Misplaced Pages

#424575

70-518: MV  Bright Field was a bulk cargo ship that collided with the Riverwalk Marketplace shopping complex in New Orleans , Louisiana , on the afternoon of Saturday, December 14, 1996, after losing engine power. The vessel was fully loaded with grain at the time of the incident. The United States Coast Guard investigated the incident and published its findings on December 8, 1997, citing

140-407: A 6 feet (2 m) hole below the hatch cover and filling it with bagged cargo or weights. A bulk carrier's design is largely defined by the cargo it will carry. The cargo's density, also known as its stowage factor , is the key factor. Densities for common bulk cargoes vary from 0.6 tons per cubic meter for light grains to 3 tons per cubic meter for iron ore. The overall cargo weight

210-756: A beam of up to 32.31 m, a length overall of up to 294.13 m, and a draft of up to 12.04 m. Capesize ships are too large to traverse the Panama canal and must round Cape Horn to travel between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Earlier, Capesize ships could not traverse the Suez and needed to go around the Cape of Good Hope . Recent deepening of the Suez canal to 66 ft (20 m) permits most Capesize ships to pass through it. Capesize bulk carriers are specialized: 93% of their cargo

280-484: A bulk carrier typically consists of 20 to 30 people, though smaller ships can be handled by 8. The crew includes the captain or master, the deck department , the engine department , and the steward's department . The practice of taking passengers aboard cargo ships, once almost universal, is very rare today and almost non-existent on bulk carriers. During the 1990s, bulk carriers were involved in an alarming number of shipwrecks . This led ship-owners to commission

350-415: A fixed-pitch propeller . Electricity is produced by auxiliary generators and/or an alternator coupled to the propeller shaft. On the smaller bulk carriers, one or two four-stroke diesels are used to turn either a fixed or controllable-pitch propeller via a reduction gearbox , which may also incorporate an output for an alternator. The average design ship speed for bulk carriers of Handysize and above

420-764: A fleet of 14 bulk carriers. The H. Vogemann Group in Hamburg, Germany operates a fleet of 19 bulk carriers. Portline in Portugal, owns 10 bulk carriers. Dampskibsselskabet Torm in Denmark and Elcano in Spain also own notable bulk carrier fleets. Other companies specialize in mini-bulk carrier operations: England's Stephenson Clarke Shipping Limited owns a fleet of eight mini-bulk carriers and five small Handysize bulk carriers, and Cornships Management and Agency Inc. in Turkey owns

490-734: A fleet of seven mini-bulk carriers. Asian companies dominate the construction of bulk carriers. Of the world's 6,225 bulk carriers, almost 62% were built in Japan by shipyards such as Oshima Shipbuilding and Sanoyas Hishino Meisho . South Korea, with notable shipyards Daewoo and Hyundai Heavy Industries , ranked second among builders, with 643 ships. The People's Republic of China, with large shipyards such as Dalian, Chengxi, and Shanghai Waigaoqiao, ranked third, with 509 ships. Taiwan , with shipyards such as China Shipbuilding Corporation , ranked fourth, accounting for 129 ships. Shipyards in these top four countries built over 82% of

560-584: A million deadweight tons worth of bulk carriers were scrapped in 2004, accounting for 4.7% of the year's scrapping. That year, bulk carriers fetched particularly high scrap prices, between $ 340 and $ 350 per LDT. 1 Chief mate 1 Second mate 1 Third mate 1 Boatswain 1 Deck cadet 2–6 Able seamen 0–2 Ordinary seamen 1 Chief engineer 1 Second engineer 1 Third engineer 1–2 Fourth engineers 0–1 ETO 0–2 Motormen 1–3 Oilers 0–3 Greasers 1–3 Wipers 1 Chief steward 1 Chief cook 1 Steward's assistant The crew on

