Editing Merchant ship (section)

===Cargo ship===
{{Main|Cargo ship}}
[[Image:Namibia (2007).jpg|right|thumb|[[General cargo]] vessel ''Namibia'']]
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of [[ship]] or vessel that carries [[cargo]], goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of [[international trade]]. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with [[crane (machine)|cranes]] and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes.

====Bulk carrier====
{{Main|Bulk carrier}}
[[Image:Sabrina I.jpg|right|thumb|[[Bulk carrier]] ''Sabrina I'']]
A bulk carrier is a [[ship]] used to transport [[bulk cargo]] items such as [[iron ore]], bauxite, coal, cement, grain and similar cargo. Bulk carriers can be recognized by large box-like hatches on deck, designed to slide outboard or fold fore-and-aft to enable access for loading or discharging cargo.  The dimensions of bulk carriers are often determined by the ports and sea routes that they need to serve, and by the maximum width of the Panama Canal.  Most lakes are too small to accommodate bulk carriers, but a large fleet of [[lake freighter]]s has been plying the [[Great Lakes]] and [[St. Lawrence Seaway]] of [[North America]] for over a century.

====Container ship====
{{Main|Container ship}}
[[File:Colombo.Express.wmt.jpg|thumb|right|[[Container ship]]'' [[Colombo Express]]'' built in 2005]]A container ship is a cargo ship that carries its cargo in standardized containers, in a technique called [[containerization]]. These ships are a common means of commercial [[intermodal freight transport]].

====Tanker====
{{Main|Tanker (ship)}}
[[Image:Supertanker AbQaiq.jpg|right|thumb|Crude oil [[supertanker]] ''AbQaiq'']]
A tanker is a [[ship]] designed to transport [[liquids]] in bulk. Tankers can range in size from several hundred [[tonnage|tons]], designed to serve small harbours and coastal settlements, to several hundred thousand tons, with these being designed for long-range haulage. A wide range of products are carried by tankers, including:
* [[hydrocarbon]] products such as [[Petroleum|oil]], [[Liquified petroleum gas|LPG]], and [[Liquefied natural gas|LNG]]
* [[Chemical substance|chemicals]], such as [[ammonia]], [[chlorine]], and [[styrene|styrene monomer]]
* [[fresh water]]
* [[wine]]

Different products require different handling and transport, thus special types of tankers have been built, such as [[chemical tanker]]s, [[oil tanker]]s, and [[Gas carrier|gas carriers]].

Among oil tankers, [[supertanker]]s were designed for carrying oil around the [[Horn of Africa]] from the [[Middle East]]; the FSO ''[[Knock Nevis]]'' being the largest vessel in the world, a ULCC [[supertanker]] formerly known as ''Jahre Viking'' (Seawise Giant). It has a deadweight of 565,000 metric tons and length of about {{Convert|458|m|ft|sp=us|sigfig=2}}. The use of such large ships is in fact very unprofitable, due to the inability to operate them at full cargo capacity; hence, the production of [[supertankers]] has currently ceased. Today's largest oil tankers in comparison by gross tonnage are ''TI Europe'', ''TI Asia'', ''TI Oceania'', which are the largest sailing vessels today. But even with their deadweight of 441,585 metric tons, sailing as VLCC most of the time, they do not use more than 70%  of their total capacity.

Apart from [[pipeline transport]], tankers are the only method for transporting large quantities of oil, although such tankers have caused large environmental disasters when sinking close to coastal regions, causing [[oil spill]]s. See {{MV|Braer||2}}, ''[[Erika (tanker)|Erika]]'', ''[[Exxon Valdez]]'', ''[[Prestige (ship)|Prestige]]'' and {{SS|Torrey Canyon||2}} for examples of tankers that have been involved in oil spills.

==== Coastal trading vessel ====
{{Main|Coastal trading vessel}}
Coastal trading vessels are smaller ships that carry any category of cargo along coastal, rather than trans-oceanic, routes. Coasters are shallow-hulled [[ship]]s used for trade between locations on the same island or continent. Their shallow hulls allow them to sail over [[reef]]s and other submerged navigation hazards, whereas ships designed for blue-water trade usually have much deeper hulls for better [[seakeeping]].