Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume or cargo volume of a ship. Although tonnage (volume) should not be confused with displacement, the long ton of 2,240 lb is derived from the fact that a "tun" of wine typically weighed that much.
A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are used for military purposes.
A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have led to increased size and sophistication of these ships. Today's bulk carriers are specially designed to maximize capacity, safety, efficiency, and durability.
Capesize ships are the largest dry cargo ships with ball mark dimension: about 170,000 DWT capacity, 290 m long, 45 m beam (wide), 18m draught. They are too large to transit the Suez Canal or Panama Canal, and so have to pass either Cape Agulhas or Cape Horn to traverse between oceans.
Handysize is a naval architecture term for smaller bulk carriers or oil tanker with deadweight of up to 50,000 tonnes, although there is no official definition in terms of exact tonnages. Handysize is also sometimes used to refer to the span of up to 60,000 tons, with the vessels above 35,000 tonnes referred to as Handymax or Supramax.
An ore-bulk-oil carrier, also known as combination carrier or OBO, is a ship designed to be capable of carrying wet or dry cargoes. The idea is to reduce the number of empty (ballast) voyages, in which large ships only carry a cargo one way and return empty for another. These are a feature of the larger bulk trades.
MV Algonorth was a Seawaymax lake freighter built in 1970 and completed in 1971 by the Govan Division of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. in Govan, Scotland as the bulk carrier Temple Bar. Her original owners were Lambert Bros. Shipping Ltd., of London, United Kingdom, sold the vessel in 1976 to Nipigon Transport Ltd., who had her hull lengthened and installed a new power plant for Great Lakes service. Re-entering service as Lake Nipigon, the ship was renamed Laketon in 1984 before returning to the name Lake Nipigon in 1986. In 1987, the lake freighter was sold to Algoma Central Railway which gave the ship its final named, Algonorth. In 2007, the ship collided with a dock in Toledo, Ohio. The ship was scrapped in 2012.
Nunavik is an icebreaking bulk carrier owned and operated by the Canadian shipping company Fednav. She is used to transport copper and nickel from the Nunavik Nickel Project, making 7–8 round trips per year.
The MV Karadeniz Powership Rauf Bey is a Liberia-flagged Powership, a floating power plant, owned and operated by Karpowership. Built in 1982 in Brazil and christened MV Gulf Grain, she sailed as a bulk carrier under various names and flags until she was acquired to be converted 2009 into a Powership in Turkey. She served in Basra, Iraq supplying electricity to the power grid there. Currently, she supplies electricity to Sudan.
Algosteel was a bulk carrier owned and operated by Algoma Central. The vessel was constructed in 1966 by Davie Shipbuilding at their yard in Lauzon, Quebec for Canada Steamship Lines and launched as A.S. Glossbrenner. In 1968, the vessel was acquired by the Labrador Steamship Company. In 1971, the ship was sold to Algoma Central. The vessel's name was changed to Algogulf in 1987 and to Algosteel in 1990. The bulk carrier primarily transported iron ore and grain along the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. The vessel was taken out of service in April 2018 pending disposal and was scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey, in 2018 under the name Oste.
MV OS 35 is a bulk carrier registered in Tuvalu, a flag of convenience. The vessel first came into news when a piracy attack on her off the coast of Somalia was thwarted jointly by ships of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy and of the Indian Navy.
MV Rhosus was a general cargo ship that was abandoned in Beirut, Lebanon, after the ship was declared unseaworthy and the charterers lost interest in the cargo. The 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate which the ship was carrying was confiscated and brought to shore in 2014, and later contributed to the catastrophic 2020 Beirut explosion. The vessel's owner at the time of abandonment was Cyprus-based Russian businessman Igor Grechushkin. The ship sank in the Port of Beirut in 2018.
The MV Millennial Spirit is a Moldovan chemical tanker which transports diesel fuel. Built in 1974, the ship was previously known as MV Freyja under the ownership of an Icelandic shipping firm. It was shelled and its crew was forced to abandon ship in the Black Sea during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials, the ship was shelled by Russian warships.
MV Yasa Jupiter is a Turkish-owned, Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier. It was the first merchant vessel damaged during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
MV Helt was a Panamanian-flagged, Estonian-owned general cargo ship which sank in the Black Sea off the coast of Odessa during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
MV Matros Pozynich is a Russian cargo ship involved in smuggling grain during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
MV Zhibek Zholy is a Russian bulk carrier cargo ship involved in a grain smuggling dispute during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It has a gross tonnage of 5,686 GT and a deadweight of 7,000 DWT. It is 140 metres (460 ft) long and has a beam of 16.5 metres (54 ft).
MV Tuzla is a Turkish-owned, Vanuatu-flagged general cargo ship that was damaged by a missile strike during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Tuzla has a gross tonnage of 2,485 tons, and is 86 metres (282 ft) long and 14 metres (46 ft) wide.
MV TQ Ordu is a Turkish-owned, Palau-flagged cargo ship that ran aground in 2023 while in the Black Sea.
Japan (Nissen Kaiun)
Philippine company
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