A ship with one or more decks, having ability to carry a variety of commodities in different forms such as boxed, palletized, refrigerated, and with the possibility to accommodate bulk materials such as grain..

Vessels that ply loose cargo loads in bulk quantities across oceanic channels are referred to as bulk carriers. There are different types of bulk carriers according to their purpose..

Container ships transport an estimated 52% of all global ocean trade and are specifically designed to transport ISO standardized shipping containers, these include 10, 20, 40 & 45ft standard containers, high-cube containers, open-top containers, flat rack and platform containers (these are used for oversized cargo), tank containers (for liquids / gasses) and refrigerated containers which require a power source to provide temperature control..

Chemical carriers are used for the transportation of a whole range of chemicals, which each have different properties, characteristics and inherent hazards. Chemical tankers generally have a number of separate cargo tanks which are either coated with specialized coatings such as zinc part/ phenolic epoxy or they are made from stainless steel..

An oil tanker is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries..

Liquefied gas carriers are highly specialized vessels which are used to transport Liquefied Natural Gas (LGN) or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). The cargo is stored within spherical tanks under high pressure and often at low temperatures.

Heavy lift / Project Cargo Vessels are specialist vessels built to transport extremely heavy or bulky cargoes including heavy industrial components and other vessels, such as yachts. There are two main types of heavy lift / project cargo vessels; semi-submergible (also known as flo-flo or float-on/float-off) which are used for the transportation of other vessels and augment unloading vessels which are fitted with specialist heavy lift equipment to make unloading at under-equipped ports possible.

Livestock vessels are usually converted from other types of cargo fitted with the necessary equipment to safely transport large numbers of animals. They are designed to provide adequate ventilation, food and water.

Primary function of a platform supply vessel is to transport supplies to the oil platform and return other cargoes to shore. Cargo tanks for drilling mud, pulverized cement, diesel fuel, potable and non-potable water, and chemicals used in the drilling process comprise the bulk of the cargo spaces.

An oil tanker is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries..

The device used for excavation and scraping of the seabed is called the Dredge and the ship or vessel a dredge is fitted to is known as a Dredger.

A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight.