Importance of Ships

TOPICS:
• Ship tonnage
• Deadweight tonnage (DWT) /
• Plimsoll line/ importance of lead line
• Ship tonnage
• Gross and net tonnage
• Displacement
• OBO: WET N DRY CARGO
• Increasing size of container ships- concerns (31) benefits (33)
• Hatch size
• Hatchless vessel benefits
• Effect of port time on ship speed
• CONTAINERIZATION INCREASE SHIP SPEED AND REDUCE PORT TIME

PART 2: MAJOR TYPES OF SHIPS (Slide 41)

• Container ships, bulk carriers, ro ro vessels, tankers, specialized vessels.
Ship tonnage

The driving force for change in port infrastructure, superstructure and

operations has been the changes in certain aspects of ship technology
and changes in ship management’s attitude and expectations.
In shipping the term tonnage (ship size is usually expressed in NT, GT,
DWT or LOA) can indicate many different measures.
Deadweight tonnage (DWT)

Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated

to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (TDW) is a measure of how
much weight a ship can carry, not its weight, empty or in any degree of load.
DWT is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water,
provisions, passengers, and crew.
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of a vessel's weight carrying capacity, and
does not include the weight of the ship itself. It should not be confused with
displacement (weight of water displaced), which includes the ship's own weight,
nor other volume or capacity measures such as gross tonnage or net tonnage
(or their more archaic forms gross register tonnage or net register tonnage).
The more heavily loaded a ship is, the lower she sits in the water. Maximum
DWT is the amount of weight a ship can carry without riding dangerously low in
the water.
 Deadweight tonnage (DWT)
• DWT is often used to specify a ship's maximum permissible deadweight
(i.e. when she is fully loaded so that her Plimsoll line is at water level),
although it may also denote the actual DWT of a ship not loaded to
capacity.
• The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the
water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as
an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned
amidships), that indicates the draft of the ship and the legal limit to which
a ship may be loaded for specific water types and temperatures in order
to safely maintain buoyancy, particularly with regard to the hazard of
waves that may arise. Varying water temperatures will affect a ship's
draft; because warm water is less dense than cold water, providing less
buoyancy. In the same way, fresh water is less dense than salinated or
seawater with the same lessening effect upon buoyancy.
The importance of load line
The waterline can also refer to any line on a ship's hull that is parallel to the
water's surface when the ship is afloat in a normal position.
The purpose of a load line is to ensure that a ship has sufficient freeboard (the
height from the water line to the main deck) and thus sufficient reserve
buoyancy. The freeboard of commercial vessels is measured between the lowest
point of the uppermost continuous deck at side and the waterline and this must
not be less than the freeboard marked on the load line certificate issued to that
ship.
All commercial ships, other than in exceptional circumstances, have a load line
symbol painted amidships on each side of the ship. This symbol is also
permanently marked, so that if the paint wears off it remains visible. The load
line makes it easy for anyone to determine if a ship has been overloaded. The
exact location of the load line is calculated and verified by a classification
society and that society issues the relevant certificates. This marking was
invented in 1876 by Samuel Plimsoll.
 Ship tonnage

Loaded displacement tonnage is the actual weight of the ship and cargo.
Light displacement tonnage is the actual weight of the ship. The difference
between the loaded displacement and the light displacement is the weight
that the ship can actually carry and is known as the deadweight tonnage.
Gross tonnage (GT) is, very simply, a measure of the total enclosed volume of
the ship in cubic metres multiplied by a constant. The net tonnage (NT) is the
total enclosed volume available for cargo in cubic metres multiplied by a
constant.
Before 1982 GT was known as GRT and NT as NRT. The R meant Registered,
as up to 1982, these tonnages were given when the ship was registered.
Gross tonnage

Gross tonnage (often abbreviated as GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear

measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage should not
be confused with measures of mass or weight such as deadweight
tonnage or displacement.
Gross tonnage was defined by The International Convention on Tonnage
Measurement of Ships, 1969, adopted by the International Maritime
Organization in 1969, and came into force on July 18, 1982. Gross
tonnage is calculated based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed
spaces of the ship" and is used to determine things such as a ship's
manning regulations, safety rules, registration fees, and port dues.
Net tonnage

