In the section about shipping from a historical point of

view, you read about how ships have been essential for trade
and exploration for quite some time. Let us have a look at some
numbers concerning shipping to see what you are really
getting into by becoming a sailor.

The World Fleet

The following is from https://www.statista.com/:

How many ships are there in the world? The number of ships in the world
exceeds 50,000: as of January 2016, there were 51,405 ships in the world's merchant
fleets. Bulk carriers – ships designed to carry solid bulks such as coal and grains – are
ranked as the most common type of ship in the global merchant fleet, accounting
for about a third of the fleet: There were almost 17,000 such ships in the merchant
fleet as of the beginning of 2016. The willingness to embrace larger ships with
increasing capacities remains high in the industry. Bulk carriers had a combined
capacity of around 112 million tons deadweight in 2016, about half the volume of
container ships’ combined capacity, which came to around 244 million tons
deadweight.

Statista also has statistics on the world's largest container ports:

Ports are hubs that welcome marine vessels so they can dispatch or discharge cargo.
In terms of value, seaborne trade carried by container ships is the most important
category of waterborne freight, and container handling is one of the key sources of
revenue produced by the operation and management of a port. Intermodal
containers usually have a capacity of one or two twenty-foot equivalent units, a
standard unit of measure which is often being abbreviated to TEU. On a global scale,
the busiest ports are located in Asia, the largest ones being Shanghai, Singapore and
Hong Kong. The Port of Los Angeles and the adjoining Port of Long Beach together
form the largest port in the United States. The cities of Rotterdam, Hamburg and
Antwerp are home to the largest ports in Europe.

With a global market share of 8.2 percent in 2013, Singapore’s PSA

International is the world’s leading marine terminal operator, followed by Hutchison
Port Holdings, which is headquartered in the British Virgin Islands. PSA International
operates several ports around the world, generating about 2.6 billion U.S. dollars (or
around 3.57 billion Singapore dollars) in revenue in 2015. The Port of Los Angeles is
operated and managed by the City of Los Angeles.

Basic Ship Knowledge

To know the proper maritime terms for the different parts of
the ship is expected knowledge for a seafarer. When we hear
landlubbers saying "hard left" we tend to smile. However, even
though the terms are well known in Norwegian, we might need to
spend some time learning them by heart in English as well. In
addition, we also need to have a vocabulary for the different movements the ship
experience, as well as positions in relation to the vessel.

Please check this video: https://youtu.be/wjH4WGwo0Lo

Different Types of Ships

As you well know, there is a myriad of ships sailing the seven seas and each
one has a purpose. The table below categorizes ships’ types.

Dry Cargo – Unit cargo Dry Cargo – Bulk cargo Liquid Cargo Passenger ships

Container vessel Bulk carrier Crude carrier Passenger ship

Roll-on/Roll-off Ore carrier Product tanker Car and passenger ferries

Heavy-cargo vessel Chemical tanker Cruise ship

Refrigerated ships LPG/LNG carriers

Cattle ship
Multi-Purpose Ship
Navy vessels Fishing Dredgers etc Work ships

Aircraft carriers Trawlers Trailing hopper suction dredger Crane vessels

Cruisers Other types of fishing vessels Cutter suction dredger Buoy-layers

Destroyers Rock-dumper Cable-layers

Frigates Oil-recovery vessels

Submarines Shear leg cranes

Mine sweepers

Auxiliary vessels Yachts Various Offshore material

Seagoing tugs Motor yachts Hydrofoils Drilling rigs/Jack-up

Harbour tugs Sailing yachts Floating dock Drill-ships

Icebreakers Submersible platform Pipe layers

Pilot vessels Pontoons, barges Floating (Production)

Coast guard vessels Storage and Offloading vessel F(P)SO

Research vessels

Text is from the United Nations Conference on Trade and

Development (UNCTAD)’s Review of Maritime Transport 2016.
Although many signals are negative, seaborne trade continues to
grow, with volumes exceeding an estimated 10 billion tons in 2015.
While a slowdown in China is bad news for shipping, developing countries other than
China are increasingly entering the shipping scene and have the potential to drive
further growth. The lifting of some sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran is expected
to stimulate crude oil trade, as well as non-oil sectors.

(…)

Technology, innovation, the data revolution and e-commerce can

significantly transform and disrupt the shipping industry, generating both challenges
and opportunities, including with regard to efficiency gains, new business models, use
of the Internet, digitization, efficient logistics, effective asset management and the
greater integration of small and medium-sized enterprises. Developing countries may
leverage related trends to cut costs, raise productivity, develop capacity – including
skills and knowledge – and enable access to new businesses opportunities.

How these trends will materialize on a broader scale

remains unknown, yet it is nevertheless important for all
countries – in particular in developing regions – and their
transport industries to keep these developments in mind,
monitor their evolution and assess their particular implications
for their transport and logistics sectors and, more broadly, for their economies,
societies and environments. An improved understanding of the trends and their
implications may help countries ensure that these are effectively integrated into
relevant planning and investment-related decision processes, and aligned with the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Finally, the international climate agenda can be expected to further shape

the maritime transport operating landscape, as the sector faces the dual challenge
of climate change mitigation and adaptation (for a more detailed discussion of the
climate change–maritime transport nexus, see the Review of Maritime Transport,
2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015). Future trends in emissions from international shipping
remain uncertain and subject to international efforts and commitments to curb
greenhouse gas emissions including the efforts under the frameworks of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Conference of the Parties to the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Curbing greenhouse gas
emissions from international shipping is an imperative, as freight transport, including
maritime transport, grows in tandem with the global population, consumption needs,
industrial activity, urbanization, trade and economy. Despite the current slowdown in
the growth of world seaborne trade, maritime freight volumes and demand for
maritime transport services are expanding. At the same time, shipping’s heavy
reliance on oil for propulsion translates into significant emissions of airborne pollutants
and greenhouse gases. According to IMO data, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from
international shipping were estimated at 2.2 per cent of total emissions in 2012 and
are projected to increase by 50–250 per cent by 2050, depending on economic
growth and the global energy demand. As the Paris Agreement under the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change does not refer to emissions from
international shipping, continued work under the frameworks of IMO and the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is of critical importance.