Les vieux bateaux qui transportaient des gens, ils pouvaient aussi transporter des marchandises ?
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all ocean liners were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with cargo holds and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been eliminated.

While typically passenger ships are part of the merchant marine, passenger ships have also been used as troopships and often are commissioned as naval ships when used as for that purpose.
Le transport fluvial et maritime

Le transport par voie d'eau, incluant les embarcations à rames et à voile, remonte à l'aube des temps et était le seul moyen efficace de transporter de grandes quantités de marchandises ou sur de longues distances avant la Révolution industrielle. Les premiers engins flottants étaient des canoës taillés dans des troncs d'arbres. Le transport fluvial et maritime primitif était assuré par des navires soit propulsés par des rameurs, soit par le vent, ou une combinaison des deux. L'importance de l'eau a conduit la plupart des villes qui se sont développées comme centres commerciaux à être situées sur des rivières ou sur le littoral, souvent à l'intersection de deux étendues d'eau.
### Query ###
Les vieux bateaux qui transportaient des gens, ils pouvaient aussi transporter des marchandises ?

### Main Text ###
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is secondary to the carriage of freight. The type does however include many classes of ships designed to transport substantial numbers of passengers as well as freight. Indeed, until recently virtually all ocean liners were able to transport mail, package freight and express, and other cargo in addition to passenger luggage, and were equipped with cargo holds and derricks, kingposts, or other cargo-handling gear for that purpose. Only in more recent ocean liners and in virtually all cruise ships has this cargo capacity been eliminated.

While typically passenger ships are part of the merchant marine, passenger ships have also been used as troopships and often are commissioned as naval ships when used as for that purpose.

### Supplementary Text ###
Le transport fluvial et maritime

Le transport par voie d'eau, incluant les embarcations à rames et à voile, remonte à l'aube des temps et était le seul moyen efficace de transporter de grandes quantités de marchandises ou sur de longues distances avant la Révolution industrielle. Les premiers engins flottants étaient des canoës taillés dans des troncs d'arbres. Le transport fluvial et maritime primitif était assuré par des navires soit propulsés par des rameurs, soit par le vent, ou une combinaison des deux. L'importance de l'eau a conduit la plupart des villes qui se sont développées comme centres commerciaux à être situées sur des rivières ou sur le littoral, souvent à l'intersection de deux étendues d'eau.

### Draft ###

### 1. Query Parsing

"Les vieux bateaux qui transportaient des gens" → old passenger boats/ships
"ils pouvaient aussi transporter des marchandises" → could also carry cargo

Simple information retrieval. But need to distinguish:
- Pure passenger vessels (ferries, liners)  
- Combined cargo-passenger ships (early steamers, tramp steamers)

### 2. Historical Contextualization  

Maritime transport history → pre-industrial era:
- Sailing ships = primary cargo carriers
- Passengers = secondary/incidental
- Economic model: freight revenue primary, passengers supplementary

※ Key insight: "passenger boats" ≠ dedicated passenger vessels
Many were multipurpose merchant ships carrying people when convenient.

### 3. Technical Constraints Analysis

Physical limitations:
- Ship capacity finite → space competition passenger vs cargo
- Loading/unloading time → dual purpose increases efficiency
- Crew size → same crew can handle both functions

Early steam era (1800s-1900s):
- Steam-powered ships still had cargo capacity
- Ocean liners → passenger focus but retained cargo holds
- Economic necessity → maximize revenue per voyage

### 4. Economic Logic

Freight revenue >> passenger revenue per ton-mile
∴ Combined transport = economic optimization
Passengers = "excess capacity" utilization

⚠ Modern separation: regulatory changes, safety concerns, specialization

### 5. Historical Examples

Ocean liners (Titanic era):
- Dedicated passenger service
- But equipped with cargo gear, mail contracts
- Revenue diversification strategy

Coastal steamers:
- Primary cargo, passengers opportunistically
- Especially European/North American routes

### 6. Synthesis

✓ Yes, old passenger ships typically carried cargo
✓ Economic necessity drove multifunctionality  
✓ Space constraints → dual purpose optimized resource use
✓ Early maritime transport = integrated cargo+passenger model

! Modern passenger-only vessels = recent historical development

### Answer###
Oui, les vieux bateaux qui transportaient des passagers pouvaient effectivement transporter des marchandises. En réalité, jusqu'à récemment, pratiquement tous les navires de croisière océaniques étaient capables de transporter du courrier, des colis, des express et d'autres cargaisons en plus des bagages des passagers. Ils étaient équipés de cales à marchandises et de mâts, de mâts-royaux ou d'autres équipements de manutention de cargaison à cette fin.

Cette capacité de transport de marchandises était considérée comme secondaire par rapport au transport des passagers, mais elle constituait néanmoins une source de revenus importante pour les compagnies maritimes. Seuls les navires de croisière plus récents et la plupart des ferries modernes ont abandonné cette capacité de transport de fret.

Le transport maritime de passagers était historiquement intégré au transport de marchandises, les deux fonctions coexistant souvent sur le même navire selon les besoins économiques et les contraintes techniques de l'époque.