Ship

A ship is a large buoyant watercraft. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size, shape and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas,rivers,and oceans for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing, entertainment, public safety, and warfare. Historically, a "ship" was a sailing vessel with at least three square-rigged masts and a full bowsprit.

In armed conflict and in daily life, ships have become an integral part of modern commercial and military systems. Fishing boats are used by millions of fishermen throughout the world. Military forces operate vessels for naval warfare and to transport and support forces ashore. Commercial vessels, nearly 35,000 in number, carried 7.4 billion tons of cargo in 2007. As of 2011, there are about 104,304 ships with IMO numbers in the world.

Ships were always a key in history's great explorations and scientific and technological development. Navigators such as Zheng He spread such inventions as the compass and gunpowder. Ships have been used for such purposes as colonization and the slave trade, and have served scientific, cultural, and humanitarian needs. After the 16th century, new crops that had come from and to the Americas via the European seafarers significantly contributed to the world population growth.Ship transport has shaped the world's economy into today's energy-intensive pattern.

United Arab Emirates

Coordinates: 24°N 54°E / 24°N 54°E / 24; 54

The United Arab Emirates ⁱ/juːˌnaɪtᵻd ˌærəb ˈɛmɪrᵻts/ (Arabic: دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة‎ Dawlat al-Imārāt al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah), sometimes simply called the Emirates or the UAE, is a country located in the southeast end of the Arabian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar and Iran. In 2013, the UAE's total population was 9.2 million, of which 1.4 million are Emirati citizens and 7.8 million are expatriates.

Established in December 1971, the country is a federation of seven emirates. The constituent emirates are Abu Dhabi (which serves as the capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain. Each emirate is governed by an absolute monarch; together, they jointly form the Federal Supreme Council. One of the monarchs is selected as the President of the United Arab Emirates. Islam is the official religion of the UAE, and Arabic is the official language, although English is widely used.

United Arab Emirates Navy

The United Arab Emirates Navy is small force of about 2,500 personnel. It maintains 12 well-equipped coastal patrol boats and eight missile boats. Although primarily concerned with coastal defense, the Navy is constructing a six-unit class of blue water corvettes in conjunction with French shipbuilder CMN. The UAE maintains a small battalion-sized marine force called the UAE Marines equipped with BMP-3 armoured personnel carriers.

Swedish shipbuilder Swede Ship Marine have built four 24 m Amphibious Troop Transport Vessel and one 25 m Fast Supply Vessel for the UAE Navy (delivered between 2003 and 2005). Three additional vessels are being built by Swede Ship Marine for the UAE Navy (see Future Navy).

Equipment

Vessels

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi (US /ˈɑːbuː ˈdɑːbi/, UK /ˈæbuː ˈdɑːbi/; Arabic: أبو ظبي‎ Abū Ẓabī Emirati pronunciation [ɐˈbuˈðˤɑbi]) is the capital and the second most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (the most populous being Dubai), and also capital of Abu Dhabi emirate, the largest of the UAE's seven member emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western coast. The city proper had a population of 1.5 million in 2014.

Abu Dhabi houses federal government offices, is the seat of the United Arab Emirates Government, home to the Abu Dhabi Emiri Family and the President of the UAE, who is from this family. Abu Dhabi's rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed the city into a large and advanced metropolis. Today the city is the country's center of political and industrial activities, and a major cultural and commercial centre, due to its position as the capital. Abu Dhabi accounts for about two-thirds of the roughly $400-billion United Arab Emirates economy.

HSV-2 Swift

HSV-2 Swift is a hybrid catamaran originally leased by the United States Navy as a mine countermeasures and sea basing test platform. She is now privately owned and operated by Sealift Inc. and previously chartered to the United States Navy Military Sealift Command. She was primarily used for fleet support and humanitarian partnership missions. The HSV stands for "High Speed Vessel", and her home port while chartered was Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek in Norfolk, Virginia. The vessel had two CONMAR crews that typically rotated every three months to keep the ship deployed eleven months per year. The minimum crew size is 35; 18 were military with the balance civilian, provided through American Maritime Officers and Seafarers International Union of the United States Merchant Marine. On rare occasion that she is in a United States port, it was usually Naval Station Mayport, Florida, supporting the Fourth Fleet or Charleston, South Carolina, for major maintenance. Rota, Spain, was considered by the crew to be the "Mediterranean home away from home".