Bulk carriers

The category, explained

Bulk carriers move unpackaged dry cargo, iron ore, coal, grain, in vast hopper-shaped holds, and like tankers they are measured by deadweight. The biggest are ore carriers, because iron ore is dense enough to use every tonne of a giant hull.

The two on this site tell the breed's whole modern story: Berge Stahl, the 364,767-tonne shuttle that only two ports on Earth could receive fully laden, and Vale Brasil, the first of the 400,000-tonne Valemaxes that a mining company ordered to bend the economics of the Brazil–China run.

Every one here

Side profiles are sized by real length overall, longer ships draw bigger.

Ranked by length

Learn more

• The Plimsoll line →
• Deadweight tonnage →