ABSTRACT
Ships have for many years been relied upon as an important medium for achieving commercial activities in the contemporary maritime industry. Ships account for carrying over 80 per cent of 5.1 billion tons of cargoes involved in international trade, and shipping is generally considered an efficient system for the movement of goods and at drastically reduced freight costs. In 1980 global freight charges were about 6.64 per cent of the value of goods transported but dropped to 5.24 per cent in 1997 and further declined in later years. Kitte-Powell1 indicated that the efficiency of shipping has been highly accentuated, making it possible for a 20-foot container to be transported for less than ten cents per mile. This rate is far lower than the cost of transporting a 20-foot container by road or rail. The shipping industry has benefited from emerging technologies in the areas of computers, communication systems and engineering innovations. Bulk shipping technology has experienced little change but the process is generally considered economical, efficient and competitive. On the other hand, container shipping has undergone dramatic technological evolution and has projected containerisation as the preferred means of cargo transportation. In 1950 both dry and tanker cargo amounted to 460 million tons. In 1988, however, the total amount transported across the globe increased by a factor of 10 to approximately 5,070 million tons. The contents of Tables 17.1 and 17.2 indicate that bulk and tanker commercial activities have grown at an average rate of 3 per cent per annum.
