Maritime transport, fluvial transport, or more waterborne transport is the transport of people or goods via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been used throughout recorded history; the advent of aviation has diminished the importance of sea travel for passengers, though it is still popular for short trips and pleasure cruises. Transport by water is cheaper than transport by air, despite fluctuating exchange rates and a fee placed on top of freighting charges for carrier companies known as the currency adjustment factor. Maritime transport can be realized over any distance by boat, sailboat or barge, over oceans and lakes, through canals or along rivers. Shipping may be for military purposes. While extensive inland shipping is less critical today, the major waterways of the world including many canals are still important and are integral parts of worldwide economies. Any material can be moved by water. Still, water transport is cost effective with regular schedulable cargoes, such as trans-oceanic shipping of consumer products – and for heavy loads or bulk cargos, such as coal, ores, or grains.

Arguably, the industrial revolution took place best where cheap water transport by canal, navigations, or shipping by all types of watercraft on natural waterways supported cost effective bulk transport. Containerization revolutionized maritime transport starting in the 1970s. "General cargo" includes goods packaged in boxes, cases and barrels. When a cargo is carried in more than one mode, it is co-modal. Merchant shipping: A nation's shipping fleet consists of the ships operated by civilian crews to transport passengers or cargo from one place to another. Merchant shipping includes water transport over the river and canal systems connecting inland destinations and small. For example, during the early modern era, cities in the Hanseatic League began taming Northern Europe's rivers and harbors. And, for instance, the Saint Lawrence Seaway connects the port cities on the Great Lakes in Canada and the United States with the Atlantic Ocean shipping routes. Ores and grains can travel along the rivers of the American midwest to Pittsburgh, or Birmingham.

Professional mariners are merchant seaman, merchant sailor, merchant mariner, or seaman, sailor, or mariners. The terms "seaman" or "sailor" may refer to a member of a country's navy. According to the 2005 CIA World Factbook, the total number of merchant ships of at least 1,000 gross register tons in the world was 30,936. In 2010, it was 38,988, an increase of 26%; as of December 2018, a quarter of all merchant mariners were born in the Philippines. Statistics for individual countries are available at the list of merchant navy capacity by country. A ship may be categorized as to how it is operated. A liner will operate to a schedule; the scheduled operation requires that such ships are better equipped to deal with causes of potential delay such as bad weather. They are higher powered than tramp ships with better seakeeping qualities, thus they are more expensive to build. Liners are built for passenger and container operation though past common uses included mail and general cargo. A tramp will go wherever a suitable cargo takes it.

Thus a ship and crew may be chartered from the ship owner to fetch a cargo of grain from Canada to Latvia, the ship may be required to carry a cargo of coal from Britain to Melanesia. Bulk carriers and some cruise ships are examples of ships built to operate in this manner. Ships and other watercraft are used for maritime transport. Types can be distinguished by size or cargo type. Recreational or educational craft still use wind power, while some smaller craft use internal combustion engines to drive one or more propellers, or in the case of jet boats, an inboard water jet. In shallow draft areas, such as the Everglades, some craft, such as the hovercraft, are propelled by large pusher-prop fans. Most modern merchant ships can be placed in one of a few categories, such as: A cargo ship sailing from a European port to a US one will take 10–12 days depending on water currents and other factors. In order to make container ship transport more economical in the face of declining demand for intercontinental shipping, ship operators sometimes reduce cruising speed, thereby increasing transit time, to reduce fuel consumption, a strategy referred to as "slow steaming".

There are researches, that gives overview on the scope of data and it's quality related to vessels, available on the Web, which can be used in the maritime domain. A ship's complement can be divided into four categories: The deck department The engine department The steward's department And other. Officer positions in the deck department include but not limited to: Master and his Chief and Third officers; the official classifications for unlicensed members of the deck department are Able Seaman and Ordinary Seaman. A common deck crew for a ship includes: Chief Officer/Chief Mate Second Officer /Second Mate Third Officer / Third Mate Boatswain Able Seamen Ordinary SeamenA deck cadet is a person, carrying out mandatory sea time to achieve their officer of the watch certificate, their time on board is spent learning the operations and tasks of everyday life on a merchant vessel. A ship's engine department consists of the m

Thomas Righter Snow is an American songwriter. Snow has written songs for Gayle McCormick ". "Love Not War", Olivia Newton-John, Melissa Manchester, The Pointer Sisters' million-selling 1980 hit "He's So Shy", Barbra Streisand, Rita Coolidge, Barry Manilow, Randy Crawford, Diana Ross, Bonnie Raitt, Leo Sayer, Bette Midler, Michael Johnson, Dolly Parton and Tennille, Kim Carnes, Dionne Warwick, Linda Ronstadt, Trisha Yearwood, Amy Grant, Christina Aguilera. He co-wrote "Dreaming of You" for the crossover Mexican-American star Selena, released posthumously in 1995. Along with Dean Pitchford, Snow wrote the song "Let's Hear It for the Boy" sung by American singer Deniece Williams for the film soundtrack Footloose, which climbed to number one on the U. S. Billboard peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart; the track was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. He wrote the song "Did You Hear Thunder" with Pitchford for the George Benson album While the City Sleeps.... Other films that Snow has written songs for include Oliver & Company, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride with New York City's Jack Feldman and Marty Panzer, About Last Night...

