Cargo ship

Acargo shiporfreighteris amerchant shipthat carriescargo,goods,and materials from oneportto another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world'sseasandoceanseach year, handling the bulk ofinternational trade.Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped withcranesand other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built ofweldedsteel,and with some exceptions generally have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before being scrapped.

Cargo ship atPuerto Cortésin Honduras.

Definitions

"Freight liner" redirects here. For other uses, seeFreightliner (disambiguation).

A container ship unloading atZanzibar,Tanzania

AUScargo ship offMcMurdo Station,Antarctica

General cargo shipNamibia

The wordscargoandfreighthave become interchangeable in casual usage. Technically, "cargo" refers to the goods carried aboard the ship for hire, while "freight" refers to the act of carrying of such cargo, but the terms have been used interchangeably for centuries.

Generally, the modern ocean shipping business is divided into two classes:

1. Liner business: typically (but not exclusively) container vessels (wherein "general cargo" is carried in 20- or 40-foot containers), operating as "common carriers", calling at a regularly published schedule of ports. A common carrier refers to a regulated service where any member of the public may book cargo for shipment, according to long-established and internationally agreed rules.
2. Tramp-tanker business: generally this is private business arranged between the shipper and receiver and facilitated by the vessel owners or operators, who offer their vessels for hire to carry bulk (dry or liquid) or break bulk (cargoes with individually handled pieces) to any suitable port(s) in the world, according to a specifically drawn contract, called acharter party.

Larger cargo ships are generally operated byshipping lines:companies that specialize in the handling of cargo in general. Smaller vessels, such ascoasters,are often owned by their operators.

Types

Cargo ships/freighters can be divided into eight groups, according to the type of cargo they carry. These groups are:

1. Feeder ship
2. General cargo vessels
3. Container ships
4. Tankers
5. Drybulk carriers
6. Multi-purpose vessels
7. Reefer ships
8. Roll-on/roll-offvessels.

Rough synopses of cargo ship types

1. General cargo vessels carry packaged items likechemicals,foods,furniture,machinery,motor-andmilitary vehicles,footwear, garments, etc.
2. Container ships(sometimes spelledcontainerships) are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-sizeintermodal containers,in a technique calledcontainerization.They are a common means of commercialintermodal freight transportand now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo. Container ship capacity is measured intwenty-foot equivalent units(TEU).
3. Tankerscarrypetroleumproducts or other liquid cargo.
4. Drybulk carrierscarrycoal,grain,oreand other similar products in loose form.
5. Multi-purpose vessels,as the name suggests, carry different classes of cargo – e.g. liquid and general cargo – at the same time.
6. A Reefer,Reefer ships(or Refrigerated) ship is specifically designedand used for shipping perishable commodities which requiretemperature-controlled,mostlyfruits,meat,fish,vegetables,dairy productsand otherfoodstuffs.
7. Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels.
8. Timber (Lumber) carriers that transportlumber,logsand related wood products.

Specialized cargo ship types

Specialized types of cargo vessels includecontainer shipsandbulk carriers(technically tankers of allsizesare cargo ships, although they are routinely thought of as a separate category). Cargo ships fall into two further categories that reflect the services they offer to industry: liner and tramp services. Those on a fixed published schedule and fixed tariff rates are cargo liners. Tramp ships do not have fixed schedules. Users charter them to haul loads. Generally, the smaller shipping companies and private individuals operate tramp ships. Cargo liners run on fixed schedules published by the shipping companies. Each trip a liner takes is called a voyage. Liners mostly carry general cargo. However, some cargo liners may carry passengers also. A cargo liner that carries 12 or more passengers is called a combination or passenger-run-cargo line.