630-540: A minimum scantling of 6 mm for the tops of the hatch covers. The International Association of Classification Societies then increased this strength standard by creating its Unified Requirement S21 in 1998. This standard requires that the pressure due to sea water be calculated as a function of freeboard and speed, especially for hatch covers located on the forward portion of the ship. Bulk carriers are designed to be easy to build and to store cargo efficiently. To facilitate construction , bulk carriers are built with

700-620: A plaque. Bright Field was repaired immediately following the incident, and in 2000 was reportedly seen again in the New Orleans harbor bearing the name Bright Star . In 2007, the vessel was renamed Bright City , operating under the Liberian flag, and carrying a Chinese crew and, by May 2010, had been renamed Yong Xu Hai , under the Chinese flag. The ship was decommissioned and scrapped in 2015. Bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker

770-504: A quarter are registered in Panama . South Korea is the largest single builder of bulk carriers, and 82 percent of these ships were built in Asia. On bulk carriers, crews are involved in operation, management, and maintenance of the vessel, taking care of safety, navigation, maintenance, and cargo care, in accordance with international maritime legislation. Crews can range in size from three people on

SECTION 10

#1732876300425

840-490: A ship, paying a daily rate instead of a set price per ton. In 2005, the average daily rate for a Handymax ship varied between $ 18,000 – $ 30,000. A Panamax ship could be chartered for $ 20,000 – $ 50,000 per day, and a Capesize for $ 40,000 – $ 70,000 per day. Generally, ships are removed from the fleet by going through a process known as ship breaking or scrapping. Ship-owners and buyers negotiate scrap prices based on factors such as

910-424: A single hull curvature. Also, while a bulbous bow allows a ship to move more efficiently through the water, designers lean towards simple vertical bows on larger ships. Full hulls, with large block coefficients , are almost universal, and as a result, bulk carriers are inherently slow. This is offset by their efficiency. Comparing a ship's carrying capacity in terms of deadweight tonnage to its weight when empty

980-652: A study seeking to explain the effect of various factors on the crew's effectiveness and competence. The study showed that crew performance aboard bulk carriers was the lowest of all groups studied. Among bulk carrier crews, the best performance was found aboard younger and larger ships. Crews on better-maintained ships performed better, as did crews on ships where fewer languages were spoken. Fewer deck officers are employed on bulk carriers than on similarly sized ships of other types. A mini-bulk carrier carries two to three deck officers, while larger Handysize and Capesize bulk carriers carry four. Liquid natural gas tankers of

1050-455: A total combined capacity of almost 346 million DWT. Combined carriers are a very small portion of the fleet, representing less than 3% of this capacity. The lake freighters of the Great Lakes , with 98 ships of 3.2 million total DWT, despite forming a small fraction of the total fleet by tonnage and only operating 10 months a year, carried a tenth of the world's bulk cargo because of

1120-679: Is 13.5–15 knots (25.0–27.8 km/h; 15.5–17.3 mph). The propeller speed is relatively low, at about 90 revolutions per minute, although it depends on the size of the propeller. As a result of the 1973 oil crisis , the 1979 energy crisis , and the resulting rise in oil prices, experimental designs using coal to fuel ships were tested in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Australian National Lines (ANL) constructed two 74,700-ton coal-burner ships called River Boyne and River Embely . along with two constructed by TNT called TNT Capricornia and TNT Capentaria and renamed Fitzroy River and Endeavor River . These ships were financially effective for

1190-440: 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. Today, bulk carriers make up 21 percent of

1260-565: Is in compliance with the required codes. This is in part related to legal liability of the classification society. However, each of the classification societies has developed a series of notations that may be granted to a vessel to indicate that it is in compliance with some additional criteria that may be either specific to that vessel type or that are in excess of the standard classification requirements. See Ice class as an example. There have always been concerns that competitive pressure might lead to falling standards – as expressed for example by

1330-713: Is iron ore and coal. Some ships on the Great Lakes Waterway exceed Panamax dimensions but they are limited to use on the Great Lakes as they cannot pass through the smaller St. Lawrence Seaway to the ocean. Very large ore carriers and very large bulk carriers are a subset of the capesize category reserved for vessels over 200,000  DWT . Carriers of this size are almost always designed to carry iron ore. In October 2022, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL)'s bulk carrier Shofu Maru arrived in Newcastle on its maiden voyage, becoming