Chances Are. On November 11, 2011, at an independent TED event, Snow delivered a TED talk which he entitled "The Mulch Pile."Snow released solo albums in the 1970s and 1980s. Tom Snow was a member of the band Country, which released a sole album on Clean Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records in 1971. Snow played piano; the band included Michael Fondiler, who shared lead vocals and played rhythm guitar, Bob DeSimone on drums, Steve Fondiler on bass and Ian Espinoza on lead guitar and dobro. Their little-known but assured self-titled debut featured Mark and Matt Andes of Spirit and Jo Jo Gunne and Lowell George of Little Feat. Vexed by management troubles - Michael O'Bryant was replaced by Peter Asher - the album sank without a trace. Re-released on the Slipstream label in 2013, the album garnered favourable reviews. Snow left after the first album, but the rest of the band continued, a second album was recorded but never released. A single from those sessions, "Strange Arrangement", was released, which featured Snow and the rest of the band but was credited as a solo work by Ian Espinoza.

It failed and Clean Records pulled the plug. The band now has the original masters and plans are afoot to release this album, to be entitled Bigalo Jive. UK fanzine Fantastic Expedition told the Country story in its Issue #8. Snow co-wrote Melissa Manchester's "Your Love is Where I Live", which features Stevie Wonder, on Manchester's You Gotta Love the Life. Solo albumsTaking It All In Stride Tom Snow Hungry Nights Tom Snow on IMDb Tom Snow Online Scholarship From Berklee College of Music Fantastic Expedition Fanzine

Cardona Island Light is the only 6th order lighthouse in Puerto Rico with a cylindrical attached tower. The light is located on Cardona Island, a small island on the west side of the entrance to the harbor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, it was listed in the U. S. National Register of Historic Places on 22 October 1981; the light is located on west of Ponce Harbor. Cayo Cardona Light is the western minor light that together with Guánica Light connects Los Morrillos Light and Caja de Muertos Light and guides the entrance to the Port of Ponce; the island is accessible only by private boat, but it can be seen from the observation tower on the La Guancha boardwalk. It is not open to the public, it was first lit in 1889 and automated in 1962. In 1942, during World War II, its use was discontinued, but was relighted again on 10 November 1943; the light is still an active aid to navigation. Together with Guánica Light, Cardona Light is the western minor light which connects Cabo Rojo Light and Caja de Muertos Light and guides the entrance to a port that, during the course of last century, exported millions of pounds of sugar to the United States.

Architecturally, it is significant that it is the only 6th order lighthouse with a cylindrical attached tower. The original brick roof and firewood beams are intact; the lighthouse was intended for one second class keeper. The light, built in 1889, guides the entrance as a 6th order red fixed light. Structurally, it followed the same construction as three other minor lights on the south and southeast shores: Punta Figuras, Punta Mulas, Puerto Ferro, it lacks, the distinctive decorative elements of non-existing Punta Higuero or ruinous Guernica. It possesses a charm of its own: a petite neo-classic symmetrically-balanced official design. Cayo Cardona's dwelling was designed of brick for one 2nd class keeper. A 33-foot circular tower was attached to its south facade; the structure measures some 48' x 30' x 16'. Its main entrance is on the north facade which opened into a room arrangement similar to the other minor structures of the light house and described further below; the fact that no plans of this structure have been found, that its interior has been closed off with cement makes it difficult to describe.

Only secondary references, a late 19th-century photo of the site, official references to the similar or identical design of the minor lights allows a reserved description of this particular site. The c. 1898 photo available depicts a simple neo-classic building with a rather elaborate cornice and a simple roof parapet. Contrary to other minor lights, the tower is cylindrical, crowned by another cornice less elaborated than the dwelling's; the photograph states that the structure was painted light blue. The tower's cast-iron stairway led to an octagonal glass and cast-iron lantern with vertical bars and a cast-iron balustrade surrounding an exterior cement gallery; the original illuminating apparatus, still in use, is an 1888, 6th order fixed red lenticular lens manufactured by Sautter, Lemonnier & Company of France. It is 12 inches in diameter; the lens has four panels, with five elements in each panel of the central drum, five prisms on each panel above the central drum and two below. It was held in place by a cast-iron pedestal.

The original light was colored by a red chimney. The original light characteristics were modified in 1922 and 1938. In 1962 it was electrified and unmanned. List of lighthouses in Puerto Rico Isla Cardona National Register of Historic Places photographic file