As countries struggle with air pollution from carbon fuels such as coal and vehicle exhausts, they try to find alternative sources of energy. Solar power is becoming widely used in industry, homes and even in transport – a few vehicle carriers have large solar panels on their upper decks to assist with the provision of…
See also the Grade 10 site for details of the various ships used to recover diamonds from the ocean floor and also the section covering vessels, platforms and other structures involved in undersea oil and gas production. The search for minerals on the ocean floor (e.g. diamonds off the southern Namibian coast) or oil and…
The Sea as a Source of Food The sea provides millions of tons of food per year for millions of people, and South African has fish resources that are consumed by local population and that are exported to many places. Some of the fish that are landed in Cape Town today are carefully packed, are…
Major weather systems (Depressions, Tropical Cyclones) have an effect on shipping because strong winds are part of those systems. Those strong winds cause heavy seas that have potential to damage ships and disrupt shipping operations. Depressions These are weather systems that move from west to east across the Southern Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean, southern Indian…
The following environmental aspects will affect shipping operations : Wind Strong wind will affect shipping in the following ways : Cargo operations (especially container handling) cannot be done during times of strong wind. Containers will swing in the wind, making it difficult for container gantry operators to load containers into the container guides on a…
Because the world’s most important medium of transport is the sea, it is important to realise that the sea extends to many different areas, has different characteristics, and is home to a vast array of plants and animals. The surface of the sea changes according to wind strength and currents. The ocean bed varies from…
A littoral state is a country that has a coastline, i.e. at least one part of the country borders on the sea. South Africa, for example, is a littoral state, but Lesotho and Botswana are not as they do not have a coastline. They are land-locked countries and rely on a neighbouring country (like South…
In moving cargo, many international procedures and rules about documentation have to be followed carefully. Among important aspects relating to cargo imports and exports are the following: Customs – Every country has regulations relating to what may be brought into the country and whether a “duty” (a state-imposed fee) will be placed on a particular…
The major industrialised countries (see the map below showing the industrialised regions) are consumers of raw materials (e.g. iron ore, coal, oil, a range of other minerals) and, because there are large concentrations of people in those countries, they also need to import large amounts of food (e.g. grain, fruit). Their industries also produce a…
See also Lesson 11.2.2 Ship Chartering (“Hiring” a Ship) The level of trade rises and falls, depending on a number of factors : Global or regional economic changes – If the world or a region is experiencing an economic boom, its export trade will flourish. Money will be available to buy imported goods, and the…