1400-415: Is one way to measure its efficiency. A small Handymax ship can carry five times its weight. In larger designs, this efficiency is even more pronounced: Capesize vessels can carry more than eight times their weight. Classification society A classification certificate issued by a classification society recognised by the proposed ship register is required for a ship's owner to be able to register

1470-421: Is the limiting factor in the design of an ore carrier, since the cargo is so dense. Coal carriers, on the other hand, are limited by overall volume, since most bulk carriers can be completely filled with coal before reaching their maximum draft. For a given tonnage, the second factor which governs the ship's dimensions is the size of the ports and waterways it will travel to. For example, a vessel that will pass

SECTION 20

#1732876300425

1540-403: Is the opening at the top of a cargo hold . The mechanical devices which allow hatches to be opened and closed are called hatch cover. In general, hatch covers are between 45% and 60% of the ship's breadth, or beam, and 57% to 67% of the length of the holds. To efficiently load and unload cargo, hatches must be large, but large hatches present structural problems. Hull stress is concentrated around

1610-483: Is the origin of the well-known expression 'A1', meaning 'first or highest class'. The purpose of this system was not to assess safety, fitness for purpose or seaworthiness of the ship. It was to evaluate risk. Samuel Plimsoll pointed out the obvious downside of insurance: The first edition of the Register of Ships was published by Lloyd's Register in 1764 and was for use in the years 1764 to 1766. Bureau Veritas (BV)

1680-427: Is used for combination oil and ore carriers. The terms "VLOC", "VLBC", "ULOC", and "ULBC" for very large and ultra-large ore and bulk carriers were adapted from the supertanker designations very large crude carrier and ultra-large crude carrier. Before specialized bulk carriers were developed, shippers had two methods to move bulk goods by ship. In the first method, longshoremen loaded the cargo into sacks, stacked

1750-442: Is used to distinguish bulk carriers from bulk liquid carriers such as oil , chemical , or liquefied petroleum gas carriers . Very small bulk carriers are almost indistinguishable from general cargo ships, and they are often classified based more on the ship's use than its design. A number of abbreviations are used to describe bulk carriers. " OBO " describes a bulk carrier that carries a combination of ore, bulk, and oil, and "O/O"

1820-656: The European Commission . To counteract class hopping, in 2009, the International Association of Classification Societies ( IACS ) implemented the Transfer of Class Agreement (TOCA), whereby no member would accept a ship that had not carried out improvements demanded by its previous class society. Currently, more than 50 organizations worldwide describe their activities as including marine classification, some of which are listed below. Twelve of these are members of

1890-582: The International Association of Classification Societies . The largest are DNV , the American Bureau of Shipping , Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) and Lloyd's Register . Classification societies employ naval architects , ship surveyors , material engineers , piping engineers, mechanical engineers and electrical engineers , often located at ports and office buildings around the world. Marine vessels and structures are classified according to

1960-682: The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea defines a bulk carrier as "a ship constructed with a single deck, top side tanks and hopper side tanks in cargo spaces and intended to primarily carry dry cargo in bulk; an ore carrier; or a combination carrier." Most classification societies use a broader definition, by which a bulk carrier is any ship that carries dry unpackaged goods. Multipurpose cargo ships can carry bulk cargo, but can also carry other cargoes and are not specifically designed for bulk carriage. The term "dry bulk carrier"

2030-423: The 12-hour turnarounds common for container ships, 15-hour turnarounds for car carriers, and 26-hour turnarounds for large tankers, bulk carrier crews have more opportunities to spend time ashore. Loading and unloading a bulk carrier is time-consuming and dangerous. The process is planned by the ship's chief mate under the direct and continued supervision of ship's captain . International regulations require that

