Bulk Carriers
As the name suggests, a bulk carrier is primarily used in carrying unpackaged bulk cargo items such as metal ores, coal, cement, grains and other similar cargo. Today, bulk carriers constitute of 40% of the merchant fleets in the world. They can be categorised in six major categories according to their deadweight tonnage capacity. The categories mainly include Handysize, Handymax, Panamax, Capesize and Very Large. Very large bulk carriers are normally counted into Capesize category, but sometimes they are considered as a separate category. Some regional categories such as Seawaymax, Kamsarmax, Setouchmax, Dunkirkmax, and Newcastlemax can also be included in the category of bulk carriers. South Korea is the largest builder of bulk carriers in the world.
The size of a bulk carrier can range from a small mini-bulker with a capacity of under 10,000 dwt to the giant capesize vessels with a capacity of up to 400,000 dead weight tonnage (DWT) or even more.
