case of emergency.
5- Moving the goods by roads are very much easier legal and commercial wise than other modes.
6- Roads are the backbone of the concept of " From Door to Door " which is the new feature of the modern transport.
7- The trucks can be used as advertising means, therefore they can increase the revenue.

Disadvantages of the Roads
1- Roads can not compete in economy of volume in the same way like the rail ways which transport huge amounts of goods.
2- Roads and trucks have a certain limits in respect of carrying loads.
3- Some kind of goods are not allowed to be transported by roads such as hazardous and chemical cargoes.
4- Some sectors in roads are subject to congestion because of accidents, crossing railways and or huge number of cars using the same road.
5- Cars and trucks are accused of polluting the environment by the exhaust emitting from them which affecting the health and the plants.
6- Cars and trucks are depending on petroleum as fuel therefore the shortage in this fuel or the increase in its price affect directly this mode.

Second : THE RAILWAYS
The first intuition is that the railways have the privilege over the roads when crossing each other, and to avoid the stoppage of the road traffic and to ensure the flow of each the road and the railways, tunnels and bridges are constructed.

Factors to be considered when building a rail way

A good planning should be considered where the rail way will pass to avoid mountains' cutting which will require making tunnels through these mountains, also to avoid water ways which will require building bridges. Also it should avoid as much as possible crossing the roads. The ground should be solid enough to support the heavy load of trains and goods. The distance between the rail should be fixed to match the width between the train wheels. When the way is curved, the curves radius should be wide enough to maintain train speed. A good traffic control system should be established to control the movement of the trains all over the line especially when crossing the roads, also to warn the drivers at an early stage if he has to stop the train for any reason.

Advantages of Railways:
1- The speed average is about 200 / 300 Km/h.
2- The trains are moving between city centers, thus the system curtail the time and the effort.
3- The rail ways present the best exploitation of land in respect of the transported quantity of goods or passengers than any other mode using the same area of land.
4- The pollution resulted from rail ways is far less than of any other mode.
5- The productivity of the rail ways is higher than roads
6- The rail ways is the safest transporting mode especially when dangerous goods are transported.
7- The rail way is very flexible because it can be run by electric or petroleum.
8- The rail ways is not affected by bad weather or fog.

Disadvantages of Railways:
1- In fact the rail ways do need other mode to integrate its service.
2- Any minor defect or problem on the line has a very bad impact on the whole system.
3- Huge number of labor are employed in rail ways, so if they started a strike, this will affect the whole system.
4- The rail ways are mainly engaged in transporting raw materials and huge quantities of goods, so when there is a recess in economy it affects badly the system.

Third : AIR WAYS
It goes without saying that the air like the sea is a natural free way for every one who has the right to use it, and in the same time it does not need any maintenance or repairs.
But still it is a fact that to use this mode an infrastructure has to be established such as air ports and control towers and very good communications means beside the facilities of repairing the plane.
Due to the high cost of using this mode only certain good are transported using it such as high value cargoes, vegetables and fruits, beside the passengers traffic.

Advantage of Air ways
1- The voyage between the initial and final terminals is accomplished in very short time comparing with other modes.
2- The high speed of the planes meets the requirement of some customers, which can not be supplied with other mode.
3- Safety record of the air way is one of the best records because of the very high level of discipline and skill of those who are employed in this field.
4- The accurate and pre advertised time tables and prices are of great assistance to those who needed this service.
5- The integration between the air carriers facilitate the use of the air ways and meets most of the requirements of the users.

Disadvantage of Air ways
1- All air ports are situated out side towns and cities which necessitate the use of other mode to integrate its service.
2- Air way are considered the most expensive mode for both the carrier and the user.
3- Air ways are affected directly by the weather condition.
4- The noise which resulted from the planes especially when taking off and landing are exceeding the permissible limits and has bad effect on those who are working in near places.

