Bulk cargo

A mini-bulker taking on cargo in Brest.

Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. These cargos are usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, as a liquid or as a mass of relatively small solids (e.g. grain, coal), into a bulk carrier ship's hold, railroad car, or tanker truck/trailer/semi-trailer body. Bulk cargos are classified as liquid or dry.

As of 2009^[update] the largest bulk carrier cargo ship in the world is the 364,768 metric tons deadweight (DWT) iron ore carrier Berge Stahl.

The busiest bulk cargo port in the world is the New Orleans-area based Port of South Louisiana.

Dry bulk cargoes ("dry" trades)

This heap of iron ore pellets will be used in steel production.

• coal
• grain (wheat, maize, rice, barley, oats, rye, sorghum, soybeans, etc.)
• iron (ferrous & non-ferrous ores, ferroalloys, pig iron, scrap metal, pelletized taconite), etc.)
• bauxite
• wood chips
• cement
• chemicals (fertilizer, plastic granules & pellets, resin powder, synthetic fiber, etc.)
• dry edibles (for animals or humans: alfalfa pellets, citrus pellets, livestock feed, flour, peanuts, raw or refined sugar, seeds, starches, etc.)
• bulk minerals (sand & gravel, copper, limestone, salt, etc.)

Liquid bulk cargos ("wet" trades)

• petroleum
• liquefied natural gas (LNG)
• gasoline
• chemicals
• liquid edibles (vegetable oil, cooking oil, fruit juices, etc.)

Some bulk shipping companies

DME 49328, a covered hopper owned and operated by the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad.

• Ad Rem LEZ (Lithuania,Europe,Russia)
• Neptune Bulk Terminals (Vancouver, Canada)
• Trans Ocean Distribution
• Aasen Shipping & Aasen Chartering (Norway)
• ALL-Transport A/S (Norway)
• American Steamship Company (United States)
• Canada Steamship Lines (Canada)
• Commercial Trading & Discount (Greece)
• Czech Ocean Shipping (Czech Republic)
• Daeyang Shipping (China - Greece - Japan)
• c(Canada)
• Gearbulk Holding Limited (Norway - Japan)
• M/S Fjordbulk (Norway)
• Naveiro SA (Portugal)
• NOL Services (Singapore)
• OAM Coal Trade and Bulk Shipping (Germany)
• Österströms Rederi AB (Sweden)
• Rimship AS (Trondheim, Norway)
• SMC Marine Services (Singapore)
• STX PanOcean (South Korea)
• Samsun Logix (South Korea)
• The Skaarup Group (United States)
• Zhejiang Ocean Shipping Company (China)
• Losinjska Plovidba brodarstvo (Croatia)
• InXpress
• Petromaks Group of Companies (Estonia, Russia, EU)
• TriNoden Maritime - R&S International Inv. & Consulting Co. (Turkey)

Some suppliers of Flexitank and Dry Liner

• ESPACKING (China)
• Ad Rem LEZ (Lithuania,Europe,Russia)

Large ports specializing in bulk cargo

• Port of South Louisiana
• Port of Rotterdam
• Port of Vancouver

Rahil Darya Marine Services Company(Iran)

See also

• Covered hopper
• Flexible intermediate bulk container (bigbag)
• Hopper car
• Lake freighter
• Selfdischarger
• Tank car
• World's busiest port

References

• George, William (2005). Stability and Trim for the Ship's Officer. Centreville, MD: Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-87033-564-8. 
• Hayler, William B.; Keever, John M. (2003). American Merchant Seaman's Manual. Cornell Maritime Pr. ISBN 0-87033-549-9. 
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2006). Review of Maritime Transport, 2006. New York and Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2006_en.pdf. 
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2007). Review of Maritime Transport, 2007. New York and Geneva: United Nations. http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/rmt2007_en.pdf.