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Huge boats sail our seas today, far bigger than we have ever had in the past. Some of them are so long that crew ride bicycles to get from one end to the other! They carry fuel, and cars, and all sorts of containers from one end of the world to another. Often, the crew is quite small. They do not need many people to run a ship this size, because so many of the jobs are automated. |
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This boat is a huge oil tanker. It would carry over 200,000 tons of oil from one country to another. What do you think would happen if a ship like this went aground on a reef, and the oil spilled into the sea?
When people come to live in another country, they will often pack all their furniture and belongings in a container.
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These are huge metal boxes, that can be loaded easily on to a container ship. The containers have to be carefully tied down, and sometimes in a storm, some containers can be lost overboard. |
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Some countries in the world have a Navy, and they have some warships. These ships can be used to fight in a war, or to keep the peace somewhere in the world where they are needed. New Zealand warships are used for patrols and keeping the peace, not for attacking other countries. |
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Boats can also be used to pull things along over the water. Tugboats are used to pull in huge boats that are too big to move around close to a harbour. They can also be used to pull along flat barges with heavy loads on top. |
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This house is being moved to another section, and it is being loaded on to a barge. It will then be towed across the harbour, and unloaded in its new home! |
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