TYPES OF MERCHANT VESSELS

Merchant vessels can be divided into different categories according to their size and purpose. 

Dry Cargo Ships 

A dry cargo ship is a term generally used for bulk carriers and container ships. While bulk carriers are used in the transportation of bulk cargo such as grains, coal, ores, and cement, container ships are normally used for carrying miscellaneous goods. 

Bulk carriers: As the name suggests, a bulk carrier is primarily used in carrying unpackaged bulk cargo items including grains, ores, cement, and other similar cargo. They comprise 40% of the merchant fleets in the world. They can be categorized into six major categories according to their size. The categories include Small, Handysize, Handymax, Panamax, Capesize, and Very Large. Their size can range from a small mini-bulker to giant ships with a capacity of 400,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT). South Korea is the largest builder of bulk carriers in the world. 

Bulk Carrier

CONTAINER SHIPS 

Container ships are ocean vessels that carry goods in large containers, a technique called containerization. They can be divided into several categories according to their size. The main categories of container ships include such as feeder, feeder max, Panamax, new Panamax, and ultra-large. They play a dominant role in international trade. 

Container Ship

TANKERS 

Tankers are used for transporting crude oil, finished petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG), chemicals and other liquids in bulk. They play an important role in international trade with a share of over 33% of the world tonnage. Tankers come in varied sizes ranging from handysize tankers to ultra-large crude carriers (ULCC) with a size ranging between 320,000 to 500,000 DWT. 

OFFSHORE VESSELS They are specially designed ships for transporting goods and personnel to offshore oil platforms that operate deep in oceans. The size of these vessels ranges between 20 meters 

Tankers

PASSENGER SHIPS 

Passenger Ships As the name suggests, passenger ships are primarily used for carrying passengers. It also includes cruise ships that are mainly used for pleasure voyages. 

Passenger Ship

Specialized Vessel 

They are designed in a way to transport specific goods such as vehicles and machinery.

Specialized Vessel

OFFSHORE VESSELS 

They are specially designed ships for transporting goods and personnel to offshore oil platforms that operate deep in oceans. The size of these vessels ranges between 20 meters and 100 meters. They are good at accomplishing a variety of tasks in the supply chain. 

Offshore Vessel