Saturday, June 15, 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.

Boat transportation is an efficient method compared to road and air methods. This is because unlike the ground transportation that can only support specific items, this method offers a wide variety of options. The vessels are made in different forms to accommodate all types or sizes of things. Carrying of trucks, industrial and agricultural machines or vehicles have been made possible by the use of boats.

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.

Lakes, seas, and rivers are natural and do not need modification to support transport. Therefore, no extra expenses are required to construct waterways. However, railways or roads bring additional costs since they must be built for cars, trucks, or trains to pass through. In the end, carrying by ship remains the best and most efficient mean since there is no need for the costly infrastructure to support boats.

Other methods of transportation, like air, can be hindered by changes in weather conditions. For instance, departures or arrivals of flights are delayed due to change in weather conditions. On the other hand, the resistance, reliability, and toughness of boats enable them to sail through any weather. They can be handled in a complex or unstable environment providing the limit is reasonable.

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.

Still, ships experience logistical problems when they arrive in ports that do not facilitate cargo ships. A port must have particular structures depending on the type of items it receives or transports. Therefore, if the port does not have these structures, a ship must navigate to the nearest structured port. This will result in indirect transportation where items are unpacked and packed again to reach the destination.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment