Polish Bulk Carrier Kociewie in the Port of Hamburg

Handysize is a

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and op ...

term for smaller

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

s or

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

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. Their small size allows Handysize vessels to enter smaller ports to pick up cargoes, and because in most cases they are 'geared' - i.e. fitted with cranes - they can often load and discharge cargoes at ports which lack cranes or other cargo handling systems. Compared to larger bulk carriers, handysizes carry a wider variety of cargo types. These include steel products, grain, metal ores, phosphate, cement, logs, woodchips and other types of so-called '

break bulk cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, are goods that are stowed on board ships in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bill of lading, bil ...

'. They are numerically the most common size of bulk carrier, with nearly 2000 units in service totalling about 43 million tons. Handysize bulkers are built mainly by shipyards in

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Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

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, though a few other countries also have the capacity to build such vessels. The most common industry-standard specification handysize bulker is now about 32,000 metric tons of deadweight on a summer draft of about , and features 5 cargo holds with hydraulically operated hatch covers, with four 30 metric ton cranes for cargo handling. Some handysizes are also fitted with

stanchion A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture. Types In architecture, stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horiz ...

s to enable logs to be loaded in stacks on deck. Such vessels are often referred to as 'handy loggers'. - Despite multiple recent orders for new ships, the handysize sector still has the highest average age profile of the major bulk carrier sectors.

Trade routes

Today, most of handysize vessels operate within regional trade routes. These ships are capable of traveling to small ports with length and draught restrictions, as well as lacking the infrastructure for cargo loading and unloading. They are used to carry small bulk cargoes, often in parcel size where individual cargo holds may have a different commodity. Their dry bulk cargo includes iron ore, coal, cement, phosphate, finished steel products, wooden logs, fertilizer, and grains to name a few.

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Ship sizes
{{Ship measurements Ship types Ship measurements

Trade routes

See also

References

External links