2100-592: The Great Lakes fleets, built in the 1970s, were among the longest ships afloat, and, in 1979, a record 214 million tons of bulk cargo were moved on the Great Lakes. Bulk carriers are segregated into six major size categories: small, handysize , handymax , panamax , capesize , and very large. Very large bulk and ore carriers fall into the capesize category but are often considered separately. Categories occur in regional trade , such as Kamsarmax, Seawaymax , Setouchmax, Dunkirkmax, and Newcastlemax also appear in regional trade. Mini-bulk carriers are prevalent in

2170-496: The Panama Canal will be limited in its beam and draft . For most designs, the ratio of length-to-width ranges between 5 and 7, with an average of 6.2. The ratio of length-to-height will be between 11 and 12. The engine room on a bulk carrier is usually near the stern , under the superstructure . Larger bulk carriers, from Handymax up, usually have a single two-stroke low-speed crosshead diesel engine directly coupled to

MV Bright Field - Misplaced Pages Continue

2240-459: The Register Society published the first Rules for the survey and classification of vessels, and changed its name to Lloyds Register of Shipping. A full-time bureaucracy of surveyors (inspectors) and support personnel was put in place. Similar developments were taking place in the other major maritime nations. The adoption of common rules for ship construction by Norwegian insurance societies in

2310-590: The bulk carriers afloat. Several factors affect the cost to move a bulk cargo by ship. The bulk freight market is very volatile, with the type of cargo, size of the vessel, and the route traveled all affecting the final price. Moving a capesize load of coal from South America to Europe cost anywhere from $ 15 to $ 25 per ton in 2005. Hauling a panamax-sized load of aggregate materials from the Gulf of Mexico to Japan that year could cost as little as $ 40 per ton to as much as $ 70 per ton. Some shippers choose instead to charter

2380-505: The bulk carriers' large hatchways—have been linked to a spate of bulk carrier sinkings in the 1990s. These large hatchways, important for efficient cargo handling, can allow the entry of large volumes of water in storms and accelerate sinking once a vessel has listed or heeled . New international regulations have since been introduced to improve ship design and inspection and to streamline the process for crews to abandon ship. The term bulk carrier has been defined in varying ways. As of 1999,

2450-428: The captain and terminal master agree on a detailed plan before operations begin. Deck officers and stevedores oversee the operations. Occasionally loading errors are made that cause a ship to capsize or break in half at the pier. The loading method used depends on both the cargo and the equipment available on the ship and on the dock. In the least advanced ports, cargo can be loaded with shovels or bags poured from

2520-415: The cargo is discharged, the crew begins to clean the holds. This is particularly important if the next cargo is of a different type. The immense size of cargo holds and the tendency of cargoes to be physically irritating add to the difficulty of cleaning the holds. When the holds are clean, the process of loading begins. It is crucial to keep the cargo level during loading in order to maintain stability. As

2590-494: The cargo is fully loaded. Because bulk cargo is so difficult to discharge, bulk carriers spend more time in port than other ships. A study of mini-bulk carriers found that it takes, on average, twice as much time to unload a ship as it does to load it. A mini-bulk carrier spends 55 hours at a time in port, compared to 35 hours for a lumber carrier of similar size. This time in port increases to 74 hours for Handymax and 120 hours for Panamax vessels. Compared with

2660-444: The category of small vessels with a capacity of under 10,000  DWT . Mini-bulk carriers carry from 500 to 2,500 tons, have a single hold, and are designed for river transport. They are often built to be able to pass under bridges and have small crews of three to eight people. Handysize and Handymax ships are general purpose in nature. These two segments represent 71% of all bulk carriers over 10,000  DWT and also have

2730-471: The cause of the engine failure as a poorly-maintained oil filter. A secondary, but contributory, cause was determined to be a main-engine automation system that produced warnings and alarms that were not consistently relayed to the ship's master. The National Transportation Safety Board published its final report on January 13, 1998, which concurred with the Coast Guard's determinations and appeared to charge

