Ships have been the most efficient means of travel or transportation in the world for thousands of years. After the "New World" had been found, people travelling from Europe to this New Continent with ships. Millions of people had crossed the Atlantic Ocean from and to "the New World" before the invention of airplane. And it took another twenty to fifty years before a large plane could carry some fifty to one hundred people on board crossing the Atlantic. Now people prefer to travel across the Atlantic or around the world with airplanes. For one reason, an airplane is faster than a ship.
Just because an airplane is faster than a ship, it does not mean that people have stopped travelling with ships. Until now, ship is still used as a means of transportation for goods and people. Many people like to travel with ships because they provide various activities and facilities. Inside a modern ferry, passengers can swim, watch movies, read in libraries, enjoy sunbathing and even surf on the internet. The atmosphere of relaxation is one of the reasons why passenger ships cannot completely be replaced by airplanes. Tourists in the Carribean who travel from one island to another with cruise ships have given significant economic contribution to these island countries.
The application of new propulsion systems has brought new types of ships that can travel faster than their predecessors. Hydrofoil; catamaran; trimaran; and SWATH (Small Water-plane Area Twin Hull) move faster than conventional displacement ships. Although most ships are still propelled by marine screw propeller, new approach to hull designs and propulsion machinery have caused these new ship types to become the most preferable choice of short distance transportation means that connect coastal towns and cities.
In addition, the introduction of low speed diesel engine and highly skew propeller, together with the SWATH, hydrofoil and catamaran, has made travelling with ships becomes more comfortable due to low noise level and low vibration.
Cruise ships that travel around the world can stop by at remote islands and lower their boats to enable their passengers visit them. This is something that a large airplane cannot do if the island does not have airport. With around 95 percent of goods and people are still transported by ships, these marine vehicles will still play very important roles in shaping and changing human civilization for now and forever. by Charles Roring in Manokwari of West Papua. Also read: Design constraints of propeller diameter; Propeller and ship's hull; Controllable Pitch and Fixed Pitch Propeller
