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|  It has been calculated that more than 90% of world trade, in tonnage terms, goes by ship. Despite the technical innovations that have transformed transport in the last two centuries, ships remain the most economical means of moving large quantities of goods from one place to another. They are cheaper to build and run than other forms of transport, such as road and railways, and they can carry huge amounts of cargo ? some modern oil tankers can carry more than half a million tons of oil at a time. | | | | Another reason for the continuing popularity of ships is that the producers of raw materials are often located far away from the main consumers and they are often separated by sea. The main oil-producing region of the world is located in the Middle East. Yet demand is greatest in North America, Europe and Japan, all situated many thousands of miles away. The biggest grain-producing region of the world is in North America. Ships are the best way of getting the product to markets in Europe and other parts of the world. | | | | The only seaborne trade that has declined in the last fifty years has been in people. For many centuries, ships provided the only way for people to travel between continents. Passenger shipping boomed during the 19th century, when emigration from Europe to North America and other countries reached its peak. But the invention of the aircraft, and especially the development of jet aircraft, which dramatically reduced flying times and costs, meant that passenger shipping declined greatly from the 1950s onwards. Towards the end of the 20th century, however, the development of cruising as a recreation led to a new boom in passenger shipping.
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