2800-408: The classification profession evolved, the practice of assigning different classifications has been superseded, with some exceptions. Today a ship either meets the relevant class society's rules or it does not. As a consequence, it is either 'in' or 'out' of 'class'. Classification societies do not issue statements or certifications that a vessel is 'fit to sail' or 'unfit to sail', merely that the vessel

2870-468: The classification standards of the society issuing the classification certificate. Classification societies also issue International Load Line Certificates in accordance with the legislation of participating states giving effect to the International Convention on Load Lines (CLL 66/88). Classification societies set technical rules based on experience and research, confirm that designs and calculations meet these rules, survey ships and structures during

MV Bright Field - Misplaced Pages Continue

2940-459: The competitive British coal market. The first self-unloader was the lake freighter Hennepin in 1902 on the Great Lakes . This greatly decreased the unloading time of bulk carriers by using conveyor belt to move the cargo. The first bulk carriers with diesel propulsion began to appear in 1911. Before World War II , the international shipping demand for bulk products was low—about 25 million tons for metal ores —and most of this trade

3010-410: The condition of the ship's hull and equipment. At that time, an attempt was made to classify the condition of each ship on an annual basis. The condition of the hull was classified A, E, I, O or U, according to the state of its construction and its adjudged continuing soundness (or lack thereof). Equipment was G, M, or B: simply, good, middling or bad. In time, G, M and B were replaced by 1, 2 and 3, which

3080-611: The crane can take a load, deposit it at the terminal and return to take the next. For modern gantry cranes, the total time of the grab-deposit-return cycle is about 50 seconds. Conveyor belts offer a very efficient method of loading, with standard loading rates varying between 100 and 700 tons per hour, although the most advanced ports can offer rates of 16,000 tons per hour. Start-up and shutdown procedures with conveyor belts, though, are complicated and require time to carry out. Self-discharging ships use conveyor belts with load rates of around 1,000 tons per hour. Once

3150-431: The duration of their lives, and their steam engines were able to generate a shaft-power of 19,000 horsepower (14,000 kW). This strategy gave an interesting advantage to carriers of bauxite and similar fuel cargoes, but suffered from poor engine yield compared to higher maintenance cost and efficient modern diesels, maintenance problems due to the supply of ungraded coal, and high initial costs. A hatch or hatchway

3220-548: The edges of the hatches, and these areas must be reinforced. Often, hatch areas are reinforced by locally increasing the scantlings or by adding structural members called stiffeners. Both of these options have the undesired effect of adding weight to the ship. As recently as the 1950s, hatches had wooden covers that would be broken apart and rebuilt by hand, rather than opened and closed. Newer vessels have hydraulic-operated metal hatch covers that can often be operated by one person. Hatch covers can slide forwards, backwards, or to

3290-530: The first bulk carrier to be partially powered by hard sail wind power propulsion technology. A five percent fuel savings was anticipated. The world's bulk transport has reached immense proportions: in 2005, 1.7 billion metric tons of coal, iron ore, grain, bauxite, and phosphate was transported by ship. Today, the world's bulk carrier fleet includes 6,225 ships of over 10,000 DWT, and represent 40% of all ships in terms of tonnage and 39.4% in terms of vessels. Including smaller ships, bulk carriers have

3360-411: The hatch cover. This system is being replaced with faster, less labor-intensive methods. Double-articulation cranes , which can load at a rate of 1,000 tons per hour, represent a widely used method, and the use of shore-based gantry cranes , reaching 2,000 tons per hour, is growing. A crane's discharge rate is limited by the bucket's capacity (from 6 to 40 tons) and by the speed at which

3430-454: The highest rate of growth. This is partly due to new regulations coming into effect which put greater constraints on the building of larger vessels. Handymax ships are typically 150–200 m in length and 52,000 – 58,000  DWT with five cargo holds and four cranes. These ships are also general purpose in nature. The size of a Panamax vessel is limited by the Panama canal's lock chambers , which can accommodate ships with

