Cargo Ships

What is a Cargo Ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usually specially designed for the task, often being equipped with cranes and other mechanisms to load and unload, and come in all sizes. Today, they are almost always built of welded steel, and with some exceptions generally have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before being scrapped

Sizes of cargo ships

Cargo ships are categorized partly by their capacity, partly by their weight, and partly by their dimensions (often with reference to the various canals and canal locks through which they can travel). Some common categories include:
Small Handy size, carriers of 20,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)-28,000 DWT
Handy size, carriers of 28,000-40,000 DWT
Handymax, carriers of 40,000-50,000 DWT
Seawaymax, the largest size which can traverse the St Lawrence Seaway
Aframax, oil tankers between 75,000 and 115,000 DWT. This is the largest size defined by the average freight rate assessment (AFRA) scheme.
Panamax, the largest size which can traverse the Panama Canal (generally: vessels with a width smaller than 32.2 m)
Suezmax, the largest size which can traverse the Suez Canal
Malaccamax, the largest size which can traverse the Strait of Malacca
Capesize, vessels larger than Panamax and Suezmax, which must traverse the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn in order to travel between oceans
VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), supertankers between 150,000 and 320,000 DWT.
ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier), enormous supertankers between 320,000 and 550,000 DWT.