In the UK until recently the coastal trade was largely ignored when transport developments were discussed. Over the last decade or so much more research has been published on this topic, and the broad outlines of the structure of the industry, the commodities carried, the routes worked and the role of the coaster in industrialization are now known. This paper will review that literature in order to establish the broad parameters of the economics of the British coastal trade in the hope that it may suggest the sort of topics and angles which need to be researched on a European-wide basis.

An acceptable definition of what is meant by coastal trade is crucial, since there is no guarantee that the idea of coastal trade in one country will be the same as in the other twenty-five or so European states. In this regard the United Kingdom has an advantage over its continental neighbours because of its geographical make up. Britain is a series of islands and therefore was completely separate from all other countries, so coastal trade was internal trade, and this is a commonly used definition. For instance, the Customs Consolidation Act of 1876, section 140, stated that “all trade by sea from one part of the United Kingdom to any part thereof shall be deemed to be coasting trade.” To go foreign meant venturing into deeper water and abandoning the coastline. This is the definition I have used in my work and the one most commonly used in British writing on this topic. This definition does not fit other European countries so well. They had common boundaries and thus, whereas in Britain sticking to the coast ensured the ship stayed in British waters, on the mainland of Europe it was very easy to go into foreign waters by following the coastline. However, internal trade could be one definition of coasting trade.

In Britain the distinction between coasting and foreign trade was reinforced in law by the question of certificates of competency for masters and mates. Under the Mercantile Marine Act of 1850 both officers had to obtain such a certificate, but only if the ship was foreign-going. A new concept, the “home trade,” was introduced by the act.