Facts about cargo ships

Cargo ships are massive vessels that are largely responsible for importing and exporting most of the goods from around the world. Given how many products are presently made in China, cargo ships are essential to trade. They are a far more cost effective than air fare and thus an excellent way to get goods to consumers around the world while managing to keep the cost of the items at reasonable prices.

Cargo ships are huge but they usually only have a handful of crew members. 

Cargo ships come from every country and they transport nearly everything imaginable from shoes to cars to clothes to furniture. Some cargo ships have even transported army vehicles like tanks! Almost every imported product on store shelves was once aboard a cargo ship. Despite the fact that these vessels are central to International trade, many people know little about them.

Below are a few interesting facts about cargo ships:

• Cargo ships regularly carry hundreds of metal containers that are packed with goods. These containers are so heavy that the ships come equipped with cranes that help the operators load and unload the cargo.

• Most cargo ships (and containers) are made out of welded steel. They usually are expected to last about 30 years before they need to be replaced.

• Cargo ships can sometimes take weeks (or even over a month) to reach a certain destination.

• Cargo ships are among the most likely kinds of ships to fall prey to modern day pirates. In poor countries especially pirates target the ships for the wealth of useful products they carry on board.

• Cargo ships are very much a 21st century reality but the practice of trading and carry goods via the sea dates back to the 1st millennium BC! These early “cargo ships” usually operated around the Mediterranean and carried items like copper, glass, ivory, jars, spices, gold and even statues.

• The containers on cargo ships are usually stacked on top of one another—sometimes as high as three to four! An average cargo ship can hold about 16,000 containers!

• Large ports, like New York Harbor, regularly house hundreds of cargo ships every single day.

20 interesting facts about air travel

Maximum speeds, the longest flights, flight attendants’ weight and pilots’ meals – here are 20 little-known facts and snippets about air travel and its history.

• Many airlines have a rule that each pilot flying the aircraft eats a different meal, in order to minimise the risk of all pilots on board being ill.
• One third of the world’s airports are in the USA.
• The first flight attendants had to weigh less than 115 pounds, be unmarried and be trained nurses.
• An online check-in facility was first introduced by Alaskan Airlines in 1999.
• QANTAS, the name for Australia’s national airline, was originally an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territories Air Service.
• In 1987, American Airlines saved an estimated $40,000 by giving one less olive in each salad served in first class.
• The world’s busiest commercial airport is Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, with 970,000 airplane movements a year. It’s followed by Chicago (ORD), London (LHR), Tokyo (HND), Los Angeles (LAX).
• A Boeing 747 is made up of six million parts.
• In 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Boeing 727 – flight 305. He successfully negotiated a $200,000 ransom for the release of the passengers. He then parachuted from the rear of the plane and was never found.
• Since 2004, the longest scheduled long-haul flight was the Singapore Airlines flight 21 from Newark to Singapore, which takes 18.5 hours via an Airbus A340-500.
• Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines cancelled this flight, meaning there is now no direct flight from the USA to Singapore.
• The longest flight is now a Delta flight between Johannesburg and Atlanta, which at 17 hours has the longest duration, while the longest route will be a Qantas flight between Sydney and Dallas — around 8,500 miles.
• The maximum speed of a Boeing 747 is 955 km/h.
• At any given hour, 61,000 people are airborne over the US.
• British Airways passengers consume six tons of caviar per year.
• Singapore Airlines is the second largest buyer of Dom Perignon champagne in the world.
• In the early years of commercial flight, before pressurised cabins were invented, airline passengers sometimes had to wear oxygen masks during routine flights.
• In 2011, Heathrow Airport handled 69, 433, 230 passengers.
• Famous people killed in aircraft accidents include SA cricketer Hansie Cronje, golfers Payne Stewart and Davis Love Sr, musicians Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver, Jim Croce and Aaliyah, as well as John f. Kennedy Jr.
• In 1936, the airship Hindenburg provided entertainment in the form of a piano lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America.

Top 50 Useless Aviation Facts.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome onboard.

Ever wondered why American Airlines has less olives in their salads than other airlines? Perhaps you’ve pondered how much the most expensive plane ticket in the world costs? Want to know which airline is the largest purchaser of caviar, or who became the first to operate an all jet fleet?