Net tonnage (often abbreviated as NT, N.T. or nt) is a dimensionless

index calculated from the total moulded volume of the ship's cargo
spaces by using a mathematical formula. Defined in The International
Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships that was adopted by the 
International Maritime Organization in 1969. Net tonnage is used to
calculate the port duties and should not be taken as less than 30 per
cent of the ship's gross tonnage.
Net tonnage is not a measure of the weight of the ship or its cargo, and
should not be confused with terms such as deadweight tonnage or
displacement. Also, the net tonnage is unit-less and thus can not be
defined as "tons" or "net tons".
Displacement
Displacement or displacement tonnage is the weight of water that a
ship pushes aside when it is floating, which in turn is the weight of a
ship (and its contents). It is usually applied to naval vessels rather than
commercial ones, and is measured when the ship's fuel tanks are full
and all stores are aboard.[ Merchant vessels use other measures such
as net tonnage, gross tonnage, or deadweight tonnage.
The more heavily loaded a ship is, the lower it sits in the water.
"Designated displacement" is a measurement the weight of water a
ship displaces of when fully loaded and submerged to her load lines.
Deadweight tonnage vs. Gross tonnage
The size of tankers is usually expressed in deadweight tonnage, i.e., a
250,000-ton DWT tanker means it can carry 250,000 tons of oil,
bunkers and stores at its summer draft. It is more convenient when
transporting liquids to charge for the ton weight carried, not only
because it is a relatively heavy cargo but the volume of 250,000 tons of
oil can appreciably change with a ten-degree variation in temperature.
On the other hand, most general cargo ships are usually full before they
are down to their marks, so a ship-owner is usually concerned with
selling space and he is more interested in the volume of his ship rather
than the weight it can carry. Hence one usually talks of a cargo ship of,
for example, 9,000 gross tonnage, GT.
Typical relationship between LOA and Dwt
Relationship between tonnage, GRT and
draft
Due to its deeper keel the sailing vessel had a deeper draft than the steamship, so
water depth was not the problem when steam took over from sail, but it became a
major headache for port administrations with the new ship types that were
introduced in the 1960s and 1970s.
A port’s problems with water depth came when ships started to exceed 20,000 dwt
and had drafts in excess of 10 metres, as few ports in the 1950s could offer entrance
channels of that depth.
Naturally enough there are designs for special “reduced draft” large vessels. For
instance, the majority of cruise liners, regardless of their tonnage, are designed with a
maximum draft of less than 9 metres, as many of the best terminals nearest historical
sights have only limited depths of water.
Gas carriers are also often designed so that their loaded draft is less than 13 metres,
while naval architects designing container ships are conscious of the limited outreach
of many gantry cranes, so may reduce the breadth for larger ships.
Ship developments influencing port development

(1) increase in the supply of ship tonnage;

(2) specialization in ship types, cargo-handling features;
(3) increasing ship size.
Increase in the supply of ship tonnage
The development in power-driven vessels
Development in type specialisation
The term “specialized ship” is not a precise technical expression but rather a term
used to cover ship types built and designed to fit a specific or dedicated purpose.
They may be built for a variety of reasons, such as allowing cargo like heavy lifts to
move which would not be able to move otherwise.
Alternatively, they may be introduced, like wine tankers in 1946, as a way of
moving that specific cargo more productively.
In most cases a specialized ship type will require specialized terminal facilities to
handle and store the cargo. It may require special additions to the dock
architecture.
In Rotterdam, the large pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) with their high
superstructure became very difficult to manoeuvre in certain areas of the port in
cross winds. To overcome this problem the Port of Rotterdam had to design and
build elaborate windbreaks along the side of a dock entrance.
O/O and OBO
O/O: Owner-Operator
OBO: An ore-bulk-oil carrier, also known as combination carrier or OBO,
is a ship designed to be capable of carrying wet or dry cargo. The idea is
to reduce the number of empty (ballast) voyages, in which large ships
only carry a cargo one way and return empty for another. These are a
feature of the larger bulk trades (e.g., crude oil from the Middle East,
iron ore and coal from Australia, South Africa and Brazil).
The OBO-carrier Maya. The picture is showing both the cargo hold
hatches used for bulk and the pipes used for oil
Ship size and depth of water
Ship size and depth of water

The depth of water was not a major issue until the 1960s. In 1950,
Rotterdam still had only 10 metres.
In 1970 there were only eight ports in Europe which could accept the
new class of VLCC tankers and there were no ports with sufficient depth
of water on the east coast of North America.
By 1975, following a period of energetic dredging there were 22 ports
in north-west Europe which could accept such ships. Dredging is a very
expensive activity and raised different questions facing port managers.
Percentage of ships versus draft
Growth of the average ship size (GT) showing the number of
ships with a draft greater than 13 metres
Questions facing port managers

