From the enormous to the tiny, boats of all sizes and shapes play different functions in delivering food and clothes to you.
When we are discussing international trade, it might be simple to imagine that big ships crossing the world's greatest oceans are the only ones that truly matter, however that is not the case at all. Not all items come directly into the nation in which they will be bought and sold, but have to travel a significant distance after they have actually been dropped off by container ship too. For this, types of boats and ships like ferryboats are just as crucial, as freight will typically be offloaded from the enormous cargo ships and distributed from the ports by lorry or train, and ferries play a crucial role in reaching countries or neighborhoods that are separated by stretches of water. People like the CEO of DP World P&O and people like the CEO of Brittany Ferries will appreciate the role that ferries play in getting products to everyone.
The modern world is a time of unprecedented production and commerce, and whilst that might may our lives more comfortable, it does not always have the best impact on the planet. The over exploitation of natural resources like fishing grounds can have a devastating impact on ecosystems and communities around the world, which is why small boat types are just as important to global trade as big ones are. Smaller fishing boat types have a much smaller influence on ecological communities than large trawlers, suggesting that producing the food that we consume will not lead to the collapse of fishing grounds or a massive quantity of animals like dolphins and whales getting caught in the proverbial crossfire.
We are extremely lucky to live in the modern world where whatever that we might want is constantly at our fingertips (albeit for a fee). Today we can have every fruit and vegetable in the middle of winter and buy low-cost clothing throughout the year, and that is down to the network of global trade that links almost all the nations on this world together. Although we may mainly travel by train and plane, the goods that keep the world buying and selling and consuming and dressing will tend to journey more often by big types of boat for ocean voyages that can last for weeks, holding a large quantity of cargo. These container ships are the reason that international trade works, able to transfer things extremely cheaply throughout the whole planet; a t-shirt can be delivered from Asia to America for the cost of 14 pence, for instance. These ships are typically the size of a skyscraper, holding tens of thousands of containers, as much as a fifty-mile long freight train. Individuals like the CEO of AP Moller Maersk will understand the importance of container ships to international trade.