Bulk carriers (bulkers) carry dry bulk cargoes: i.e. cargoes that can be handled by conveyor systems, chutes, grabs, or skips, e.g. minerals, grain, fertiliser, bulk sugar. Some bulkers carry neo-bulk cargoes: i.e. cargoes that are made up of a large number of individual pieces, but that can fill holds. e.g. […]

Capesize Bulkers Because they are so large, some bulk carriers cannot pass through the Suez Canal fully laden and are also too large for the Panama Canal. When fully laden, they have to round the Cape on voyages from Australia to Europe, hence the term Capesize Bulkers. The general characteristics […]

Bulk cargoes used to be carried in general cargoships. After World War 2, “Liberty ships” (a special class of ships that were built during World War 2)  and other war-built ships (known as Victory, Fort, Ocean, Park-class ships) were also used to move bulk cargoes. From the late 1950s, changes were […]