Ships are described as huge vessels afloat sea, ocean or rivers. Ships vary according to their use and size. Ships are known for their special purpose and functions which include transportation, fishing, entertainment and even warfare. The major developments recorded since its inception is the use of steel instead of wood as the material of construction and the mechanical propeller instead of the initial sails that helped to move ships according to the direction of wind.

Ship Types

	A Barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Most barges are not self-propelled and need to be moved by tugboats towing or towboats pushing them. Barges are still used today for low value bulk items, as the cost of hauling goods by barge is very low.
	A Bulk Carrier, Bulk Freighter, or Bulker is a merchant ship used to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as cereals, coal, ore, and cement. Bulkers make up a third of the world's merchant fleet and range from small coastal trading vessels of under 500 metric tons of deadweight (DWT) to mammoths of 365,000 DWT.
	Container Ships are cargo ships that carry their entire load in truck-size containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport. Capacity is measured in Twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), the number of standard 20-foot containers measuring 20 × 8.5 × 8.5 feet (6 × 2.6 × 2.6 metres) a vessel can carry. FEU or Forty foot equivalent unit is also a unit of measurement of capacity of Container Ships.
	A Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessel (FPSO) is a type of floating tank system used by the offshore oil and gas industry and designed to take all of the oil or gas produced from a nearby platform process it, and store it until the oil or gas can be offloaded onto waiting tankers, or sent through a pipeline.
	A Catamaran (from Tamil kattu "to tie" and maram "wood, tree") is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls joined by a frame. Catamarans can be sail ship or engine-powered.
	An Icebreaker is a special purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters.
	Roll-on/Roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are designed to carry wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trailers or railroad cars. This is in contrast to lo-lo (lift on-lift off) vessels which use a crane to load and unload cargo. RORO vessels have built-in ramps which allow the cargo to be efficiently "rolled on" and "rolled off" the vessel when in port. While smaller ferries that operate across rivers and other short distances still often have built-in ramps, the term RORO is generally reserved for larger ocean-going vessels. The ramps and doors may be stern-only, or bow and stern for quick loading.
	A Research Vessel (R/V) is a ship primarily constructed to carry out scientific research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles at sea like Fisheries survey, Oceanographic research, hydrographic survey, etc.
	A Platform Supply Vessel (often abbreviated as PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil platforms. These ships range from 65 to 350 feet in length and accomplish a variety of tasks. The primary function for most of these vessels is transportation of goods and personnel to and from offshore oil platforms and other offshore structures.
	A Hovercraft, or Air-Cushion Vehicle (ACV), is an amphibious vehicle or craft, designed to travel over any sufficiently smooth surface supported by a cushion of slowly moving, high-pressure air, ejected downwards against the surface close below it.
	A Hydrofoil is a boat with wing-like foils mounted on struts below the hull. As the craft increases its speed the hydrofoils develop enough lift for the boat to become foilborne - i.e. to raise the hull up and out of the water. This results in a great reduction in drag and a corresponding increase in speed.
	The most common Tanker Ships are the crude oil tankers and the product tankers, which carry crude oil and refined oil products, respectively. In addition there are chemical tankers, gas tankers (LPG and LNG) along with numerous other lesser known tanker types. The common denominator for all tankers is that they carry liquid substances in large bulk quantities.
	The Reefer is a type of ship typically used to transport perishable commodities which require temperature-controlled transportation, mostly fruits, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy products and other foodstuffs.
	A Cruise Ship or Cruise Liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience.
	A Tugboat, or Tug, is a boat used to maneuver, primarily by towing or pushing, other vessels in harbours, over the open sea or through rivers and canals. Tugboats are also used to tow barges, disabled ships, or other equipment like towboats.
	A Cable Layer or Cable Ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electricity, and such. A large superstructure, and one or more spools that feed off the transom distinguish it.
	An Aircraft Carrier is a warship designed to deploy and recover aircraft, acting as a sea-going airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations.