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In most seafaring countries, the merchant marine (or '''merchant navy''') is a fleet of ships used for Commerce that sometimes complements the Navy . These fleets may be divided into several categories, according to their purpose or size:

  • Dry cargo ships, which today are mainly bulk carriers and Container Ship s.

  • Tankers for the transport of fluids, such as crude oil, petroleum products, liquified gas and chemicals, also vegetable oils, wine and other food - the tanker sector comprises one third of the world tonnage.

  • Specialised ships, e.g. for heavy lift goods or refrigerated cargo, roll on/roll off cargo ( RoRo ) ships for vehicles and wheeled machinery.

  • Coasters, smaller ships for any category of cargo which are normally not on ocean-crossing routes, but in coastwise trades.

  • Ferries, mostly for combination of passengers and rolling cargo, usually on fixed routes between 2 ports or more.

  • Cruise Ship s


In the United States , the term usually refers to the U.S. Merchant Marine , which serves as an auxiliary to the U.S Navy in times of War .

In Canada , it refers to sailors who served aboard freight vessels in WWII and the Korean War . It is not an official organization. Veterans of these wars were denied veterans benefits that other members of Canada's armed services received after demobilization. They received belated compensation from the government in 1990.

Even some Landlocked countries, such as Switzerland , have a Merchant Marine .

Some countries have large merchant marine fleets disproportionate to their size, such as Liberia and Panama . Panama has by far the largest number of merchant marine ships registered to its country {Link without Title} although many of the vessels are owned by other nations. For instance, Panama has more than 5000 major vessels registered, but owns only 617 of them. Liberia has 1465 registered vessels but owns only 73 of those.


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