Well wonder no more, as all of your questions, plus much, much more will be answered here, in our Top 50 Useless Aviation Facts.

1) You have a 96% chance of surviving a plane crash. Be nice to your crew and we may even pull your arse off that burning jet, should the worse happen.

2) British Airways lost the luggage of an average 9 passengers on every jumbo jet flight in the first half of 2008, according to a study by the Association of European Airlines.

3) A man once wore 70 items of clothing in a Chinese airport to avoid the baggage charge. I never knew Ryanair flew to China.

4) Stewardess is the longest word in the English language typed with just the left hand.

5) KLM is the worlds’ oldest airline, established in 1919. It’s first flight between Amsterdam and London took place on 17th May 1920.

6) In 1987 American Airlines saved $40,000 by removing 1 olive from each salad served in first class. Do Americans even eat salad? Kidding!

7) Air travel is the second safest form or transportation. Only the elevator/escalator is safer, although it would take quite some time to travel 1,000 miles on an escalator.

8) At any given hour there are over 61,000 people airborne over the USA.

9) The world’s most expensive plane ticket cost Sydney millionaire Julian Hayward, an amazing $123,000, after being the first person to buy a seat on the A380 maiden flight between Singapore and Sydney in 2007.

10) An aeroplane takes off or lands every 37 seconds at Chicago O’Hares International Airport. That’s almost 100 planes per hour.

11) Even if you strapped on giant wings you could still never fly because the human heart cannot pump enough blood to satisfy the enormous strain of flapping. When flying, a sparrows heart beats more than 450 times per minute.

12) 70% of aircraft in service today are over 70% more fuel-efficient per seat kilometre, than the first jets in the 1960s. Take that eco-warriors.

13) The Wing-span of the A380 is longer than the aircraft itself. Wingspan: 80m, Length: 72.7m.

14) In 2012, 1,715 airlines operated a fleet of 23,000 aircraft, serving 3,750 airports, through a route network of several million km’s, managed by 160 air navigation service providers.

15) Most planes flying internationally have their home country’s flag painted on or around their tails. Generally, the flag is facing the correct way round on the left (port) side, and backwards on the right (starboard) side. This is because that is how the flag would look if it were hoisted on a pole above the aeroplane during the flight.

16) Mr Heinrich Kubis was Germany’s and the worlds first flight attendant in 1912.

17) Even though airlines carry medical kits and can quickly be in radio contact with doctors on the ground, about 100 people a year die while flying. So believe it or not, that’s one of the main reasons your wonderful cabin crew are onboard, as we are all first aid trained.

18) The specific rules regarding flight attendants vary among airlines and between countries. But in the UK and US there must be at least 1 FA per 50 passengers.

19) In 2009, Southwest Airlines served 63.2 million cans of soda, juices and water; 14.3 million alcoholic drinks; 14 million bags of pretzels; 90 million bags of peanuts; 17.7 million select-A-snacks and 33.5 million other snacks.

20) If everyone on a plane jumped up at the same time would the plane get lighter? The answer is no. Actually the opposite is true. Due to the basic laws of physics, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so if you jumped into the air you actually force the aeroplane down a little bit, thus increasing its weight albeit momentarily.

21) In 1940, it would cost 1 years wages to fly from London to New York. By todays average, it costs only Mondays and Tuesdays working wage. Unless you’re flying Ryanair where the flight itself would cost you half an hours work, but all the add-ons would cost Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays wages.

22) Mohawk Airlines hired the first African-American flight attendant in the United States, Ruth-Carol Taylor in December, 1957.

23) ‘MAYDAY’ is derived from the French word m’aidez, which means help me.

24) The average age of commercial aircraft is 19 years. The average age of an American Flight attendant is 105.

25) Singapore Airlines spends about $700 million on food every year and $16 million on wine alone. First class passengers consume 20,000 bottles of alcohol every month and Singapore Airlines is the second biggest buyer of Dom Perignon champagne in the world.

26) Prince Charles and Prince William will never fly on the same aircraft, just incase there is a crash.

27) The Boeing 747 burns approximately 1 gallon of fuel every second. Over the course of a 10 hour flight, it may burn up to 36,000 gallons.

28) British Airways was once the world’s largest purchaser of Champagne, with passengers drinking a minimum of 90,000 cases every year. They purchase all this champagne by selling the contents of the suitcases they lost in 2008! Again, kidding!

