Water Transport

Water transport plays an important role in carrying heavy and bulky goods over long distances on the Transport. There are 11 major ports and 139 small working ports in India. Our country is surrounded by sea on three sides which has helped in the development of international trade. Main other hand, no means of transport is as cheap as the water ways. It needs no maintenance. The only thing required for them is good ports which have proper facilities for loading and unloading of goods. Water transport can be divided into two types: Inland waterways and ocean transport.

Big rivers and lakes are used as waterways. Large rivers like Amazon and the Mississippi, etc. are used by huge ships. In India, the Brahmaputra and the Ganga are the only navigable rivers.

This includes transportation of heavy goods like food grains, mineral ores and mineral oil through the sea route.

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Some of the important sea routes are:

North Atlantic Route

It is a sea route connecting Atlantic pacific oceans through Canada. It is the busiest sea route in the world.

The Suez Canal Route

This canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez and the red sea. It was opened in 1869. Earlier one had to go via the Cape of Good Hope to go to England which took almost 6 months but this canal has reduced the time taken. Now it takes only two months to reach England. It is around 160 kilometers long.

The Panama Canal Route

The Panama Canal became operational in the year 1914. This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. This canal has considerably reduced the traveling time to 8 hours between the two oceans. Earlier the ships had to go via Cape Horn.

Water Transport in India

In India, Ganga and Brahmaputra are used as inland waters. The lagoons of kerala are also used for ports are Mumbai, Kandla, Marmagoa, new Mangalore, Cochin, Chennai, vishakapatnam, Paraddwip and Kolkata. Mumbai is the busiest port of all.

Article Source: sooperarticles.com/automotive-articles/water-transport-10215.html

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