PACIFIC RIM TRADE : Ship Shapes

Container ship: carries cargo containers, generally 8x8x20 feet; containersare stacked aboard ship, then transferred to trains or trucks; largest container ships can hold about 12,000 metric tons of cargo.

Dry bulk carrier: hauls cargo such as grain, ore or sand.

General cargo ship: carries “packaged” items, such as chemicals, foods, furniture, machinery.

Multipurpose ship: carries different classes of cargo at the same time, liquid or dry.

Tweener: a between-deck vessel with cargo holds in layers, for items that cannot be stacked atop each other; usually has a lower hold, a lower tween deck ad an upper tween deck; a cargo ship with storage between he holds and the deck.

LASH ship: (Lighter Aboard Ship) freighter that carries loaded barges, or lighters; barges are loaded upriver, towed to the port and stacked aboard ship.

Ro-ro: (roll on, roll off) cargo ship in which containers on wheels or vehicles can be rolled on and off.

Supertanker: a tanker that is more than 1,300 feet long and 200 feet wide. It carries more than 500,000 short tons of oil.

Tanker: carries liquids, such as petroleum.

Tramp ship: a cargo whip with no regular ports of call, arranging for cargo as it goes along and taking it wherever directed.

Sources: World Book, The Times Atlas and Encylcopedia of the Sea.