A Snapshot of Seaborne Trade
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
A Taxonomy of Ships
Cargo Vessels
Service vessels
Bulkers
Tankers
U/VLCC
Suezmax
Aframax
Liners
Dry bulkers
Capesize
Panamax
Handymax
Panamax
Products
Parcel
Handysize
Special & Hybrid
Cellular
Ro-Ro
Multipurpose
Tweendeckers
LNG/LPG
O/O
OBO
Conbulker
OHBC
Car carrier
Reefer
Heavy lift
and many more...
Oil Tankers
Oil Tanker Size
There are different sizes of tankers used in the
international transportation of oil, from a modest coastal
tanker to a VLCC or ULCC Supertanker. The common rule
is that the volume that can be carried in a tanker
increases as a function of the cube of its length. For
instance, a ULCC is about twice the length of a coastal
tanker (415 meters versus 205 meters), but can carry
about 8 times the volume (400,000 tons versus 80,000
tons). Because of their huge mass, tankers have a large
inertia, making them very difficult to steer. A loaded
supertanker could take as much as 3 kilometers and 15
minutes to come to a full stop and has a turning diameter
of about 2 kilometers. Among the main tanker classes are:
Class
Length
Beam
Draft
Overview
Coastal
tanker
205m
29m
16m
Less than 50,000 deadweight tons,
mainly used for transportation of
refined products (gasoline, gasoil,).
Aframax
245m
34m
20m
Approximately 80,000 deadweight
tons.
Suezmax
285m
45m
23m
Between 125,000 and 180,000
deadweight tons, originally the
maximum capacity of the Suez Canal.
VLCC
350m
55m
28m
Very Large Crude Carrier. Up to
around 300,000 deadweight tons of
crude oil.
ULCC
415m
63m
35m
Ultra Large Crude
exceeding 300,000
The largest tankers
deadweight
of
deadweight tons.
Carrier. Capacity
deadweight tons.
ever built have a
over
550,000
Dry bulkers
Dry Bulker Size
Handy-size (20,000-27,000 tonnes)
Handymax (35,000 40,000 tonnes)
Panamax (roughly 60,000 tonnes)
245m/32.2m/12.04m
Capesize (>100,000 tonnes)
Containerships
(Cellular Ships)
Categories of Container Ships
1st g
2nd g
3rd g
4th g
5th g
6th g
700
1000TEU
1000
2000
2000
3000
3000
4000
4000
6000
>6000
13-14m
14-15m
8m
10-11m 11-12m 12-13m
Panama Cannel Criteria
Panama width 32.2m 1,2,3 g
Panamax width 32.2m 4g
post-Panamax width 32.2m 5g
Super/Extra post-panamx 6g
SPECIAL & HYBRID
Vehicle Carriers (RO/RO)
LNG/LPG
Reefer
Heavy Lift
Tugs and Dredgers
Research and Survey
Vessels
Multipurpose Ships
Bulk/container carrier
O/O (ore/oil carrier)
OBO (oil-bulk-ore carrier)
OB
(oil/bulk carrier)
Passenger/train/vehicle carrier
Passenger/vehicle ferry
Merchant Fleet Composition
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
Top Ten Fleets by Flag
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
Top Ten Fleets by Owners Domicile
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
Top Ten Dry Bulk Fleets by Owners Domicile
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
Top Ten Container Fleets by Owners Domicile
Source: ISL Bremen, Shipping Statistics Yearbook, December 2003
Capacities
1 Registered Ton is equal to 2.83 m3
- Gross tonnage measures all the space in the ship.
- Net tonnage measures the space to put cargo in the ship.
- Panama and Suez Canal Tonnages are used to calculate
the charge to pass through the canal.
