Sea cargo reference
Capesize
Ships that had to round the capes. The notes below cover the cargo, the way the hull is arranged, and the limit that puts a ship in this class.
- Typical deadweight
- Typically about 100,000-200,000 DWT; a standard Capesize is around 180,000 DWT
- Length overall
- Commonly 270-300 m across the class
- Beam
- About 45 m
- Draft
- Commonly about 17-18 m laden
- The limit that names it
- Historically too large for the Panama and Suez canals
- Ship's gear
- Gearless
- Usual trade
- Iron ore and coal
- Typical draught
- About 17.95 m
- Cargo holds
- 9
Names such as Handysize, Supramax and Capesize are market habits, not a written standard. Brokers, exchanges and owners do not all use the same deadweight band. Canal and berth limits below are published figures and stay fixed. The deadweight ranges are a guide.
Capesize bulkers
The name comes from the route. Ships too large for the canals had to round the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, and the label stayed as a size class.
Capesize tonnage serves the iron ore and coal trades, mainly Australia and Brazil to East Asia and Europe. The ships have no cranes. They depend entirely on dedicated deepwater terminals with shiploaders and unloaders.
The name is looser than it once was. The Suez Canal was deepened in 2009 to a draft of about 20.1 metres, so a laden standard Capesize can now transit where it previously could not. Panama is different: even the Neopanamax locks cap draft at 15.2 metres, so a laden Capesize still cannot pass. The class name has stayed in commercial use anyway.
Cargo on board
How the hull is arranged
- One deck, with large holds closed by steel hatch covers that roll or fold aside for grabs and conveyors.
- Ballast sits in the double bottom and in the topside and hopper tanks. Those tanks also shape the hold so the cargo trims itself as it settles.
- Corrugated bulkheads stand between the holds. They take the push of a dense cargo without extra frames inside the space.
- Engine and accommodation sit aft, so the forward length stays free for cargo.
- Geared ships carry deck cranes or derricks between the hatches and can work where the port has no gear of its own.
Why this trade uses it
- A dry commodity moves with no bags, boxes or lashings, which keeps the cost per tonne low.
- Where the shore gear is good, grabs, conveyors and shiploaders shift thousands of tonnes an hour.
- A geared ship can call at ports that have no cranes.
- Holds can take several parcels of different commodities on one voyage.
Settle these points before you fix
- Iron ore and other dense cargoes load the hull hard. The loading order is strict, so the ship is not overstressed.
- Some concentrates and fines can turn liquid. They have to be checked against the transportable moisture limit before loading.
- Draft and air draft decide which berths and waterways the ship can use. Both shift with the season and the fresh-water allowance.