Forth : Pipe Lines

The pipe line mode is the only mode which does not throng any other mode either on land or in sea. Also the pipe line is usually buried inside the land therefore it is hidden from the eyes of the public thus it is the least mode which could be accused by those who are worried about the environment.
Every country has its own laws for controlling the laying of the pipelines to ensure the maximum safety for the environment especially these line which lie in sea or waterways or near important natural resources.

Factors to be considered when laying pipe lines :

Pipe line diameter depends upon the quantity of liquid which will be transported. The pipe line track should be chosen carefully to be far from the area which are subjects to earth quakes and volcanoes --etc. the thickness of the pipe should be strong enough to resist the pressure of the passing liquid as well as the pressure of the land or the water on it. The connecting points in the pipe line should be strong as the pipe body itself to ensure the tightness of the line and to avoid any leakage in the line. Necessary steps should be considered to facilitate the inspection and maintenance operations. Necessary precautions should be provided to protect the line from corrosion and erosion and fires if the line is used for petroleum. The line should be provided by means of quick shut-off in cases of emergency as well as remote control system capable of reporting any defect in line.

Operation and Control
The objective of the pipeline user is to transfer an amount of a liquid from the starting point till its final destination safely and without loosing or changing in color or nature as a result of contamination with other subject.
To accomplish that the pipe line should be under continuous monitoring and surveillance and afterwards should have a good remote control system extended over the 24 hours daily.
Control and surveillance system consists of pressure, flow meter gauges and other remote sensors for discovering leakage if occurs, and the control system consists of many automatic valves which can be operated remotely.

Causes of Spillage

The only disadvantage in using pipe lines is the leakage of the liquid from it, and that may affect the environment beside the loss in the transferred quantity, and the causes of this leakage or spillage are :

1- Mechanical Failure
This may be attributed to latent defect in the material of the pipe itself or during the construction of the line, and nowadays this cause has been eliminated to the minimum.

2- Operational Error System Malfunction which is very rare after using the high technology in operating and controlling the system.

Human Error This is expected in the lines which are operating manually or during the repairs and maintenance of the line, however this problem is limited in a small sector of the line and can be rectified easily and rapidly.

3- Natural Hazards
These can occur as a result of earth quake, floods, volcanoes .. etc. and this could be avoided when the track of the pipeline is chosen to be as far as possible from the places where such hazards are expected.

4- Corrosion
Because the pipes are made of steel so they are subject to corrosion from inside and from out side, and this is the main enemy of the pipe line mode.

5- Third Party Activity
This means that an outsider party will be the reason of the leakage or spillage such as digging the mines or building a road or rail way or telephone cable, also it could be as a result of riots or civil wars or terrorist action.

Fifth: Inland Waterways
In this study we are concerned only with those waterways which are used in navigation so they can be used in transporting passengers and/or goods, in other words the depth of water should be enough to carry the ships, barges and/or whatever craft is used in transportation.
The waterways are considered to be like railways in transporting the huge volumes of goods so they meet the concept of " economy of volume " transport.
It is very important to connect these waterways with the main sea ports as well as the places of production so sometimes artificial channels were dig in order to integrate the waterways net either to connect them with sea ports or with the production places.

Locks
Some times the level of water in a waterway or a river is not the same along the way, so there can be small falls of water which may be an obstacle for navigation, and to overcome this problem a special construction is made to level the water in the both sides of the fall.
The lock is constructed by building a wall at both banks of the river or the waterway at the location of the fall, then a gate is constructed upward the fall and other one downward the fall, both gates are capable to be closed and opened and to withstand the water pressure.
One gate should be closed before the vessel entered the open one, which will be closed afterwards, then water level will be raised or lowered to match the water level at the other side where the vessel will proceed.