— Will ships continue to get bigger? The Figure, showing average ship
size since 1850, does indicate a levelling off in average ship size after
1980. If the averages of the five largest tankers are considered for each
year, it can be seen tanker size peaked around 1975. If the same
exercise is considered for dry bulk carriers their size seems to have
peaked around 1985–89.
— In 2004 there were 462 container ships with drafts >13m, 1,558
tankers and 1,544 bulk carriers. The next Figure shows the increasing
size of container ships, and that they are still increasing.
— If so, should one dredge the old channel or develop a new terminal
in an area which enjoys deeper water?
Increasing size of container ships
Increasing size of container ships

Lloyd’s List (January 2001) used the term Ultra Large Container Ships (ULCS)
of ships of 9,000–10,000 TEU capacity.
Other proposed terms are: Suezmax container ship (12,000 TEU),
Malaccamax (18,000 TEU).
Lloyd’s List in January 2005 reported that Cosco had orders valued at $566mn
for four 10,000 TEU container ships (349m LOA, 45.6m breadth) due in
service in 2008.
In 2006 the Estelle Maersk had 170,794 GT, 158,000 DWT and could carry
12,500 TEU.
However, in 2007 a spokesperson for the Port of Los Angeles said that Los
Angeles would prefer two 6,000 box ships a week rather than one 8,000+
vessel, due to the strain the latter put on the inland distribution services.
Increasing size of container ships

As can be seen from the Figure that the number of feeder vessels and
their TEU capacity is quite small but so is the average length of their
round voyage compared with the post Panamax vessels which will be
used on the longer routes.
From the 3,000-box ship of 1972, container ship size did not increase
any further until 1982 when the 4,000-box ship was introduced. From
there another size plateau was sustained until the early 1990s when
the 6,500-box ship appeared.
R.G. McLellan: Growth in container size concerns
— One serious constraint on building a 6,000+ box vessel was the lack of an engine that could
generate the necessary 90,000 bhp capable of driving such a vessel at 24.5 knots on a single
screw. However, the development of the Sulzer 12RTA96C and the MAN B & W 12K98MC-C
reduced this problem.
— As ship’s beam increases, cranes must increase in size. This involves an increase in weight
and there comes a point when the terminal cannot take the extra load without considerable
civil engineering expense.
— As ship draft increases, depth of water in ports becomes a problem. Virtually all major
ports have 10 metres but few can offer over 15 metres.
— For large ships to maintain the same schedules as their smaller brethren, cargo-handling
speeds will have to be increased. From this it follows that the terminal area will need to be
increased and the inland distribution facilities improved.
— Increasing the size of ships may well also increase the peaking factor which can be a
serious cost problem for a centre hub port.
— Large ships + expensive port facilities means more claims from pilot impact problems
Constraints on increasing ship size

In 1999, a survey amongst container shipowners indicated that a major constraint

to increasing ship size was terminal productivity. Large container ship operators
are looking for 660 container moves per hour.
Other factors include berth and channel draft, crane lift height-outreach and quay
strength, peaking problems and turning circle availability.
The construction of the Ceres terminal in Amsterdam, which can load/discharge
containers from both sides and therefore improve port turnround time, was
completed in 2003. However, although a bold management decision by the port
authorities, the mega container shipowners had shown little interest until 2005
when the ships of the Grand Alliance started making some use of it.
Press reports have indicated that some owners have designs for 10,000 TEU ships.
A Dutch designer has plans for Malacca-max 18,000 TEU vessel with an 18m draft.
Ports with 18 metres draft are Rotterdam, Marsaxlokk, Gioia Tauro, Salalah/Port
Raysut, Singapore and Hong Kong. All ports would need improved facilities.
Larger container ships—lower unit costs (benefits)
One of the effects of the increasing size of container ships is the
reduction in unit costs. This reduction in unit costs for container
carriage added to over capacity on some routes and the efforts made
to reduce the carriage of empty containers means more and more bulk
cargoes are being moved in containers.
It is estimated that between 1980 to the year 2000, container carriers
have trebled their market share of what previously would have been
considered bulk cargo. In the minor bulk trades, the percentage now
moving in containers is even greater.
Containerization has made significant inroads into the grain, sugar,
fertilizer, scrap, steel, and forest products trades over the last two
decades and this gain looks like increasing.
Economies of scale expected for larger container ships
Direct and better “spotting” with open hatches
Hatch size—perhaps the most significant technical
development effecting cargo handling
As can be seen in the diagram, ship A has a small hatch opening and therefore
all cargo has to be dragged into the wings to be stowed and back into the hatch
square for discharge.

With ship B, however, the cargo can be dropped more or less into its required
place. This fact is of course quite obvious but it was not possible to build ships
with large openings until notch-toughened steel was developed during the
Second World War.

