CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The modem era of maritime transport was ushered in by the advent of the steam engine. Wooden ships and sail gave way to iron ships powered by steam. A long era of growth in maritime transport followed as trade needs were served more efficiently, and transport activities could be better predicted. Trading horizons expanded and the world economy grew. Transit time was no longer at the whim of prevailing winds and both passenger and freight traffic increased dramatically.

The advent of the jet engine played havoc with the market for long-haul ocean passenger transport as people switched from long ocean liner voyages to more convenient plan travel. Passenger vessels changed radically between 1950 and 2000. In 2000. only ferries and cruise ships remain in most of the developed world, although some small passenger ships can still be found in inter-island services in remote areas of Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Caribbean, and on the great rivers, such as the Nile and the Amazon.

In spite of the growing volume of freight moving by air. the bulk of international freight moves by water. Cargo transported by ship falls into two broad categories: bulk and unitized cargo. The former usually travels via tramp vessels and includes both liquid (including crude oil and oil products) and dry bulk, with iron ore. grains, and coal having the highest transport volumes. Unitized cargo (predominantly containers) is transported primarily by ships in the liner trades. Unitization is the process of consolidating cargo into a more manageable form for transport, be it a pallet or a container. There are many types of vessels to service specialized needs but these general categories provide a useful starting point to understand maritime transport and port systems.

Liner shipping companies offer scheduled transport services to third party logistics service suppliers and cargo owners whose markets are increasingly global. Rather than contracting for the use of the whole vessel, as is the case in the tramp sector, cargo owners only purchase the space necessary at a particular time, thereby sharing the vessel with many others. Containers cany most of the world’s component parts, semi-finished, and finished goods. The transfer of goods within the car parts industry from one country to another provides an excellent example of goods using the liner sector of the shipping market.^ x. 3 X. J

Container traffic is important because the timely delivery of the container’s contents creates jobs and generates income across a large population base. It is very important for the future economic health of many nations that container trade continues to grow. Manufacturers can buy components in many places, consolidate them in one or a number of locations for assembly and then transport them to a third location to be sold. Sometimes component parts move seven or eight times before reaching the retail market.

The tramp market transports both dry and liquid bulk products. In contrast to the liner carrier, the tramp vessel does not operate on a fixed schedule or itinerary but sails to meet the current demand with a service where one ship usually carries the cargo for one cargo owner. The successful operator is able to match the ship’s capability to the market demand while minimizing the number of voyages in ballast (with no cargo). Ship owners supply vessels on a voyage or time basis. Vessels may be chartered by the cargo owner from the ship owner or operator for as little as a single voyage or as long as the life of the ship. The charter contract may be for only the vessel itself, as in the case of a bareboat charter, or include crew in the cases of voyage or time charters. Not all vessels in the oil trade operate in the charter market as many are owned by the oil companies and only transfer crude oil from port storage depots to refineries, and refined products from the refinery to the local distribution point.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

Nigeria has 8,600 km of inland waterways. The longest are the Niger River and its tributary, the Benue River but the most used, especially by larger powered boats and for commerce, are in the Niger Delta and all along the coast from Lagos Lagoon to Cross River.

The history of transportation in Nigeria dates back to the pre – colonial era. Within this period, transportation facilities such as roads, railways, air transport facilities were really non-existent with emphasis then on the bush path. At present, the modes of transport in Nigeria include road, railways, airways, inland waterways, coastal waters, the deep sea, and the pipeline (Anyanwu, et al. 1997). The potential significance of road development for investment, trade, growth and poverty alleviation has long been recognized. Not only does road transport infrastructure facilitate the direct provision of services to consumers, it also provides intermediate inputs that enter into the production of other sectors and raise factor productivity.

In the stone ages primitive boats developed to permit navigation of rivers and for fishing in rivers and off the coast. It has been argued that boats suitable for a significant sea crossing were necessary for people to reach Australia an estimated 40,000-45,000 years ago. With the development of civilization, bigger vessels were developed both for trade and war. In the Mediterranean, galleys were developed about 3000 BC. Galleys were eventually rendered obsolete by ocean-going sailing ships, such as the Arabic caravel in the 13th century, the Chinese treasure ship in the early 15th century, and the Mediterranean man-of-war in the late 15th century. In the Industrial Revolution, the first steamboats and later diesel-powered ships were developed. Eventually submarines were developed mainly for military purposes for people's general benefit.