Trade and Transport
Naturally the resources are not the same in all places so what is found in one place may not be found in the other place, therefore the people had learned to exchange what they have with what they do not for they have not. This exchange is known as the "Trade "
And in order to achieve this exchange the human thought of something to carry this trade so he used the animals, carriages, boats and lately he used the new means such as trucks, trains, vessels, planes and finally the pipelines.
These means had been developed rapidly after the second world war and new rules were set up to organize the use of these means

The Importance of Transport
1- Transport attach benefits to a given location since, a given oar may be available in this location but remain unexploited because of inaccessibility to this location, which can only be eliminated through the procession of transport access
2- Transport is one of the vital function contributing to the production of commodities, by virtue of transporting the row material to where they are manufactured and/or exported
3- Transport is an indicator of economic growth, the more developed transport is the easier it becomes to exchange commodities among all the region, which contributed to development of human knowledge.
4- Considering that linking all the areas within a given region is a condition of national unity, transport is an asset of embossing economic cohesion

The Importance of the Maritime Transport for the International Trade

It is well known that at least three quarters of the volume of the international trade are borne by sea, therefore most of the advanced nation realized the importance of the maritime transport at a very early stage and therefore they built their fleets in order to carry their inward and outward trade and also if possible to take share in others trade especially the developing countries who they did not realize this fact.

Elements of Maritime Transport

The maritime transport has three main elements :
1- The goods which will be borne by sea.
2- The vessels which will carry these goods.
3- The ports which will receive these vessels where the goods can be loaded and discharged.

In this paper we shall study types of goods (cargoes), the construction and the types of the vessels and how both are developed.

The Effect of the Technology on Maritime Transport Elements

1- The Cargo
Of course the technology will not change the nature of the goods (cargo) but the technology had an affect on their backing and way of handling.
Therefore new ways were developed e.g. instead of having sacks or bags for carrying 50 kg of grain or cement now what is called a Jumbo bag was introduced which is capable of carrying 1500 kg. Another example for this is the pallet which is used to contained about 40/50 bags or sacks at one time, also the container which is capable of carrying about 20/30 tons in one lift.

2- The Vessel
Since the very early stages the vessels were subject to minor developments till we discovered the steam engines and the internal combustion machines so the vessel used the steam or the petroleum as a fuel instead of using rows or sails.
On the other hand the vessels were built of wood then steel using rivets till the electric welding was introduced after the second world war, not only that but a new kind of steel was used called High Tensile Steel which is stronger and lighter than the ordinary steel which enable the builders to build very huge vessels up to about 500,000 tons.
Also vessels' equipment and machinery were developed, now there are a winches and cranes which are capable of lifting heavy weight up to 400/500 tons.
Another improvement was noticed in navigational aids such as raiders, compass, communication systems and even in the charts where new electronic charts are in use now.

3- The Port
Due to rapid development in ships type and volume the ports were obliged to cope with developments therefore new cranes and cargo handling equipment were introduced such as gantry cranes, mobile cranes, forklifts and conveyor belts.

Chapter 2

The Ship

As previously mentioned the ship is one of the maritime transport elements. The ship has gone through several stages of development either in her general shape or her propulsion system.

The ship is divided mainly in two parts :

Ship's Hull : is the outer shell which contains all parts of the ship such as the places where the cargo is loaded, the tanks where the fuel and the water stored, the cabins where the crew lived and finally the space which contains the ship's engine.

Ship's Machinery : consists of the main engine which drives (pushes) the vessel at sea, and the auxiliary machines such as the electrical generators, water pumps, cargo winches and cranes and similar machines which assist the ship in doing her function.