3500-402: The hold is filled, machines such as excavators and bulldozers are often used to keep the cargo in check. Leveling is particularly important when the hold is only partly full, since cargo is more likely to shift. Extra precautions are taken, such as adding longitudinal divisions and securing wood atop the cargo. If a hold is full, a technique called tomming is used, which involves digging out

3570-519: The late 1850s led to the establishment of Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in 1864. RINA was founded in Genoa, Italy in 1861 under the name Registro Italiano Navale , to meet the needs of Italian maritime operators. Germanischer Lloyd (GL) was formed in 1867 and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) in 1899. The Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) was an early offshoot of the River Register of 1913. As

SECTION 50

#1732876300425

3640-482: The only classification society to do so. Classification surveyors inspect ships to make sure that the ship, its components and machinery are built and maintained according to the standards required for their class. In the second half of the 18th century, London merchants, shipowners, and captains often gathered at Edward Lloyd's coffee house to gossip and make deals including sharing the risks and rewards of individual voyages. This became known as underwriting after

3710-538: The practice of signing one's name to the bottom of a document pledging to make good a portion of the losses if the ship didn't make it in return for a portion of the profits. It did not take long to realize that the underwriters needed a way of assessing the quality of the ships that they were being asked to insure. In 1760, the Register Society was formed — the first classification society and the one which would subsequently become Lloyd's Register — to publish an annual register of ships. This publication attempted to classify

3780-495: The problem of efficient loading and unloading has driven the evolution of the bulk carrier. Specialized bulk carriers began to appear as steam-powered ships became more popular. The first steam ship recognized as a bulk carrier was the British collier John Bowes , built in 1852. She featured a metal hull , a steam engine , and a ballasting system which used seawater instead of sandbags. These features helped her succeed in

3850-484: The process of construction and commissioning, and periodically survey vessels to ensure that they continue to meet the rules. Classification societies are also responsible for classing oil platforms , other offshore structures, and submarines . This survey process covers diesel engines, important shipboard pumps and other vital machinery. Since the 1950s, the USSR (now Russian) Register of Shipping has classified nuclear ships,

3920-399: The sacks onto pallets , and put the pallets into the cargo hold with a crane . The second method required the shipper to charter an entire ship and spend time and money to build plywood bins into the holds. Then, to guide the cargo through the small hatches, wooden feeders and shifting boards had to be constructed. These methods were slow and labor-intensive . As with the container ship ,

3990-407: The same size have an additional deck officer and unlicensed mariner . A bulk carrier's voyages are determined by market forces; routes and cargoes often vary. A ship may engage in the grain trade during the harvest season and later move on to carry other cargoes or work on a different route. Aboard a coastal carrier in the tramp trade , the crew will often not know the next port of call until

4060-416: The ship and to obtain marine insurance on the ship, and may be required to be produced before a ship's entry into some ports or waterways, and may be of interest to charterers and potential buyers. To avoid liability, classification societies explicitly disclaim responsibility for the safety, fitness for purpose, or seaworthiness of the ship, but is a verification only that the vessel is in compliance with

4130-468: The ship's empty weight (called light ton displacement or LDT) and prices in the scrap metal market. In 1998, almost 700 ships were scrapped in places like Alang, India and Chittagong, Bangladesh . This is often done by 'beaching' the ship on open sand, then cutting it apart by hand with gas torches, a dangerous operation that results in injuries and fatalities, as well as exposure to toxic materials such as asbestos, lead, and various chemicals. Half

4200-513: The ship's operating company with the responsibility for the casualty. The incident resulted in no deaths, but 66 people were injured. Physical damage to Bright Field was calculated at $ 1,857,952. Damage to the Riverwalk, including the pier, condominium properties, shops and hotel, totaled an estimated $ 15 million. The spot where the Bright Field ran into the Riverwalk is marked on site with

