(a) Explain five roles of transport to businessmen.
(b) State three characteristics of tramp vessels and two characteristics of ocean liners.
Explanation
The roles of transport to business men are:
(i)It transfers goods from one part of the world to another.
(ii) It also helps to develop direct trading between manufactures and retailers.
(iii) Transport helps the development of many industries.
(iv) It leads to market expansion.
(v) It adds value to products.
(vi) Transport offers employment opportunity.
(vii) Transport moves people to and from work.
(i) The following are the characteristics of tramp vessels:
(i) They are sometimes described as unspecialized general purpose ships.
(ii) Tramp vessels have no fixed routes or scheduled sailing times.
(iii) Tramp shipping rates are usually fixed.
(iv) They do not carry cargoes in parcels but prefer to deal with bulk cargoes.
(v) Tramp vessels are frequently employed on a charter basis i.e. by importers or exporters on either a time or voyage charter.
(vi) Some of the smaller tramps are particularly useful for visiting small, inadequately equipped ports to collect cargoes of timber, ore etc.
(vii) They operate as sea taxis.
(ii) Characteristics of tramp vessels are:
(i) Ocean liners act as passenger liners, passenger cargo liners, and cargo liners, ranging from say 10,000 to 50,000 gross tonnage or more.
(ii) They maintain a regular service, i.e. at advertised times between specified ports, and at scheduled freight charges.
(iii) Their freight charges are normally fixed by the shipping companies themselves.
(iv) Cargoes may vary from comparatively small but valuable cargoes to the more bulky cargoes of the cargo-liners.