TRL3704
EXAM NOTES
, TRL3704:
SEA TRANSPORT
Study guide: Unit 1
Prescribed book: Chapter 1
Sea transport is movement of goods and passengers on waterways by using
various means like boats, steamers, launches, ships and many others.
This transport system has evolved into three separate but closely connected
segments:
bulk shipping,
liner shipping and
specialized shipping
The role of sea trade in economic development:
As productivity increases and businesses produce more goods than they can sell locally,
they need access to wider markets
For markets to be reached transport is needed and this is where shipping was crucial
In primitive economies shipping is generally more efficient than land transport, allowing
trade to get started earlier
Sea transport is very important in developing the economy
Adam Smith recognized that shipping offers the transport needed to promote economic
development.
History of sea transport in South Africa:
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, Study guide: Unit 2
Prescribed book: Chapter 2
Merchant shipping accounts for
roughly a third of the total
maritime activity which divides the
maritime business into five groups:
1. Vessel operations (i.e.
those directly involved with
ships).
2. Shipbuilding and marine engineering.
3. Marine resources (which include offshore oil, gas, renewable energy and minerals).
4. Marine fisheries (including aquaculture and seafood processing).
5. Other marine activities (mainly tourism and services).
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, The modern international transport system consists of:
Roads, railways, inland waterways, shipping lines and air freight services, each using
different vehicles.
In practice the system falls into three zones:
o inter-regional transport (which covers deep-sea shipping and air freight)
o short-sea shipping (which transports cargoes short distances and often
distributes cargoes brought in by deep-sea services)
o inland transport (which includes road, rail, river and canal trans)
Three major segments in the shipping market:
1. Liner,
2. Bulk, and
3. Specialized shipping
The four primary producing sectors of the world economy:
1. Energy (including coal, oil and gas)
2. Mining (including metal ores and other crude minerals)
3. Agriculture (including grain and oilseeds, refrigerated foods, vegetable oils, and live
animals)
4. Forestry
(These commodities are the building-blocks of economic activity and transporting them from
areas of surplus to areas of shortage, is a major market for the shipping industry).
Manufactured goods are often shipped several times, first to assembly plants and then
on to other plants for finishing and packaging.
Three very important industries of final customer groups for processed and manufactured
products:
1. Power generation,
2. Transport, and
3. Construction
Primary materials (such as oil, iron ore and coal), move from areas of surplus to
areas of shortage, and are quite simple to analyze where specialist cargoes are often traded for
competitive reasons rather than supply and demand deficit.
Deficit trade occurs when there is a physical shortage of a product in one area and a surplus in
another, leading to a trade flow which fills the gap in the importing country.
Various seaborne trades can be arranged into four groups:
1. Energy trades
energy dominates bulk shipping
crude oil, oil products, liquefied gas and thermal coal (used to generate energy)
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