General Description of the Ship

According to the above, one can describe the ship as follows :
The bottom of the hull is usually built double and they are called the outer bottom and the inner bottom so that if the vessel struck a rock or other object on the sea bed and the outer bottom is holed, the inner bottom will prevent the sea water from going inside the vessel. Between the outer bottom and the inner bottom there is a space used to store fuel and oil and sea water after dividing the space into several compartments and they are called " Double Bottom Tanks ".
Above the bottom the hull of the vessel is divided into several compartments so that if one compartment is holed from the side, still the vessel will have a good chance to be afloat because the other compartments are still isolated from the ingress water, this division of the hull is made by constructing transverse vertical walls reaching from one side to the other side of the ship and they are called " Bulkheads". Also because the bulkheads divide the hull into several compartments this will allow to make separation between the different kinds of cargo which might be affected if they were loaded together in one compartment either because of odor or spillage.
The compartments in which the cargo is loaded are called the " Holds".
The ship's hull is covered at the top horizontally by what is called the " Deck ". In the deck several big openings are made to allow the cargo to be shipped (loaded) inside the holds. These openings are called the "Hatch Opening". And to protect the crew from falling inside these opening they are surrounded by a fence called " Hatch Coaming". Also to protect the crew from falling into sea during sailing in bad weather the deck is surrounded by a fence at both sides called " Bulwark"
In the same manner the hull can be divided horizontally by horizontal decks extending from the forward of the vessel to her afterward, but the reason for building several decks is the same to divide each compartment to several compartments so that cargo can be separated, these decks are called "Tween Decks".
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The engine and the machinery of the vessel are fixed in one compartment called the " Engine Room ", this compartment was previously situated in the middle of the ship, but nowadays , the engine room is situated in the after part of the ship.
On top of the engine room, the cabins and crew facilities (bath rooms, saloons, recreation rooms, etc., are usually built in several decks and on the top of all exists the commanding room which is called " The Bridge " where all the navigational equipment are fitted. Also, another room is used for the wireless station which is provided by means of communications such as Telegraphs and Radios.
This construction which contains all the above is called the " Accommodation". On one of the accommodation decks small boats are fitted and are called "Life Boats" which can be used in cases of emergency to abandon the ship.
Because of the shape of the vessel at her forward and afterward ends, these parts are used as Tanks and are called the "Forepeak Tank" forward and the "Afterpeak Tank" at the afterward part.
On top of the Forepeak tank the ship's deck rises forming a high construction called the " Forecastle ". And the same at the afterwards but is called the " Poop Deck ".
In order for a vessel to perform her function of loading and discharging cargo, she is provided with some kinds of winches and/or cranes which are fitted on deck.
The ship is also fitted with two or more masts which will carry the navigation lights, radio antenna, radar antenna and sometimes they are used to fix the " Cargo Derricks" or may be opened in some places and fitted with electric fans so that they can be used to ventilate some kinds of cargoes.
At the after end of the ship and underwater level the vessel is provided by a propeller which gets its movement from the main engine through what is called the " Tail shaft ". Behind the propeller there is plate which directs the vessel to right or left and is called the " Rudder "
Because the ship has no brakes to stop her when running into danger, she is provided with two anchors fixed to the ship with long chains, one or both can be dropped in water if the depth is suitable so they catch in the sea bottom and stop the vessel.

The Ship's Dimensions

Length Over All (L.O.A.) : is the maximum distance between the two extreme points at the forward and afterward of the vessel. This length is used when the vessel is entering the ports or locks or dry-docks.

Length Between Perpendiculars (L.B.P.) : is the distance between the fore and the aft perpendicular and is used when discussing international conventions.

The Fore Perpendicular : is the vertical perpendicular which passes through the point where the summer load line meets the stem of the vessel.

The After Perpendicular : is the vertical perpendicular which passes through the point where the summer load line meets the rudder post.

The Maximum (Extreme) Breadth (Beam) : is the distance from the outer side of the shell plates port side to the outer side of the plates starboard side at midship.

The Moulded Breadth (Beam) : is the distance from the inner side of the shell plates port side to the inner side of the plates starboard side at midship.

The Maximum Depth : is the vertical distance from under the deck plates to under the keel plate at midship.

The Molded Depth : is the vertical distance from under the deck plates to above the keel plate at midship.

The Draft : is the vertical distance from the under the keel plate till the water surface at midship at any time.

The Summer Draft : is the vertical distance from under the keel plate to the summer load line at midship.

