This is an introductory article to present a series of writings and illustrations about boats and the marine industry. The series, “Thinking About Boats,” is intended to provide some interesting information for young people, ages eight to 16 (and curious adults) to inspire an interest in the field of engineering, and more specifically, marine engineering.

The series will discuss many subjects related to boats and the marine industry with the hope that the young readers (and curious older ones) will have a desire to read and study these subjects further. The idea for the series came about as the result of a TV program on MPBN in which the president of a manufacturing company in the Midwest explained how he was having trouble finding qualified engineers for his company. This prompted Zimmerman to develop a series of articles and books to inspire young readers to develop an interest in the field.

Some of the many subjects to be included in the series will be (not necessarily in the order shown):
Types of boats and ships
Propulsion Systems
Fuel Systems
Cooling Systems
Exhaust Systems
Steering Systems
Bilge Pumping Systems
Navigation Systems (GPS, Radar, Depth Sounder, Sonar)
Communications Systems
Electrical Systems
Anchoring and Mooring Systems
Ship Maneuvering
Safety Systems and Safety Equipment

The fishing boat catches fish, and is one of the oldest types. Different parts of the world each have their own type specially designed for the types of fish they will catch. Lobster boats are popular in the northeast of the United States. King crab trawlers are popular in Alaska. Shrimp boats are found in the southern states such as Louisiana and Mississippi.

Tug boats are used to push or tow larger ships to their moorings or to piers in the ports of the world.

Cargo ships carry various things from one port to another. There are many types of cargo ships some of which are shown in the drawing.

The freighter carries packages or pallets of freight, and has “booms” to load the freight into the storage “holds”. Each hold has a hatch to cover the freight and keep it protected from the rain and other bad weather.

The liquid natural gas carrier carries large amounts of gas used to fuel furnaces and stoves in houses and factories. This ship has big domed tanks which contains the refrigerated gas. When the gas is refrigerated, it becomes condensed into liquid, and is easier to carry in this form. Can you imagine how big the ship would have to be if the gas were not condensed into liquid?

The ferry boat carries a cargo of people and sometimes their automobiles. Ferry boats usually travel from island to island.

Barges often have to be pushed or pulled by tug boats. However, there are some barges that are “self-propelled”, which means they have an engine and a propeller to allow them to move without tug boats. Barges can be used to carry many types of cargo, including fuel oil.

Container ships carry many large storage containers in their holds and on deck. The containers can each hold various types of freight or products. Many containers are 40 feet long, and each ship can carry as many as 2000 containers; sometimes more. The containers have interlocking devices at the corner fittings which hold them all together.

Oil tankers have huge internal tanks to hold thousands of gallons of fuel oil. The tankers have lots of piping on deck to transfer the oil from the tanks to the shore stations, where it is distributed by trucks and trains to the refineries.

The cable layer is used to lay undersea cables which carry telephone calls or electricity from one place to another, often from continent to continent. Many thousands of miles of cable have been layed by cable layers since 1865 when the “Great Eastern” layed the first transatlantic cable

Peter Zimmerman has a long history with over 50 years of experience in the Marine Industry. He served as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard where he was a navigator and operations officer, and where he taught new Officer Candidates at the Coast Guard Officer’s Candidate School in Yorktown, Virginia. He has written and illustrated numerous operating manuals for companies such as Boston Whaler, AT&T’s Transoceanic Cable Ship Company (which lays undersea cables) and American Bureau of Shipping. Peter has recently published a children’s book, Young Marine Engineer’s Coloring Book About Passenger Ships.