Coastal shipping
Topic: World Transport and Communication · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 7 "Transport and Communication"
Meaning
Coastal shipping means carrying goods by sea along a country's own coastline, from one of its ports to another. It suits countries with long coastlines, such as the USA, China and India. Water transport is cheap and uses little energy, so coastal shipping can take load off crowded roads and railways. NCERT notes that Europe's Schengen states are well placed for it (NCERT misprints them as "Shenzhen").
Example
India's Sagarmala programme promotes coastal shipping. For example, ships can carry coal from ports on the east coast, such as Paradip in Odisha, to power plants near ports in Tamil Nadu.
Don't confuse with
- Inland waterways: rivers, canals and lakes inside a country, such as the Rhine or the Ganga. Coastal shipping uses the sea along the coast.
- Ocean (sea) routes: they carry trade between countries across oceans, like the Northern Atlantic route. Coastal shipping stays within one country's coast.
Related concepts
- Water transport
- Containerisation
- Twenty-foot equivalent unit
- Hub-and-spoke model
- Transshipment hub
- Northern Atlantic sea route
- Mediterranean-Indian Ocean sea route
- Cape of Good Hope sea route
- Southern Atlantic sea route
- North Pacific sea route