Riverboat

A riverboat is a specialized watercraft (vessel) designed for operating on inland waterways. While a ferryboat is often used to cross a river, a riverboat is used to traverse it, while carrying passengers and/or cargo for revenue. ("Riverboat Casinos" are not considered here as they are essentially stationary).

Rivers present special hazards to vessels. They usually have varying water flows, changing siltation patterns may cause the sudden appearance of shoal waters, and often floating or sunken logs and trees (called snags) endanger the hulls of riverboats.

In most nations, riverboats are tourist attractions. In a few countries, such as China, riverboats provide authentic transport - something a traveler (as opposed to a tourist) would consider for transport.

The riverine cargo carrying tasks once assigned to riverboats are now largely handled by barges, linked together, and pushed by a towboat.

The most famous early riverboats were on the rivers of the midwestern United States, on the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers. It is these early riverboats that often comes to mind, as these typically were wood or coal fired, with a pair of tall smokestacks, and a large paddlewheel at the stern. This type of propulsion is an advantage as it is operating in an area clear of snags and is not likely to suffer damage in a grounding. These early boats would carry a brow (a short bridge) on the bow, so they could head in to an unimproved shore for transfer of cargo and passengers.