Friday, June 14, 2019

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Using Boat Transport

By Thomas White


Since the beginning of international and domestic transportation, shipping, and transportation through different means has history and has been used in businesses for a long time. For countries surrounded by water, boat transport has been a popular and the most used mean of conveyance. The ship transportation has also influenced businesses around the cities. Despite the growth in air and road transportation, shipping by boats still plays a vital role in both the local and international trades. Here are some of its advantages and disadvantages.

Boats accommodate all sizes and types of goods. Other types of shipping, like air and roads, have limited choices when it comes to the kind or size of commodities being transported. However, boast come in handy and allows shipping of various cargo and goods. Transportation of bulky items like trucks, cars, or industrial and agricultural equipment has been made easy with boat shipping.

This channel of shipping goods is inexpensive, considering that the vessels have low operation and maintenance costs regardless of the destination or origin of the items. The low cost has also been facilitated by the additional ports coming up lately. The overall expense of boat transportation is way more economical than the cost of using ground or air.

Vehicles or airplanes burn a lot of fuel. This fuel is harmful to the environment based on the number of toxic gases being emitted to the air. Fortunately, the availability of the boats has brought an eco-friendly mode of shipping items. This is because these vessels need less fuel. This, in turn, releases fewer greenhouse gases to the surroundings. Thus, the channel is environmentally friendly, therefore, the most suitable one.

Rivers, seas, and lakes are natural gifts that do not require further modifications to facilitate ships. This means that there will be no additional costs for constructing waterways. However, this is a different case with ground transportation. Extra expenses are required to build roads or railways for the trains and trucks. Hence, boat transportation is efficient since no new infrastructure is necessary.

Transportation, by other means like air, can be interrupted by weather conditions. The arrival or departure of an aircraft can be delayed until the weather changes. However, the reliability, resistance, and robustness of ships make them the best. They are easy to handle even in unstable or complicated environments as long as it is within a reasonable limit.

On the other hand, this means of transportation has its setbacks. For instance, shipping by boats takes a long time compared to air or ground. This is because ships are not built for speed. Hence, transporting goods for long distances can cause delays, and the time required to receive the products is quite high. This factor makes it unsuitable for transporting perishable goods.

Sometimes there can be logistical issues if the destination port does not allow cargo ships. Ships require specific structures on ports depending on the size or kind of items they transport. However, not all ports have the structures, which make delivery indirect. It means that the ship has to access the port with the necessary structures so that the cargo can reach its destination.




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