This entails movement of goods and people on water in river, lakes, seas and oceans. The units of commodity.carriage include; canoes, ships, streamers, boats, ferries etc.it is categorized into;
- Inland water transport-they are not big e.g.rivers, canals and lakes.it is mostly for fun.
- Sea –water transport-comprises of seas and oceans and we use ships. Categories of ships are; passenger liners –have fixed schedules (cannot be hired) and cargo (carry bulky goods), and tramps which are owned by individuals and sometimes company and do not follow a fixed route and time and can be hired.
ADVANTAGES OF WATER TRANSPORT.
- The medium occurs naturally thus no construction cost expect for artificial water ways eg canals.
- It is economical since it allows carriage of bulky goods over long distances.
- It facilitates carriage of special cargo since there are specially built ships.
- Large ships may be built to carry many goods thus lower carriage cost.
- It gives access to many countries of the world so long as they are bordered by water.
DISADVANTAGES OF WATER TRANSPORT.
- Slow means thus unsuitable for carriage of perishable goods and urgently required goods
- They are expensive to construct and to maintain.
- Artificial canals are expensive to maintain and to construct.
- Ship transport can be affected by unfavorable weather conditions weather conditions e.g. storms.
It is susceptible to delays occasioned by congestion at the port if there are no adequate loading and offloading facilities.
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