The Free Board : is the vertical distance from the water surface to the deck plates at the midship at any time.

Summer Free Board : is the vertical distance from the summer load line to the deck plates at midship.

|Depth = Draft + Free Board |

Ship's Tonnage :

The Gross Tonnage ( G.T.) : This is the measurement of the ship's volume according to a certain formula as stipulated in International Tonnage Convention 1969.

The Net Tonnage (N.T.) : This is the measurement of the earning volume of the ship according a certain formula as stipulated in International Tonnage Convention 1969.

The Dead Weight (D.W.) : is the total tons of cargo, fuel, oil, stores, fresh water, ballast water and any other unknown weights (constant) which a vessel can carry to float at her summer load line in sea water.

The Cargo Dead Weight (CDW) : is the total tons of cargo which a vessel can carry to reach her summer load line in sea water and depends upon the quantity of the other things such as fuel , oil, stores, etc.

The Light Displacement : is the weight of the vessel's hull and machinery only without any thing on board and is used when making stability problems or when sailing the vessel for demolition.

The Loaded (Full) Displacement : is the weight of the vessel's hull, machinery and all other things on board the vessel such as cargo, fuel, oil, fresh water, etc., when the vessel is on her summer line in sea water.
|Full Displacement = Light Displacement + Ship's Dead Weight |

Ship's Capacity

1- Grain Capacity : is the volume of the holds in cubic meters (or cubic feet) which can be loaded with grain, and is measured from the inner side of the shell plates of port side to starboard side and from the tank top to under deck plating and from bulk head plating at hold fore end to bulkhead plating at hold after end. (1 CBM = 35.315 CBF)

2- Bale Capacity : is the volume of the holds in cubic meters (or cubic feet) which can be loaded with bales or boxes, and is measured from the inner edge of the frames of port side to starboard side and from the tank top to under deck beams and from bulk head stiffeners at hold fore end to bulkhead stiffeners at hold after end.

Container Capacity : is the number of containers - Twenty Equivalent Unit (TEU) which a vessel can carry inside her holds and on her deck.

Trailer and Cars Capacity : is the number of the small cars and/or the trailers which a vessel can carry. And some times it can be expressed in linear meters which means the length of the lanes on all decks which are used to stow the cars or trailers.

Other Definitions

Stowage Factor : is the space measured by cubic meter (or cubic feet) which will be occupied by one ton of the cargo. And there is stowage factor for each kind of cargo, and there are special books and references which indicate the stowage factor fro each cargo to assist ships' masters and owners to calculate the quantity of cargoes which can be loaded on their vessel.

Example : if the ship's bale capacity is 1000 cubic meters and the stowage factor for a given cargo is 2 cbm/ton this means that the holds can accommodate 500 tons of this cargo.

Permissible Load : each deck on board the vessel is designed to carry certain load on it this load expressed by number of tons which can be carried safely on one square meter of this deck. (tons/sq.m.)

Ventilation Rate : some kinds of cargo require certain amount of air during the sea passage, therefore the ships which carry this kinds of cargo should have electric ventilation system which is capable of providing this amount of air which is expressed by the number of air changes which the ventilator can change per one hour when the hold is empty, for example if a given hold's capacity 200 cbm and the air change in this hold is 20 air change / hour, this means that the ventilators of this hold is capable of providing this hold by 200 x 20 (4000 cbm of air every hour ).

Plimsoll's Mark, Load Lines & Zones.
In the past the ships' owners loaded their vessels as much as they could regardless any safety precautions, thus many vessels were lost with many lives and goods.
In 1780, an engineer called Samuel Plimsoll thought to paint a mark on ships' sides to indicate the maximum draft which the vessel can be drawn.
In 1966, an International Convention for load line entered into force, which obliged each vessel to put on her both sides a mark to indicate the different load lines according to the season and the zone in which the vessel is sailing as indicated in the drawing.