Size categories

Cargo ships are categorized partly by cargo or shipping capacity (tonnage), partly by weight (deadweight tonnageDWT), and partly by dimensions. Maximum dimensions such as length and width (beam) limit the canal locks a ship can fit in, water depth (draft) is a limitation for canals, shallow straits or harbors and height is a limitation in order to pass under bridges. Common categories include:

• Dry cargo
  • Small Handy size, carriers of 20,000–28,000DWT
  • Seawaymax,28,000DWTthe largest vessel that can traverse theSt Lawrence Seaway.These are vessels less than 740 feet (225.6 m) in length, 78 feet (23.8 m) wide, and have a draft less than 26.51 feet (8.08 m) and a height above the waterline no more than 35.5 metres (116 ft).
  • Handy size,carriers of 28,000–40,000DWT
  • Handymax,carriers of 40,000–50,000DWT
  • Panamax,the largest size that can traverse the original locks of thePanama Canal,a 294.13 m (965.0 ft) length, a 32.2 m (106 ft) width, and a 12.04 m (39.5 ft) draft as well as a height limit of 57.91 m (190.0 ft). Average deadweight between 65,000DWTand 80,000DWT,with cargo intake limited to 52,500DWT.
  • Neopanamax,upgraded Panama lockswith 366 m (1,201 ft) length, 55 m (180 ft) beam, 18 m (59 ft) draft, 120,000DWT
  • Capesize,vessels larger than Suezmax and Neopanamax, and must traverseCape AgulhasandCape Hornto travel between oceans, dimension: about 170,000 DWT, 290 m long, 45 m beam (wide), 18m draught (under water depth).
  • Chinamax,carriers of 380,000–400,000DWTup to 24 m (79 ft) draft, 65 m (213 ft) beam and 360 m (1,180 ft) length; these dimensions are limited by port infrastructure in China
  • Baltimax,limited by theGreat Belt.The limit is a draft of 15.4 metres and anair draftof 65 metres (limited by the clearance of the east bridge of theGreat Belt Fixed Link). The length can be around 240 m and the width around 42 m. This gives a weight of around 100,000 metric ton.

• Wet cargo
  • Aframax,oil tankers between 75,000 and 115,000DWT.This is the largest size defined by the average freight rate assessment (AFRA) scheme.
  • Q-Max,liquefied natural gascarrier forQatarexports. A ship of Q-Max size is 345 m (1,132 ft) long and measures 53.8 m (177 ft) wide and 34.7 m (114 ft) high, with a shallow draft of approximately 12 m (39 ft).
  • Suezmax,typically ships of about 160,000DWT,maximum dimensions are a beam of 77.5 m (254 ft), a draft of 20.1 m (66 ft) as well as a height limit of 68 m (223 ft) can traverse theSuez Canal
  • VLCC(Very Large Crude Carrier),supertankersbetween 150,000 and 320,000DWT.
    • Malaccamax,ships with a draft less than 20.5 m (67.3 ft) that can traverse theStrait of Malacca,typically 300,000DWT.
  • ULCC(Ultra Large Crude Carrier), enormous supertankers between 320,000 and 550,000DWT

TheTI-class supertankeris an Ultra Large Crude Carrier, with a draft that is deeper than Suezmax, Malaccamax and Neopanamax. This causes Atlantic/Pacific routes to be very long, such as the long voyages south of Cape of Good Hope or south of Cape Horn to transit between Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Lake freightersbuilt for theGreat Lakesin North America differ in design from sea water–going ships because of the difference in wave size and frequency in the lakes. A number of these ships are larger than Seawaymax and cannot leave the lakes and pass to the Atlantic Ocean, since they do not fit the locks on theSaint Lawrence Seaway.

History

See also:Maritime timeline

A full-scale replica of acog,a type of vessel commonly used for cargo in Northern Europe from the 10th to the 14th centuries

The earliest records of waterborne activity mention the carriage of items for trade; the evidence of history and archaeology shows the practice to be widespread by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, and as early as the 14th and 15th centuries BC small Mediterranean cargo ships like those of the 50 foot long (15–16 metre)Uluburun shipwere carrying 20 tons of exotic cargo; 11 tons of raw copper, jars, glass, ivory, gold, spices, and treasures fromCanaan,Greece,Egypt,andAfrica.The desire to operate trade routes over longer distances, and throughout more seasons of the year, motivated improvements in ship design during theMiddle Ages.

Before the middle of the 19th century, the incidence ofpiracyresulted in most cargo ships being armed, sometimes quite heavily, as in the case of theManila galleonsandEast Indiamen.They were also sometimes escorted bywarships.

