 Bale and Grain Capacity; Stowage factor, Broken

stowage; Load density; Cargo density; Ullage and

soundings; Deadweight and displacement:

 Bale capacity: the total amount of cargo space available

for the carriage of bags, bales, pallets or boxed cargoes
and does not include the space between the frames and
beams. It is always slightly less than the grain capacity.
 Bale space capacity– is that cubic capacity of a cargo
space when the breadth is measured from the inside of
the cargo battens (spar ceiling) and the measured depth
is from the wood tank top ceiling to the underside of the
deck beams. The length is measured from the inside of
the fore and aft bulkhead stiffeners.
 Grain capacity: the total amount of cargo space
available for the carriage of bulk cargo. It includes the
gaps between the frames and beams in the hold.
 Stowage factor: the space occupied by one metric ton of
that cargo. For example, the S.F of clinker is 1.5 − this
means that 1 tonne of clinker will occupy 1.5 cubic
metres. It is also expressed in cubic feet per tonne at
times. It is the figure which expresses the number of
cubic metres per tonne (or cubic feet per ton of 2,240
lb).
 Stowage factor – this is defined as that volume occupied
by unit weight of cargo. Usually expressed as cubic
metres per tonne (m3/tonnes) or cubic feet per tonne
(ft3/tonne). It does not take account of any space which
may be lost due to ‘broken stowage’.
 Broken stowage: the space that is lost in a ship by cargo
of irregular shape or because of the hold being irregular.
It includes the space lost between cargo packages. It is
expressed as a percentage. If a cargo has a B.S of 5% this
means that an additional 5% of the cargo volume must
be allowed for when allocating space for that particular
cargo.
 Load Density: Maximum Weight which can be loaded
safely in an Area of 1 Sq. M. without causing any
Damages to that area is called the Load Density of the
area. It is given in Ship's Stability Booklet and is
expressed in m.t./Sq. M. 
 Cargo density: Cubage of a cargo divided by its weight.
 Ullage: is the void space in the tank measured from the
top of the tank to the upper surface of the fluid. 
 Sounding: In nautical terms, the word sound is used to
describe the process of determining the depth of water
in a tank or under a ship. Tanks are sounded to
determine the level of the liquid within the tank.
 Displacement: of a ship is the weight of the ship or the
weight of the water displaced by the ship.
 Deadweight: Deadweight tonnage is the weight of all
the cargo, fuel, dry provisions, supplies, etc. carried on
board the ship. In other words, it is the “displacement
tonnage” of the vessel minus the “lightweight tonnage”.