Why, in this age of jet-plane commuting, would one travel by freighter? Surely it must be a boring, wet, lonely, and above all terribly slow way to go? In fact this is exactly why travel by cargo ship is such a pleasure. If you want to go on holiday then a cruise liner, which is a floating luxury hotel that rarely 'goes' anywhere, is for you. If you want to really travel the seas then freighters are the genuine experience. Etymologically, to travel means 'to follow a path', and not simply 'to arrive'. Robert Louis Stevenson understood the nature of leisurely travel when he wrote: 'To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.'

I have indeed noticed that some of my most vivid memories have been related to unexpected events that have happened on my travels. It could be the tail of a typhoon in the China Sea, whales in the St Lawrence river or, most important of all, encounters with people - officers, crew or fellow travellers of different nationalities - of whom some have become friends.

Being on the move for days and days on the rolling hills of the ocean has been described as 'the royal way'. As we walk, drive, fly or travel overland, we tend to forget that 71 per cent of our blue planet is composed of oceans. Why limit our travelling to 29 per cent of the globe?

Not so long ago, liners were the standard way to reach any destination 'overseas'. These were glorious times when microcosms of society crossed the oceans, mixing together families and loners, travellers and businessmen, migrants and adventurers. Today's liners are exclusively dedicated to the holiday cruising industry, which is booming. I remember with nostalgia enchanting Atlantic crossings aboard a Polish liner, one of the last 'Transatlantics', the Stefan Batory, who made her last crossing in 1988.

Nowadays, freighters are the only way remaining to travel by sea. Many people believe that embarking on a cargo ship means sleeping in a small cheap cabin, and maybe giving a hand on deck or in the kitchen to pay the fare. The good old times when famous writers such as Joseph Conrad, Blaise Cendrars, Malcolm Lowry or Jack Kerouac travelled (and worked) on freighters are gone forever. The romantic old beaten tramp patched with rust, as in Alvaro Mutis' novels, has been replaced with armadas of modern container ships, some of them so wide they can no longer navigate the Panama Canal.

Tramps, ro-ros, reefers...

To grasp the array of possibilities in today's merchant navy, just try to guess the percentage of world trade that is transported by ship. The answer is no less than 98 per cent, leaving a meagre two per cent for trucks, trains and planes.

The sheer amount of cargo that can be piled aboard a ship is such that maritime routes remain the major axes of the world economy. Among the 40,000 or more freighters plying the seas, only a few carry passengers, and even then the available space rarely accommodates more than 12 people. Sometimes there might be only one passenger on board.

Many different kinds of freighters welcome passengers, from luxurious vessels to their more modest, weathered counterparts. Containers have radically changed the picture. These boxes can hold anything from objects large and small to liquids, perishable goods or dangerous chemicals, and because they are standard the world over they can be loaded with machinery direct from trucks or trains. The process is so fast that container ships often do not even spend a whole day in their ports of call, to the great disappointment of passengers wishing to go ashore.

For longer stops choose bulk carriers, which take longer to load and remain in harbour for several days. I once received a postcard from a friend who was delighted because his ship - a Polish bulk carrier on her way to Chile - was delayed for days in the Belgian harbour of Antwerp, as heavy rain prevented the loading of sacks of grain that had to stay dry. My friend took the opportunity to visit the city and its surroundings, using the ship as a floating hotel moored in the harbour.

Container ships, bulk carriers, good old ocean tramps (which take no definite route and may change their port of call mid-route if there is a better cargo to pick up somewhere else), ro-ros (from 'roll on/roll off') loaded with cars - each ship is a different experience. Real fans of cargo-ship travel are particularly fond of tramps, because of the unpredictability and hence added adventure of the route.

If you board one of the refrigerated container ships that carry fruit between the Caribbean and Europe, you will find yourself on the most luxurious of all freighters. Painted white, these so-called 'reefers' are the modern equivalent of 'banana boats': fast, top- of-the-range vessels. A steward will take care of you, and in your cabin you will find your own fridge, coffee machine and VCR, while meals and services are of a high standard. If you embark on a cargo-liner, such as the ship that sails from Great Britain to South Africa via the Canary Islands and St Helena, you will find a warm atmosphere and a happy but all-too-rare marriage between a freighter and a liner, carrying over a hundred passengers as well as cargo and even mail (the island of St Helena has no airport).