29) In the 568 US plane crashes between 1980 and 2000, more than 90% of the crash victims survived.

30) An air traveller can lose approximately 1.5 litres of water from the body during a 3 hour flight.

31) Thai Airways cabin crew are required to wear separate uniforms on land and in the air. They change into traditional Thai dresses in the air, while on the ground they wear a corporate purple suit. Also, any crew of a nationality other than Thai are not allowed to wear the dress.

32) Only around 25% of first class passengers pay full fare. The rest are upgrades, frequent fliers and airline employees, otherwise known as scum.

33) The name of Idlewild Airport was changed to JFK international on 24th December 1963, a month after John F. Kennedy was assassinated.

34) Only 5% of the world’s population has never been on an aeroplane.

35) In 2010 easyJet cabin crew had served 28,796,475 tasty Bacon baguette and poured  95,481,345 hot drinks.

36) Lufthansa is the worlds largest purchaser of Caviar, buying over 10 tons per year.

37) The Boeing 747 (all versions) have travelled and estimated 35 billion miles, that is the equivalent of 75,000 trips to the moon and back.

38) When Concorde used to fly over the Middle East on the early Bahrain routes, there were complaints that the sonic booms upset the camels and ruined their sex lives. What I would like to know is how the locals discovered this fact……..

39) Emirates is the worlds largest operator of Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft and is one of only 9 airlines in the world to operate an all wide-body fleet.

40) A Boeing 747s wing-span is longer than the Wright Brothers first flight (120ft).

41) The internet and on-line check-in was first used by Alaska Airlines in 1999.

42) As well as being the second oldest airline in the world Qantas, formed in 1920, also has the best safety record with no fatal crashes in their history. Tick Tock.

43) On 11th June 1962, Air India became the worlds first all Jet airline.

44) The first women flight attendants in the 1930’s were required to weigh no more than 115 pounds, be nurses and un-married.

45) 75% of all inflight arguments between grown adults are a result of economy passengers reclining their seats. Don’t you just hate it when they ask you to tell the person in front to put their seat up. Like they can’t hear you anyway! Do it yourself.

46) Pilots are 75% more likely to be at the front door saying goodbye to passengers after a good landing than after a bad landing. That’s probably why none of the flight deck I know ever leave the cockpit.

47) Two to six hundred million gallons of wastewater is created each year from aircraft de-icing.

48) The winglets on an Airbus A330-200 are the same height as the worlds tallest man.

49) Hijacking of aircraft was not officially outlawed until 1961.

and finally………

50) Cabin crew are onboard an aircraft to save your arse, not kiss it!

