ferry

ferry, a vessel designed to carry passengers and/or vehicles, and which, like an ocean liner, runs on a regular schedule. Ferries are of ancient origin—there was a guild of ferry ships at Dover in the early 14th century whose members took passengers and horses across the Channel—and can vary in size from small rowing boats up to ships with passenger accommodation that also transport cars, lorries, and freight. Some are equipped with railway lines so that trains can be transported across stretches of water too wide for a bridge. The earliest of these was the Leviathan which carried loaded railway wagons across the Firth of Forth, Scotland, in 1850. Smaller ferries which connect the banks of sheltered waters, such as an estuary, are hauled over by chains. Ro-ro (roll-on roll-off) ships are now the most popular form of ferry, but there are also a new generation of high-speed ones such as the hovercraft, the hydrofoil, and the Seacat and Superseacat. For illus. of modern ferry, see shipbuilding.