Sea cargo reference
Valemax
Ore carriers of about 400,000 tonnes. The notes below cover the cargo, the way the hull is arranged, and the limit that puts a ship in this class.
- Typical deadweight
- About 400,000 DWT
- Length overall
- About 362 m
- Beam
- About 65 m
- The limit that names it
- Berth depth and length; only a limited number of terminals can accept them
- Ship's gear
- Gearless
- Usual trade
- Iron ore, Brazil to Asia
- Typical draught
- About 23 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.
Valemax ore carriers
Very large ore carriers of roughly 400,000 deadweight tonnes. By cargo capacity they are among the largest ships ever built.
The Brazilian mining company Vale ordered them to cut the cost of shipping iron ore from Brazil to Asia. The route is long enough that a step change in ship size makes a real difference to the delivered cost per tonne.
The size is also the limit. Very few terminals have the depth and the length to take them. Their arrival was commercially contentious, and some importing countries at first refused them access in order to protect their own shipping.
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.