Dry cargo ships are used to transport solid dry things that have a greater resistance to heat and cold, such as metal ores, coal, steel products, forest products and grains.

These ships have a greater capacity for high temperatures along with the capacity to tolerate very low temperatures. It is prepared with on deck cranes and other types of heavy machinery which helps in easy and independent loading and unloading of cargo.

These ships don’t need any special arrangements at the port for loading or unloading cargo. Dry cargo ships are used to transport international bulk trade and coal from ports to ports around the world. Cargotoafrica.co.uk is a reliable company for groupage shipping to Africa from UK at affordable rates.

There are two types of dry cargo ships, Bulk carriers and Container ships. Bulk carriers are used to transport unloaded bulk cargo like fertilizers, coal, cement, steel, grains and metal ores. Bulk carriers handle more than 40 percent of the total cargo handled in the world.

Main kinds of cargo ships

There are six main types of cargo ships and these are considered according to the dead weight and tonnage capacity of these vessels. These six types contain Handy size, Handymax, Panamax, Capesize and Very Large.

Huge bulk carriers are usually considered as capsize vessels, however, sometimes these ships are considered as a distinct entity. Some of the famous bulk carriers are Seawaymax, Kamsarmax, Setouchmax, Dunkirkmax and Newcastlemax. South Korea is the World’s biggest manufacturer of bulk carriers and these carriers have the load volume of 40,000 DWT.

Container Ships:

Any sea vessel that transports container cargo is called a container ship and the method used for freight goods is called containerization rather than bulk cargo. These vessels transport all kinds of goods from small toys to the big manufacturing goods.

Handy size Ships:

Handy size ships like Handymax and Supermax are also bulk dry carriers and have the capacity of over 10,000 DWT. They are mainly used to transport dry cargo things such as grains, iron ores and  minerals.

Panamax Ships:

Panamax and new Panamax cargo ships are average sized vessels with an extreme cargo capacity of 13,000 TEU while the minimum capacity can be around 5000 TEU in a smaller ship. These ships have particularly been planned to follow special standards and dimensions to cross through the new locks at the Panama Canal.