Pilots and flight attendants confess dark secrets about flying

• Even the headphones that come wrapped up aren’t new. I used to work for warehouse that supplied a certain airline with items. The headsets that are given to you are not new, despite being wrapped up. They are taken off the flight, “cleaned”, and then packaged again.
• Pilots are sleeping most of the time. 1/2 of pilots sleep while flying and 1/3 of the time they wake up to find their partner asleep.
• The true story behind those oxygen masks. That if the oxygen masks drop down, you only have about 15 minutes of oxygen from the point of pulling them down. However, that is more than enough time for the pilot to take us to a lower altitude where you can breathe normally. More important – at altitude, you have 15-20 seconds before you pass out. Put yours on first, then do your kids. Passing out for a few seconds won’t harm the kids.
• The real reason the lights on the airplane dim when landing. When a plane is landing at night, they dim the interior lights in case you need to evacuate upon landing… your eyes are already adjusted to the darkness so you’ll be able to see better once outside the plane.
• Regarding food on the plane. My dad works for a large airline, he told me a few little things ◾ 2 pilots are served different meals and cannot share, this is done in case of food poisoning. ◾ Stealing food, even if they are going to throw it out can get you fired instantly. You can ask your supervisor, but you cannot take food. They don’t want people messing with it.
• The truth about flying with pets. I am an aircraft fueler. One thing I cannot stress enough is how your pets are treated. While your airline will take the best possible actions, some things cannot be avoided, like the noise on the ramp. I cannot stand out there without ear protection, and imagine your pet sitting out there on the ramp waiting to be loaded onto the plane being exposed to the same amount of noise I am. Please people, think twice before flying your pets.
• What flight attendants really do after telling the plane to turn off their electronics. My sister is a flight attendant, she says after she tells everyone to turn off all electronics, she goes to the back and pulls out her phone and starts texting.
• Lightning and the power of a pilot. My dad’s been an airline pilot for almost 20 years, and apparently planes get struck by lightning all the time. Also if a passenger is causing a scene in the jetway he can refuse to let them on and take off without them. The captain has almost limitless authority when the doors are closed. He is allowed to arrest people, write fines and even take the will of a dying passenger.
• Don’t drink water on a plane that didn’t come from a bottle. Former Lufthansa cargo agent here. Do not EVER drink water on an aircraft that did not come from a bottle. Don’t even TOUCH IT. The reason being the ports to purge lavatory shit and refill the aircraft with potable water are within feet from each other and sometimes serviced all at once by the same guy. Not always, but if you’re not on the ramp watching, you’ll never know.
• The drinking water used for coffee and tea is filthy. The drinking water, that used for making coffee, tea, etc., should NEVER be consumed. The holding tanks in these sometimes 60 year old planes are never cleaned. They have accumulated so much greenish grime on the walls that in some places it can be inches thick. This one is very known by all airline employees.
• Those lavatories unlock from the outside. You are able to unlock airplane lavatories from the outside. There is usually a lock mechanism concealed behind the no smoking badge on the door. Just lift the flap up and slide the bolt to unlock.
• On the importance of locking your bags. Lock your bags, carry-on bags included.Look online or in a travel store for TSA-approved locks. The TSA has keys to open those locks in case they need to further inspect them (and hopefully not steal from them). And most people don’t think to lock their carry-on, but especially now with load factors very high, more and more people are having to gate check bags. Once you drop your bag at the end of the jetway for gate-checking, anyone from a fellow passenger, to a gate agent, to a ramp agent has access to your bag.
• How a pilot approaches landing. When you experience a hard landing in bad weather it wasn’t because of a lack of pilot skills but it is in fact intentional. If the runway is covered in water the airplane has to touch down hard in order to puncture the water layer and prevent aqua planing. “Landings are nothing more than controlled crashes.” Pilot friend quote.
• Tipping could go a long way. My girlfriend is a flight attendant. NO ONE tips flight attendants. If you give your FA a fiver with your first drink you’ll probably drink for free the rest of the flight.
• Just because you’re flying with a big airline, doesn’t mean the pilots are experienced. Regional airline pilot here. You may have bought a ticket on Delta, United, or American, but chances are you’ll be flying on a subcontractor. That means the pilots have a fraction of the experience, training, and pay of the big mainline carrier. Also, I don’t get paid enough to care if you make your connection. Most of the time we fly slower than normal to make more money. The only time we fly fast is if ATC tells us to or if it’s the go home leg.
• The truth behind turning off electronics. Pilot here. Having to turn off electronics on a plane is totally useless.Mobile electronic devices won’t really bring an airplane down but they can be really annoying to pilots. Just imagine sitting in the flightdeck descending to your destination and hearing the interference of a 100+ cellphones picking up a signal. I have missed a clearance or 2 that way.
• A flight attendant reveals just how dirty everything truly is. I worked for Southwest as a flight attendant. Those blankets and pillows? Yeah, those just get refolded and stuffed back in the bins between flights. Only fresh ones I ever saw were on an originating first flight in the morning in a provisioning city. Also, if you have ever spread your peanuts on your tray and eaten, or really just touched your tray at all, you have more than likely ingested baby poo. I saw more dirty diapers laid out on those trays than food. And those trays, yeah, never saw them cleaned or sanitized once.
• Airports haven’t covered all of their security bases yet. There are actually legitimate security loopholes that, if widely known, would let average citizens get right next to airliners, runways, and taxiways. Like any system, if you know how it works, you know where the cracks are.
• Most flights are also carrying human organs. The majority of domestic flights have human remains or organs on them. I work below wing as a baggage handler. Watch out the window for long boxes that say, “Head” at one end… Oh, and I can fit 150 bags in bin 3 of a Boeing 737-300.
• Planes without engines can still glide for a really long time. A pilot told me if both engines fail, a plane can glide 6 nautical miles for every 5000 feet. So at 35,000 feet, a plane can glide about 42 miles without power. It’s why most accidents happen landing or taking off.
• The real reason there are still ashtrays in the lavatories. Here’s one: ashtrays in the lavatories are mandatory equipment even though the FAA banned smoking on flights years ago. The reasoning is that if people do decide to smoke, they want them to have a place other than the trash can to throw the butt. And one final note, if a plane is being hijacked when the pilot lands they will leave the wing flaps up that slow the plane down, this is to signal the airport that there is something happening in the plane.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT AIRLINES, AIRPORTS AND AIR TRAVELING

