Evolution of ocean transportation

For decades most communities have always settled close to water, the importance of living near water was vast, the communities were able to transport people and their goods across the world. Travelling by water was also cheaper and more efficient to the communities. Being near water also enabled the communities to have connections to various key ports in the world.

The oceans have been used for decades as a means for transporting both people and goods across the world. The vessels that have been used for transportation of people and goods include barges, sailboats, ships, ferries, and even canoes. Research has shown that the first vessels to sail in water were small canoes made from tree trunks of very large trees. The canoes were only used to transport people and goods across small water channels. That can be depicted from some drawings by the Aboriginal community from Australia. The exact origin of ocean transport cannot be pin pointed. Ocean transport can be traced to about 3000 BC; the Egyptians used very large boats to transport their goods across the ocean (Green, pg 210).

Phoenicians were the first people to have in place an organized system of transporting goods over the Mediterranean region. The goods that were transported over the ocean were of great value. Such goods included gold, spices, ivory, gems, silver, and handmade works. Animals were also transported by ocean. Ocean transportation then expanded to countries such as Spain and Portugal. Water transportation later followed in Europe, and the various parts of North America, at the time the English dominated the water transportation (Green, pg 260).

The dominance of the English domination lasted only up to the First World War. After the First World War the United States of America took over, America became the leading country in construction of Vessels made of wood, as a result of promoting the construction sector. The vessels made of wood was to be replaced later by the steam ship which were made of steel, the steam ship were later to be replaced by the diesel powered ship (Massey, pg 260).

In the early days most people from different parts of the world never thought of using the ocean as a means of transport to different parts of the world. They all did not think that there were other people in the world who were different from them. Most of them thought the ocean was where the end of the world was as they could not see the end. Such notion is the reason why some explorers decided to travel the ocean to find out if indeed there was no more life beyond the ocean (Green, pg 250).

Ocean transportation was mainly used by the explorers to different parts of the world. In the early times of ocean transportation the ocean was used to transport slaves, goods. The vessels that were used had sails and depended on the direction of wind for navigation, most of the vessels capsized very easily and took a very long time in the ocean to move from one port to the other. Transportation by ocean was mainly for trade.

The ocean was used to get to different parts of the world when most of the countries did not have airports, the ocean played a vital role in the exploration of Africa, and Explorers such as Vasco Agama was able to explore different parts of Africa by the use of the ocean. The colonialists who colonized Africa were also able to access Africa by travelling by ocean as there was no other way to gain access to Africa.

Over the time ocean transportation has changed, the types of vessels have changed from ships that depended on wind to ships that use fuel power. The type of goods that are carried by the ships have also changed, the goods were much heavier and bulkier such as motor vehicles, and crude oil. The use of ship also changed, ships were initially considered as a means of trade, but the notion changed as the ships were now used for leisure and not necessarily for businessmen and women (Tarbuck, pg 210).

Tourism

Ocean transportation has now evolved and is being used to promote tourism. In Italy water buses and water taxis have been used in the cities such as Venice. Some companies have also invested in luxury fleets that have been used to transport tourist to various tourism destinations. Ocean transport is also cheaper than air transport, thus most tourist prefer to use the Ocean to reach various destinations. The tourists can also carry large luggage with them compared to when travelling by air, or any other means of transport (Massey, pg 200).

Economy

The world economy has been improved as a result of the ocean transportation, at the end of the World War II; some countries such as the United States of America took advantage of ocean transportation to improve their economy. The country improved their water ways that enabled the ships to venture more into the inland, thus enabling the goods to be delivered to various parts of the country. The method of that were used in handling goods at the ports also improved, thus making the loading and unloading of the ships much faster. The improvement of the ports led to the United State of America being the preferred destination for ships and trade. The ocean and better ports was the reason behind the United States of America becoming superior in terms of trade (Philander, pg 180).

The United States in the early 1920’s put in place an act known as the Jones Act. The act stipulated that the vessels used for their domestic transportation were to be owned by the United States citizens. The act further required that the vessels had to the ones built within the United States. The vessels also had to be registered in the United States of America. The act which covers about 42,000 vessels, about 124,000 jobs and furthermore $ 15 billion worth of economic activity within the water ways connected to the ocean (Dikötter, Bob, pg 180).

The need for ships for use in transportation in the ocean has lead to more development of the shipping construction companies. Countries such as Liberia which has the largest ship fleets in the world, as a result the countries economy has been improved by the revenue gained from the fleets of ship. Other smaller countries such as the Bahamas, Vanuatu, Honduras, and the Marshall islands have also gained from the ocean transportation (Dickinson, pg 190).

National Security

The ocean has been used to transport soldiers to various parts of the world, during the World War I and even World War II; but over the time the use of the ocean has changed in terms of National security. The United States of America has invested a lot in buying war vessels, the deployment of the war Vessels in the Oceans have been vital in Securing the United States of America. The vessels based in the ocean have landing pads for helicopters, and other war machinery. The United States of America has about 47 vessels deployed in the ocean to protect the country from external attacks.

The ocean has also proved very vital in transporting military supplies. During the gulf war the in the early 1990’s most of the supplies that was delivered to the United States of America’s army was delivered by ocean. Other countries in the world have also invested in their Navy, especially the countries that have access to the ocean. The use of the ocean as a means of transportation for the military supplies only, has changed as the ocean can be used as a “battle field” (Blanchfield, pg 105).

Conclusion

The evolution of the way people considered the ocean has changed over a period of time; the ocean is now looked at a variety of angles rather than as a source of food. The ocean is now used as way of promoting tourism, promoting the economies of different countries. The relevance of the ocean as a strategic point of national defense of various countries is seen in the numerous fleets of war ships that have been deployed by different countries. The sizes of the ships have also changed to adapt to the various uses of the ships. The materials used in the construction of the ship has also changed to fit the use of the ship, the materials used for the construction of a war ship is different from the one used to construct a luxury ship.

Work Cited

Blanchfield, Deirdre S.. Environmental encyclopedia. 4th ed. New York: Gale, 2011. Print.

Dickinson, Bob, and Andrew Vladimir. Selling the sea: an inside look at the cruise industry. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 2008. Print.

Dikötter, Frank, and Ian Brown. Cultures of confinement: a history of the prison in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2007. Print.

Environmental engineering papers [electronic resource]: ASNE and SNAME papers through mid-2006.. New York: American Society of Naval Engineers and the Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers, 2006. Print.

Philander, S. George. Encyclopedia of global warming & climate change. 2nd ed. New York: SAGE Publications, 2012. Print.

Massey, Anne. Designing liners a history of interior design afloat. London: Routledge, 2006. Print.

Tarbuck, Edward J., and Frederick K. Lutgens. Earth: an introduction to physical geology. 7th ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2002. Print.

Green, Jen. Indian Ocean. New York: World Almanac Library, 2006. Print.

(Green, pg 210)