Ferryboat

Ferryboat 

a vessel or other water conveyance for the regular transport of land vehicles, people, and cargo across water. There are river, sea, and lake ferries, which may or may not be self-propelled. Ferryboats that are not self-propelled include rafts, rowboats, barges, and scows. One such conveyance may serve as a ferryboat, or a number of conveyances may be joined together with a common cargo platform. As a rule, non-self-propelled ferryboats are used on rivers and are moved by a cable stretched between the banks, by oars, or by a towboat. People may be ferried short distances on small passenger vessels having a capacity of 10 to 100 persons. Railroad cars and motor vehicles are transported on specially built self-propelled river and sea ferryboats equipped with one or more decks for vehicles. Railroad ferries operate, for example, between Baku and Krasnovodsk on the Caspian Sea, between Vanino and Kholmsk on the Sea of Japan, between France and England, and between Denmark and Sweden.

Ferryboats with load capacities of 5 to 70 tons and more are used for military purposes. Such ferries make use of a standard pontoon train and improvised floating material, and are used to force rivers.