Don't know how much of this stuff is true but it was interesting.  At least now I know why they dim the lights and open the window shades on take off and landing.

    INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT AIRLINES, AIRPORTS AND AIR TRAVELING

    • All International Airline Pilots speak English.

    • Flights longer than 8 hours require 3 pilots (1 captain and 2 first officers) to rotate flying duties. Flights longer than 12 hours require 4 pilots (1 captain and 3 first officers). They usually fly 3-4 hour shifts. (There are different norms of Indian companies Pilots)

    •Each airline pilot flying the aircraft, eats a different meal to minimize the risk of all pilots on board being ill.

    •On average, pilots fly between 9 and 14 days a month (Indian companies pilot fly 24 to 26 days)

    •All airlines have an agreement to let each others' travelling pilots occupy empty seats. If no seats are available, the travelling pilot can also occupy an extra seat in the cockpit that is usually empty.

    •The main function of flight attendants are for the safety and security of their passengers, and passenger comfort is only secondary.

    •The first female flight attendants in 1930 were required to weigh less than 115 pounds. In addition, they had to be nurses and unmarried.

    •Flight attendants must not have any tattoos visible when a uniform is worn. These requirements are designed to give the airlines a positive representation.

    •The normal ratio of Flight Attendants to passenger seats is one Flight Attendant for every 50 passenger seats.

    •The height requirement for Flight Attendant is for safety reasons, making sure that all flight attendants can reach overhead safety equipment.

    •The normal ratio of Lavatories to passengers is approximately one lavatory for every 50 passengers.

    •An air traveler can lose approximately 1.5 liters of water in the body during a three-hour flight.

    •The reason why the lights are turned out during takeoff and landing – Is for your eyes to adjust to lower levels of light. If there's an accident and they have to activate the emergency slides, studies have shown that you will be able to see better and therefore be able to evacuate more quickly and safely.

    •The World’s largest Airline in terms of Fleet Size is Delta Airlines (United States) with 744 aircraft and 121 aircraft on order as of March 2011.

    •The largest passenger plane is the Airbus 380 - nearly 240 feet long, almost 80 feet high, and has a wingspan of more than 260 feet. The double-decker plane has a standard seating capacity of 555 passengers.

    •The world’s busiest airport in terms of passenger volume or the number of takeoffs and landings, is Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, United States – with more than 88 million passengers shuffled through the Atlanta airport in 2009, with another 20 million in the first three months of 2010, and with aircraft take-off and landings approximately every 37 seconds.

    •The Internet/On-Line check-in was first used by Alaskan Airlines in 1999.

    •The world’s Largest Airport is Kansai International Airport, Osaka, Japan (as of 2011). By 2013 Al Maktoum International Airport in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates is planned to be the largest airport in the world.

    •The airport with the longest runway in the world is Qamdo Bangda Airport in the Peoples Republic of China with 5.50 kilometers in length (as of 2011).

    •American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by removing 1 olive from each salad served in first class.

    •In 2009, Southwest served 63.2 million cans of soda, juices, and water; 14.3 million alcoholic beverages; 14 million bags of pretzels; 90 million bags of peanuts; 17.7 million Select-A-Snacks; and 33.5 million other snacks.

    •Singapore Airlines spends about $700 million on food every year and $16 million on wine alone. First class passengers consume 20,000 bottles of alcohol every month and Singapore Airlines is the second largest buyer of Dom Perignon champagne in the world.

    •Cathay Pacific carries rice cookers, toasters, cappuccino makers and skillets on board their airplanes.

    •KLM of Netherlands stands for Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (meaning Royal Dutch Airlines).

    •KLM is the worlds' oldest airline established in 1919.