4270-470: The short trip distance and fast turnarounds. As of 2005, the average bulk carrier was just over 13 years old. About 41% of all bulk carriers were less than ten years old, 33% were over twenty years old, and the remaining 26% were between ten and twenty years of age. All of the 98 bulk carriers registered in the Great Lakes trade are over 20 years old and the oldest still sailing in 2009, the St. Mary's Challenger ,

SECTION 60

#1732876300425

4340-501: The side, lift up or fold up. It is essential that the hatch covers be watertight: unsealed hatches lead to accidental cargo hold flooding, which has caused many bulk carriers to sink. Regulations regarding hatch covers have evolved since the investigation following the loss of the MV ; Derbyshire . The Load Line Conference of 1966 imposed a requirement that hatch covers be able to withstand load of 1.74 tons/m due to sea water, and

4410-528: The smallest ships to over 30 on the largest. Cargo loading operations vary in complexity, and loading and discharging of cargo can take several days. Bulk carriers can be gearless (dependent upon terminal equipment) or geared (having cranes integral to the vessel). Bulk cargo can be very dense, corrosive, or abrasive. This can present safety problems that can threaten a ship: problems such as cargo shifting , spontaneous combustion , and cargo saturation. The use of old ships that have corrosion problems—as well as

4480-440: The soundness of their structure and design for the purpose of the vessel. The classification rules are designed to ensure an acceptable degree of stability, safety, environmental impact, etc. In particular, classification societies may be authorised to inspect ships, oil rigs, submarines, and other marine structures and issue certificates on behalf of the flag state . As well as providing classification and certification services,

4550-560: The top three owners of bulk carriers, with 1,326, 1,041, and 979 vessels respectively. These three nations account for over 53% of the world's fleet. Several companies have large private bulk carrier fleets. The multinational company Gearbulk Holding Ltd. has over 70 bulk carriers. The Fednav Group in Canada operates a fleet of over 80 bulk carriers, including two designed to work in Arctic ice. Croatia 's Atlantska Plovidba d.d. has

4620-424: The world's merchant fleets, and they range in size from single-hold mini-bulk carriers to mammoth ore ships able to carry 400,000  metric tons of deadweight (DWT). A number of specialized designs exist: some can unload their own cargo, some depend on port facilities for unloading, and some even package the cargo as it is loaded. Over half of all bulk carriers have Greek, Japanese, or Chinese owners, and more than

4690-455: Was coastal . However, on the Great Lakes, bulk carriers hauled vast amounts of iron ore from Minnesota and Michigan's northern mines to the steel mills. In 1929, 73 million tons of iron ore was transported on the Lakes, and an almost equal amount of coal, limestone, and other products were also moved. Two defining characteristics of bulk carriers were already emerging: the double bottom , which

4760-707: Was 106 years old. As of 2005, the United States Maritime Administration counted 6,225 bulk carriers of 10,000  DWT or greater worldwide. More bulk carriers are registered in Panama , with 1,703 ships, more than any four other flag states combined. In terms of the number of bulk carriers registered, the top five flag states also include Hong Kong with 492 ships, Malta (435), Cyprus (373), and China (371). Panama also dominates bulk carrier registration in terms of deadweight tonnage . Positions two through five are held by Hong Kong, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus. Greece, Japan, and China are

4830-654: Was adopted in 1890, and the triangular structure of the ballast tanks, which was introduced in 1905. After World War II, an international bulk trade began to develop among industrialized nations , particularly between the European countries, the United States and Japan. Due to the economics of this trade, ocean bulk carriers became larger and more specialized. In this period, Great Lakes freighters increased in size, to maximize economies of scale, and self-unloaders became more common to cut turnaround time . The thousand-footers of

4900-623: Was founded in Antwerp in 1828, moving to Paris in 1832. Lloyd's Register reconstituted in 1834 to become 'Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping'. Where previously surveys had been undertaken by retired sea captains, from this time surveyors started to be employed and Lloyd's Register formed a General Committee for the running of the Society and for the Rules regarding ship construction and maintenance, which began to be published from this time. In 1834,

#424575