On board

Modern technology, computers and satellite communication systems have greatly reduced crews and incidentally allowed space for spare cabins. The number of officers does not exceed four on small ships, with the rest of the crew (usually from poorer countries, especially the Philippine Islands) carrying out work on deck, in the engine room, and general maintenance.

Cabins offered to passengers are usually officers' cabins, which means spacious accommodation (much more than on cruise liners), wide portholes, private bathroom and shower and the best location on the ship's higher decks. Meals are taken in the same room and on the same schedules as officers. Food varies greatly according to the standard of the ship, its nationality and the cook's country of origin. Travelling on a Chinese cargo-liner between Singapore and Hong Kong, I was introduced to jellyfish soup for breakfast. Later, boarding a French banana boat from Guadeloupe, I was served meals by a maitre d'hôtel who proposed wine bottled by the shipping company itself. Most of the time, however, passengers are served Western food, unless they want to try spicy, exotic food prepared by a Kenyan or Filipino cook.

It should be remembered that freighters are first of all places of work, and that passengers should not infringe on the ship's life. I was told by a German captain of an indelicate passenger who almost triggered a mutiny by telling the crew that their wages were much too low.

On board freighters, passengers are expected to be self-sufficient as far as entertainment is concerned. Before you leave on an ocean voyage, make sure you take your own 'food for thought'. Time and quietness are among the principal luxuries on board. This is the perfect time to do things you have always wanted to do but never had the leisure for. Books are ideal companions. Some travellers take advantage of lengthy voyages to finally get to grips with the complete works of Proust or Dostoevsky. Others take along drawing or painting materials or music recordings. Some artists, painters, writers and poets travel by cargo ship in order to practise their art without any intrusion from the outside world.

Those who travel by sea range from the retired (in many cases) to young adventurers wishing to savour every mile of their journey. Facilities are shared with officers. It is not rare to find a swimming pool (filled with ocean water), sauna, small gymnasium, table tennis table, bar or video lounge aboard freighters. Since VCRs have become very common on merchant ships, video cassettes are popular among sailors and make good gifts.

So how much does all this cost? First, try to resist the temptation to compare sea- fares with air-fares, as you spend days and weeks aboard these comfortable sailing hotels, with room, board and facilities included, in addition to getting to faraway and exotic destinations. The average fare is around US120 per day, which - when you consider what you get for your money - is moderate. Naturally prices vary from one ship to another, as well as according to the time of year.

Cargo travelling revival

Back in 1992, I wrote a guide to travelling by cargo ship as so many people were asking me how to go about it. While doing research for this guide - the first of its kind - I encountered scepticism (from merchant navy professionals among others): "You'll find hardly any freighters accepting passengers; not enough to fill a book. Those times are over," I was told many times. But the opposite proved to be true. Travel by Cargo Ship has since been published in French, English, German and Italian. It is now possible to sail to most major harbours throughout the world. Travel agencies specialising in freighters are growing and flourishing on all continents, and every day more and more people are discovering the joys of ocean crossings. There are fans who travel at least once a year by freighter, for the sheer pleasure of being on a ship, no matter where it is bound. The trend is clearly established. In Paris, a 'Cargo Club' meets on the first Wednesday of every month in a small bookshop on the Ile Saint-Louis, every time attracting more old salts returning from distant oceans, and dreamers eager to hear stories and gather tips before their departure.

But do not travel by freighter if you have a problem with not departing or arriving on schedule: at sea as in harbour, all kinds of delays can occur, caused by everything from weather to red-tape; some consider this sprinkling of the unexpected an added charm. Sometimes, even the port of call is changed at the last moment (particularly on tramp ships).

Shipping companies themselves are also subject to change: ships change hands, names and flags, and new routes are opened while others are closed. If you are looking for a particular itinerary and are told that no ship is going there, my advice is not to take no for an answer. Faxes and telephones can work miracles. Remember too that public demand does shape the future.

Travelling by cargo ship is here to stay, and we can hope to see more and more space for passengers, not only on freighters, big and small, but also on liners and even scientific ships fully equipped with labs, drilling equipment and helicopters, designed to accommodate (wealthy) passengers wishing to sail in southern Antarctic seas.

If you have never tried sea travel, you could do a trial run of a few days with several ports of call, perhaps in the Baltic Sea or the Mediterranean. If you are seeking the ultimate freighter experience, you could embark on a round-the-world voyage through the Pacific islands, lasting almost three months. And who knows, perhaps the future will see silent, wind-propelled cargo-liners sailing the seas, carrying freight and a happy bunch of passengers?