    •QUANTAS - Australia’s national airline, originally stood for Queensland And Northern Territories Air Service.

    •QUANTAS is the second world’s oldest airline established in 1920.

    •QUANTAS still has the world's best safety record with no crashes as of 2011.

    •Virgin Atlantic lists catering as their third biggest expense, after fuel and maintenance.

    •American Airlines spent about $425 million on food for domestic passengers in 2001.

    •In one year, British Airways passengers consume:

    * 40.5 tons of chicken

    * 6 tons of caviar

    * 22 tons of smoked salmon

    * 557,507 boxes of chocolate

    * 90 thousand cases (9 liter cases) of sparkling wine.

    •Abu Dhabi Airport Services once did a complete turn-around for a Boeing 777 in under 40 minutes, as opposed to a normal minimum of one hour. They unloaded passengers, cargo, mail, cleaned the aircraft, and loaded outbound passengers, cargo and mail in that short time.

    •In 2001, Dubai Duty Free sold 1,570,214 cartons of cigarettes, 2,003,151 bottles of liquor, 2,909 kilograms of gold, 101,824 watches, 690,502 bottles of perfume, 52,119 mobile phones.

    •In-flight catering is an $18 billion worldwide industry employing up to 200,000 people.

25 Mind Blowing Facts About The Shipping Industry

For an industry that basically runs the world economy most people know very little about the enormous complex that touches almost every single thing you use. From the chair you are sitting on to the yogurt you’re eating to the steering wheel in you car, all those things were made possible thanks to an industry that has been operating since man learned to float. Recently a great book came out titled Ninety Percent of Everything by Rose George that talked about these 25 mind blowing facts about the shipping industry.

25: No Service

Around two-thirds of ship crews in the world have no means of communication while they are on the open sea. Only about 1 in 10 will have freely available Internet.

24: Pirates

In 2010, Somali pirates were holding 544 seafarers hostage. Every year, more than 2,000 sailors die at sea, and an incredible two ships are lost every day. In 2012, the attack rates on seafarers was higher than the number of violent crimes in South Africa, the highest-crime nation on Earth.

23: A Long Journey

A container ship travels the equivalent of three-quarters of the way to the moon and back in one year during its regular travel across the oceans.

22: Expensive Ships

The largest ships can cost over 200 million dollars to build.

21: Seafarer Demographics

Females constitute only about 2% of seafarers. People from the Philippines make up more than a third of all crews worldwide, with nearly a quarter million at sea.

20: A Boatload Of Bananas

The largest ships can store 745 million bananas in nearly 15,000 containers. That’s about one for every person in Europe and North America.

19: An Ancient Industry

Shipping is one of the oldest industries in the world. Today, however, it plays as important a role as ever.

18: Lots of Boats

There are approximately 55,000 merchant ships carrying cargo around the world.

17: Lots of Seafarers

Around 1.5 million seafarers are employed by the global shipping industry

16: Greenhouse Gas

In 2009, the 15 biggest ships in the world gave off the same amount of greenhouse gas as 760 million cars, or about two cars for every American.

15: Still The Greenest

Compared to trucks and planes however, shipping is still the greenest form of transport, relatively speaking.

14: Some Perspective

Having made the previous two points, it’s worth mentioning that if you added shipping to the list of the world’s most polluting countries, it would come in sixth place.

13: Lax Inspections

Worldwide, only around 2% to 10% of containers are actually inspected. U.S. ports normally inspect roughly 5% of the 17 million containers arriving at the border every year.

12: The Biggest Fleets

Germany, Japan, and Greece are the three countries with the biggest fleets based on total dead weight tonnage controlled by parent companies located in these countries.

11: Dislike of Outsiders

Shipping companies are extremely secretive. For example, the official Greek shipowners’ association won’t even reveal how many members it has.

10: 20 Million

As of this moment there are roughly 20 million containers crossing the world.

9: A lot of power

A container ship engine has about 1,000 times more power than a family car.

8: Average cost of shipping

To give you an example of how much it costs to ship something, a bicycle would be roughly 10 dollars while a soda can would be less than a penny.

7: Huge source of revenue

Economically speaking, the shipping industry is enormous. In the United Kingdom, it accounts for more of the GDP than restaurants, takeaway food, and civil engineering combined.