Meanwhile, specialised craft were developed for river and canal transport. Canals were developed in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North India (from c. 2600 BC) had the first canal irrigation system in the world.[1] The longest canal of ancient times was the Grand Canal of China. It is 1,794 kilometers (1,115 mi) long and was built to carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou. The project began in 605, although the oldest sections of the canal may have existed since c. 486 BC. Canals were developed in the Middle Ages in Europe in Venice and the Netherlands. Pierre-Paul Riquet began to organise the construction of the 240 km-long Canal du Midi in France in 1665 and it was opened in 1681. In the Industrial Revolution, inland canals were built in England and later the United States before the development of railways. Specialised craft were also developed for fishing and later whaling.

1.2STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

The present issues and challenges of water transportation in our country Nigeria is listed as follows which prompted to this core course of this research work.

1.There is a seasonal fall in water level in rivers especially Niger and Benue Rivers which become nearly dry during summer.

2.Reduced flow due to diversion of water for irrigation, for instance, in the River benue which makes it difficult even for steamers to ply.

3.There is reduced navigability due to siltation.

4.There are problems in smooth navigation because of waterfalls and cataracts. 

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this research work is on how to guarantee a safety measure on water transportation and to evaluate the impact of having a safety water transport system, among other are the following listed.

1.To evaluate the water route transportation system.

2.To examine the effect of poor water transport to the transportation system.

3.To highlight the possible measure to improve the routes for water transportation 

4.Make the necessary recommendations to the government for enhancing the country’s water transportation system.  

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Every organization is concerned with the best possible way of improving Operation and performance to guarantee sustainable growth that will lead to the achievement of organizational goals. Therefore, the knowledge that would be obtained from this research will assist management of transport to take measures that will guarantee safety in the transport system which will help them to achieve overall efficiency and effectiveness in their operations.

This study will also benefit the institutions in general, as it will provide the framework with which proper system upgrade can be carried out together with the adoption of the new ideas presented here to guarantee efficient service delivery, maximization of profit and minimization of cost.

Students of management sciences and other researchers who intend to carry out further studies will find this study as a useful reference material especially in their literature review and findings thereby helping to arrive at objective conclusions. 

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In the light of the preceding objectives, the study seeks to answer the following questions.

1.How effective is the water route transportation system I Nigeria.

2.Is the route for water transportation extended to your place of stay?

3.What are the possible measure to use and improve the routes for water transportation 

4.How long have you been using this ship/both for transportation?

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Due to the vast nature of this research work the researcher only concentrated on state for his research work, the researcher employed secondary data and survey method in caring out her study.

1.6LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is limited to the stay of transportation and to that of water only. It would have covered the whole of transportation system in Nigeria but due to time and money constrain it was limited to a particular state.

Also,  within the area of study the researcher was faced with some other forms of constrains that contributed to the limitation of this researcher work, like accessibility to data, information and facts concerning the present study due to some reasons or the other, some not willing to give out information that it is to be within the workers.

1.7DEFINITION OF TERMS

TRANSPORTATION: Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles and operations. Transport is important because it enables trade between persons, which is essential for the development of civilizations.

WATER TRANSPORT: Water transport is the process of moving people, goods, etc. by barge, boat, ship or sailboat over a sea, ocean, lake, canal, river, etc. This category does not include articles on the tranport of water for the purpose of consuming the water.

MEASURES: ascertain the size, amount, or degree of (something) by using an instrument or device marked in standard units. Or the stets of method used in solving an issue.

SAFETY MEASURES: Safety measures are activities and precautions taken to improve safety, i.e. reduce risk related to human health

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THE STUDY

The arrangement of the research is as follows:

Chapter One:introduction already explained above, statement of the research problems, objectives of the research, research questions, research hypotheses, scope of the study and justification of the study.

Chapter Two: literature review of the study, theoretical framework

Chapter Three: research methodology and design

Chapter Four: Data presentation and analysis

Chapter Five: summary of the work

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