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Transport & Travel
Routes, Rails & Runways
The canals, railways and machines that shortened the world.
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Which canal connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea?
Ships, Ports and Cargo
Almost everything you own arrived by sea. The trade has a precise vocabulary, and most of it has a reason.
About this topic
Shipping is the least visible of the big industries and the one everything else depends on. Roughly four fifths of world trade by volume moves on water, in a fleet crewed by a few hundred thousand people most of whom never appear in the story of the goods they carry. The terms used aboard are old, but they encode real constraints — how deep a hull sits, how wide a lock is, what happens when a cargo shifts. These ten questions cover the working language: the marks on a hull, the measures of size, the ship types and the arrangement of registration that decides whose law applies in the middle of an ocean. Several of the answers explain why a particular disaster happened, or why it stopped happening.
Questions & answers
Ships, Ports and Cargo: all 10 questions and answers
Every question in this quiz is listed below with its correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Play first if you would rather not see the answers — or read through as a study sheet.
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1On a ship, what do "port" and "starboard" refer to?
- A The engine room and the bridge
- B The left and right sides when facing forward Correct
- C The bow and the stern
- D The upper and lower decks
Answer: B. The left and right sides when facing forward
Why: Starboard comes from the steering oar once hung over the right side. Ships therefore tied up with the other side against the quay, which is where "port" comes from.
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2The Plimsoll line on a ship's hull marks what?
- A The maximum depth to which it may safely be loaded Correct
- B The waterline when the ship is empty
- C The boundary of the paint scheme
- D The point where the anchor chain is stowed
Answer: A. The maximum depth to which it may safely be loaded
Why: Samuel Plimsoll campaigned it into British law in 1876 against deliberate overloading. Separate marks allow for different waters, since a hull floats higher in salt than in fresh.
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3A ship's draught is what?
- A The width at its widest point
- B The volume of cargo it can hold
- C The distance from bow to stern
- D The depth of hull below the waterline Correct
Answer: D. The depth of hull below the waterline
Why: It decides which ports and channels a vessel can enter at all. Beam, its width, is the dimension that limits it in canal locks.
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4Gross tonnage measures what about a ship?
- A The weight of the empty hull
- B The power of its engines
- C Its total enclosed volume Correct
- D The weight of cargo it carries
Answer: C. Its total enclosed volume
Why: Despite the name it is a measure of space rather than weight. Deadweight tonnage is the figure that describes what a ship can actually carry.
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5A bulk carrier is built to transport what?
- A Chilled food on pallets
- B Loose cargo such as grain, coal or ore Correct
- C Containers stacked in fixed cells
- D Vehicles driven on and off
Answer: B. Loose cargo such as grain, coal or ore
Why: The holds are plain boxes filled by conveyor or grab bucket. Cargo shifting in a seaway is a serious hazard, which is why loading is calculated hold by hold.
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6What does a roll-on/roll-off ferry allow?
- A Vehicles to drive straight on and off over ramps Correct
- B Cargo to be rolled along the deck by crane
- C The cargo deck to rotate for unloading
- D Wheeled cargo to travel without any crew
Answer: A. Vehicles to drive straight on and off over ramps
Why: The design saves hours in port but leaves one long undivided vehicle deck. Water loose on that deck can capsize a ship quickly, a lesson drawn from several disasters.
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7What is a lighthouse's pattern of flashes intended to give?
- A A local weather forecast
- B The time of day
- C The state of the tide
- D A unique identity for that particular light Correct
Answer: D. A unique identity for that particular light
Why: Each light has its own character of flashes and pauses, listed in charts and pilot books. Colour and sector are used as well, to mark which water is safe.
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8A "flag of convenience" means a ship is registered where?
- A Wherever it happens to be loading
- B In whichever country insures it
- C In a country other than the owner's, usually for lighter regulation Correct
- D In the port where it was built
Answer: C. In a country other than the owner's, usually for lighter regulation
Why: Panama, Liberia and the Marshall Islands hold enormous registries by this route. The flag determines which country's labour and safety law applies once the ship is at sea.
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9In shipping, a TEU is a unit of what?
- A Port docking fees
- B Container capacity Correct
- C Fuel consumption
- D Crew complement
Answer: B. Container capacity
Why: It stands for twenty-foot equivalent unit, the size of the original standard box. Most containers moved today are forty feet long and count as two.
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10A ship's bridge is best described as what?
- A The position from which the ship is navigated and commanded Correct
- B A walkway joining two hulls
- C The passage between deck and engine room
- D The gangway used to reach the shore
Answer: A. The position from which the ship is navigated and commanded
Why: The name survives from paddle steamers, where a platform was built across between the paddle boxes. On cargo ships it is usually placed well aft to leave the deck clear.
Frequently asked questions about Ships, Ports and Cargo
How many questions are in Ships, Ports and Cargo?
Ships, Ports and Cargo has 10 questions and takes about 7 minutes to finish. It is rated Medium and sits in our Transport & Travel category.
How is Ships, Ports and Cargo scored?
Each of the 10 correct answers adds 10 XP, up to 100 XP for a clean run. Wrong answers cost you nothing, and your full question-by-question review is shown at the end.
Are the answers to Ships, Ports and Cargo explained?
Yes. All 10 questions carry a written explanation of why the correct answer is right, so the quiz works as a study sheet as well as a test.
Can I replay Ships, Ports and Cargo?
Yes, as often as you like. The questions and the answer options are reshuffled on each run, and you can use Practice Mistakes afterwards to retry only the ones you missed. No account is needed to play.
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