6: 90 Percent

Shipping is so big in fact that it constitutes roughly 90 percent of the world’s trade.

5: A lot of containers

If you were to line up the containers on just one ship they would easily stretch nearly halfway around the planet. If you stacked them up, and they would reach to nearly 7,500 Eiffel Towers and if you unloaded their cargo onto trucks the traffic would stretch for 60 miles.

4: A safety oriented industry

Shipping is one of the first industries to adopt widely implemented international safety standards.

3: It’s Necessity

In 2011 the 360 commercial ports in the United States received goods from abroad worth $1.73 trillion. The U.S. relies on shipping to bring in two-thirds of its oil supply.

2: Types of merchant ships

In the global fleet there are six types of ships: General cargo ships, bulk carriers, fishing vessels, container ships, passenger ships, and tankers.

1: Cheap Fillets

Shipping is cheap. It’s so cheap in fact, that rather than fillet its own fish, Scotland can send its cod 10,000 miles across the ocean to China to be filleted, and then sent back for less than the price of doing it themselves.

Facts About Air Freight And Sea Freight

FREIGHT: Facts About Air Freight And Sea Freight

Most companies that ship items use either air freight, sea freight or both. This is a cost effective and safe way to ship large items that cannot be shipped using the U.S. Postal Service. There are many interesting facts about the air freight and sea freight used by shipping companies such as IDT.

Air Freight Facts

A common abbreviation related to air freight is AWB, which is short for air waybill. An air waybill signifies the end of a contract that absolves the carrier in question from reporting, legal and insurance duties. When a contract is drawn up for air freight an official Letter of Credit is always required. This letter states that the purchaser will ensure the bank is paid the money they are owed as a result of the contract. The terms of these contracts always favor the seller over the buyer. In the event that either party defaults on the contract the scales will be tipped by the party that owes the money. The Letter of Credit ensures this will happen.

Sea Freight Facts

When it comes to sea freight two common abbreviations are FCL and LCL. FCL is short for full container load and LCL is short for less than container load. The weight of the load being shipped determines whether or not it is LCL or FCL. When it comes to any kind of freight shipping the ratio of mass vs weight is always one cubic meter to one ton.

Choosing Between Air Freight And Sea Freight Shipping

There are four factors that should always be considered before using air or sea freight shipping. Each factor should play a part in the decision as to whether air or sea freight will be more convenient. Those four factors are:

• Cost
• Environmental Impact
• Reliability
• Speed
• Cost

The first thing to look at when choosing between the two is the cost of the shipping. International shipping charges vary according to the type of shipping used and to what items are actually being shipped. To determine the cost of air freight shipping it is necessary to determine the chargeable weight of the item or items in question. This weight is calculated taking into account the size and weight of a particular shipment. Sea freight rates are determined by specific rates set for each container being shipped, according to its size. The standard size containers are 20’ and 40’. Weight does not impact the cost of sea freight rates as much as it impacts the cost of air freight rates. Generally the heavier and larger a shipment is the more like sea freight is a more affordable option than air freight.

Environmental Impact

The environmental impact of shipping the items in question is also a factor. Most of the time sea freight shipping is the more environmentally friendly choice. However, many hesitate to use sea freight shipping if what they are shipping could end up polluting the water. Air freight shipping results in significantly larger carbon fingerprints than sea freight shipping does.

Reliability

The reliability of the type of shipping used is also a factor in choosing one over the other. Though air freight shipping has been used for a shorter period of time than sea freight shipping has, many people prefer it. Air freight shipping has a better chance of being performed on time than sea freight shipping when there is an issue with the weather.

Speed

The speed of both shipping types is also taken into consideration. Air freight shipments are generally completed much faster than sea freight shipments are completed. 

An overview of the international shipping industry

Shipping and World Trade
About 90% of world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. Without shipping, the import/export of affordable food and goods would not be possible - half the world would starve and the other half would freeze!

Safety and Regulation

Shipping is regulated globally by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The harsh nature of the sea exposes ships to considerable physical risk, so a total commitment to safety pervades all deep sea shipping operations.

Environmental Performance

Shipping is the least environmentally damaging form of commercial transport and, compared with land based industry, is a comparatively minor contributor to marine pollution from human activities.

Sources: http://www.ics-shipping.org/shipping-facts/shipping-facts