Piracy

Further information:Piracy

Piracyis still quite common in some waters, particularly in theMalacca Straits,a narrow channel betweenIndonesiaandSingapore/Malaysia,and cargo ships are still commonly targeted. In 2004, the governments of those three nations agreed to provide better protection for the ships passing through the Straits. The waters offSomaliaandNigeriaare also prone to piracy, while smaller vessels are also in danger along parts of theSouth Americancoasts,Southeast Asiancoasts, and near theCaribbean Sea.

Vessel prefixes

Main article:Ship prefix

A category designation appears before the vessel's name. A few examples of prefixes for naval ships are "USS" (United States Ship), "HMS" (Her/His Majesty’s Ship), "HMCS" (Her/His Majesty's Canadian Ship) and "HTMS" (HisThaiMajesty's Ship), while a few examples for prefixes for merchant ships are "RMS" (Royal Mail Ship,usually a passenger liner), "MV" (Motor Vessel,powered bydiesel), "MT" (Motor Tanker, powered vessel carrying liquids only) "FV"Fishing Vesseland "SS" (Screw Steamer,driven bypropellersor screws, often understood to stand forSteamship). "TS", sometimes found in first position before a merchant ship's prefix, denotes that it is aTurbineSteamer.

Famous cargo ships

Famous cargo ships include the 2,710Liberty shipsofWorld War II,partly based on aBritish design.Liberty ship sections wereprefabricatedin locations across the United States and then assembled by shipbuilders in an average of six weeks, with the record being just over four days. These ships allowed theAlliesinWorld War IIto replace sunken cargo vessels at a rate greater than theKriegsmarine'sU-boatscould sink them, and contributed significantly to the war effort, the delivery of supplies, and eventual victory over theAxispowers. Liberty ships were followed by the fasterVictory ships.Canada builtPark shipsandFort shipsto meet the demand for the Allies shipping. TheUnited KingdombuiltEmpire shipsand used USOcean ships.After the war many of the ships were sold to private companies. TheEver Givenis a ship that was lodged into the Suez Canal from March 25 to 28, 2021, which caused a halt on maritime trade.TheMV Dali,which collided with theFrancis Scott Key BridgeinBaltimore,Maryland,United States,on 26 March 2024, causing acatastrophic structural failure of the bridgethat resulted in at least 6 deaths.

Pollution

Due to its low cost, most large cargo vessels are powered bybunker fuel,also known as heavy fuel oil, which contains highersulphurlevels than diesel.This level of pollution is increasing:with bunker fuel consumption at 278 million tonnes per year in 2001, it is projected to be at 500 million tonnes per year in 2020.International standards to dramatically reduce sulphur content in marine fuels andnitrogen oxideemissions have been put in place. Among some of the solutions offered is changing over the fuel intake toclean dieselor marine gas oil, while in restricted waters andcold ironingthe ship while it is in port. The process of removing sulphur from the fuel impacts theviscosityand lubricity of the marine gas oil though, which could cause damage in the enginefuel pump.The fuel viscosity can be raised by cooling the fuel down.If the various requirements are enforced, theInternational Maritime Organization's marine fuel requirement will mean a 90% reduction in sulphur oxide emissions;whilst theEuropean Unionis planning stricter controls on emissions.

Environmental impact

Cargo ships have been reported to have a possible negative impact on the population of whale sharks. Smithsonian Magazine reported in 2022 thatwhale sharks,the largest species of fish, have been disappearing mysteriously over the past 75 years, with research pointing to cargo ships and large vessels as the likely culprits.A study involving over 75 researchers highlighted the danger posed to whale sharks by shipping activities in various regions, including Ecuador, Mexico, Malaysia, the Philippines, Oman, Seychelles, and Taiwan.

See also

• Classification of European Inland Waterways—standards determining vessel sizes on rivers and canals of Europe
• MARPOL 73/78—related to pollution: "Amended Regulation 14 concerns mandatory fuel oil change over procedures for vessels entering or leaving SECA areas and FO sulphur limits."
• Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)
• Merchant vessel
• Ship transport
• United States Merchant Marine

References

General references

• Greenway, Ambrose (2009).Cargo Liners: An Illustrated History.Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth Publishing.ISBN9781848320062.

External links

• Vessel size groups
• Cargo ship: general structure and arrangement by picture