general information.

Type of dry bulk vessels.

Small bulk carrier with no cargo gears on board:

Small Bulk Carrier (100 – 130m LOA with less than 10m draft & 3000 ~ 23,999 DWT). Employed in coastal trade, serving as feeder vessels to large ships. Their main trade consists of short sea voyages, carrying limited quantities of bulk cargoes generally to smaller ports without restriction on size of vessels.

Handysize bulk carrier with cargo handling gears:

Handysize are the medium bulk carriers of between 24000 ~ 35000 DWT ( 130 – 150 m length & 10m draft ). They can carry cargoes to a large number of ports, may carry considerable variety and quantity of bulk cargoes.

Handymax bulk carriers:

Handymax bulk carriers of between 35,000 and 50,000 tonnes deadweight.( 150 – 200 m length & 11 ~ 12 m draft ).These bulkers are well suited for small ports with length and draught restrictions. Primarily used for carrying dry cargo such as iron ore, coal, cement, Slag , Concentrates , fertilizer, and grains etc.

Supramax bulk carrier:

One very important size is the “Supramax ” – a type which became more and more popular since 2001. These vessels are ranging between 50,000dwat and 61,000dwat (designers working on even larger vessels up to 63,000dwat ), have usually five cargo holds and deck cranes with a SWL of 30 to 35 mt.. Many such vessels carry their Own cargo Grabs on board .

Supramax vessels are very popular among dry cargo shippers due to their larger cargo carrying capacities and on-board cargo handling flexibility. Their favorable size allows them to trade in a much wider range of world ports and terminals.

Panamax bulk carrier:

The term ‘Panamax’ ( length 200-230 m , draft 13 ~ 15 m ) refers to design size limitations imposed by the Panama Canal locks and adopted by the international shipping community: beam must not exceed 106 feet (32.2 m), fully loaded vessels must not exceed 80,000 tons deadweight. Generally carry grain, coal and iron ore .

Capesize’ bulk carriers ( length 230 ~ 270 m , draft 17 m ) of 80,000 to 199,000 tonnes deadweight which are too large for the Panama Canal and trade from the Atlantic around the Cape of Good Hope. Only a few ports in the world can accommodate them in fully loaded condition.

Navigational approaches into ports and harbours Charts.