Merchant marine:
Definition: This entry provides the total and the number of each type of privately or publicly owned commercial ship for each country; military ships are not included; the five ships by type include: bulk carrier – for cargo such as coal, grain, cement, ores, and gravel; container ship – for loads in truck-size containers, a transportation system called containerization; general cargo – also referred to as break-bulk carriers – for a wide range of packaged merchandise, such as textiles, furniture, and machinery; oil tanker – for crude oil and petroleum products; other – including chemical carriers, dredgers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, refrigerated cargo ships (called reefers), tugboats, passenger vessels (cruise and ferry), and offshore supply ships.
Source: CIA World Factbook - This page was last updated on Friday, November 27, 2020
See Also