Sea cargo reference
Handysize
The bulker that can call almost anywhere. 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 10,000-39,999 DWT
- Length overall
- Typically about 180 m
- Beam
- About 28.4 m
- The limit that names it
- Draft, so it can enter smaller and shallower ports
- Ship's gear
- Geared, usually four cranes
- Usual trade
- Worldwide
- Typical draught
- About 10.2 m
- Cargo holds
- 5
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.
Handysize bulkers
The most numerous and the most flexible class in the dry bulk fleet, and the one that can call at almost any port.
A shallow draft and the ship's own cranes mean it needs neither deep water nor shore gear. That opens ports closed to every larger class, and it is why the class stays employed across so many trades.
A Handysize ship often carries several parcels of different commodities on one voyage. That suits the minor bulk trades, where lots are small and destinations are scattered.
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.