The world’s oceans are a huge place, and they’re filled with all kinds of cargo ships. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a bulk carrier, dry bulk carrier, general cargo ship, oil tanker and container ship, we’ve got you covered.
Shipping is the lifeblood of global commerce. It’s also one of the oldest industries in the world, with sailors transporting goods across oceans for tens of thousands of years. Today, cargo ships still play an essential role in transporting freight from place to place. In fact, cargo ships carry about 90% of all international trade on Earth! But what exactly does it take to be a cargo ship? What kinds are there? And why do they look so different from one another? We’ll explain all that and more in this article about nine types of cargo vessels you may encounter out at sea!
You can’t export and import goods without the right ships. Cargo ships are used for transporting goods by sea, with different types of cargo ships designed to carry large amounts of cargo. These include container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers and refrigerated cargo ships.
The most common type of cargo ship is the container ship or “boxcar” because it carries containers stacked on top of each other that can be easily loaded and unloaded at ports around the world. An average modern container ship has a capacity of 4,000 TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units). A single TEU can hold about 20 pallets or 15 tons (13 metric tons) worth of freight.
There are many different types of cargo ships, and we’ve only covered some of them here. There are also specialized vessels for transporting oil and gas, as well as smaller vessels that can be used in shallow waters. Regardless of what you need to transport, there is a ship out there for the job.