Such increases in cargo-handling productivity as seen in bulk carriers and

container ships would not have been possible without the “open hatch” ship
concept.
Hatchless vessels
The advantages for a container vessel are obvious, as there is
no time lost in either opening the hatches or in having to
secure any containers stowed on top of the hatches.
Effect of port time on ship speed
Effect of port time on ship speed
As the Figures in the previous Table simply illustrate, the shorter the port time the greater
the impact ship speed has on the total voyage time and ship productivity is increased.
Therefore, as port time decreases ship’s speed should in theory increase.
This is what happened when containerization dramatically reduced port time.
This does lead to the rather curious conclusion that the longer the time spent in port the
slower the ship’s speed should be. To a great extent this is borne out by the facts, in that
coastal ships which spend much of their time in port have always had relatively slow
operating speeds, whereas ships designed for greater distances with smaller port time/sea
time ratios are faster.
Trade off in shipping: very high cost of speed for surface vessels—where the cost of
increasing speed is higher than in any other mode.
The trade-off between the increasing cost of speed against the increased revenue earned
has to be considered and the revenue can usually be equated to the value of the cargo
carried. This probably explains why container ships go faster than tankers.
Shift of certain cargo-loading aspects from ship to shore

In the last century during the era of the sailing ship, the crew loaded
and discharged the cargo.
With the advent of steamships, the development of a workforce of
professional dockers and their unions, the port labour took over full
responsibility for the cargo transfer, but under the close supervision of
the ship’s officers.
One of the effects of containerization has been to reduce port time.
This reduction combined with smaller ships’ crews who are changed
frequently, has meant that terminal staff take over many of the
supervisory tasks of the ships’ officers.
Major Types of Ships
Container cargo ship

Container ships are designed to carry large containers. Shipping containers are
of the size of a truck with 20 feet by 8 feet to 10 feet by 8 feet in dimension.

These containers are designed in a way that; they can be easily transported
through trains, trucks and ships without any problem. These ships are on liner
trade delivering goods from one place to another across the globe.

A typical container ship contains around 10-15 thousand containers in its single
or double deck hull. They are used to transport world’s manufactured goods;
such as processed food, electronics, machinery, spares, furniture, and tools.
Container cargo ship
A container ship is a ship that carry all of its cargo in standardized truck-
size containers.
A container is either 20 or 40 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 or 8,6 feet high. To
increase revenues, “high cube” containers with heights of 9’6″ have come
into common use.
Fortunately, most container ships can carry containers of mixed heights
without significant difficulty.  Containerships generally carry a mix of 20′ and
40′ containers, and some are fitted for deck stowage of 45′ and 48′ lengths.
Over the years goods transported in containers has increased and is
increasing due to the flexibility and easy of cargo handling at port.
One example is that containers are taking over the Reefer market. Today,
approximately 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported by
container. Containers ships is also many time referred to as “Box-Ships”
Container ship size and classes
Container ships have constantly been growing in size and today they are seriously
competing with the ULCC Tankers of being the largest ships in the world. It is the
economy-of-scale that is driving the growth in ship size.
Unlike the Bulker and Tanker segment Container ships are defined by its capacity in
number of containers they able to carry. The term used is TEU and is
an abbreviation from Twenty Feet Equivalent Units. 
One of the first container ships, the US Ideal X, owned by Malcom Mclean, had a
capacity of 58 containers in on its first voyage in April 1956. The Emma Maersk
(2007),  officially have a capacity of 11 000 TEUs and is 357 meters long & 56 m wide.
Today the industry is looking into construction even larger ships, 18 000+ TEUs.
• Panamax: ≈4 500 – 5 000 TEU
• Post Panamax: ≈5 000 – 10 000 TEU
• Suezmax: ≈10 000 -15 500 TEU
• Post Suezmax: ≈15 500 TEU< 
Container cargo ship
Bulk carrier

The power house of world’s economic engine; these ships carry the
essential raw materials for various industries from Agro based to heavy
manufacturing.

These ships are also called as bulkees or frights and are easily identified
by the large hydraulic hatches covering its holds. They are designed to
carry unpacked raw materials such as wood, raw grain, ore and coal.

In these ships; cargo is poured down directly into the holds according to
the charter plan. These ships are around 800-1200 feet long and
account for 15-18% of the total merchant fleet.
Bulk carrier

• A bulk carrier is a ship designed to transport dry or liquid bulk cargo,

such as grains, coal, iron ore, and cement. Over the years this ship
type have grown in size and sophistication.
• Today’s bulkers are specially designed to maximize capacity, safety,
efficiency, and to be able to withstand the rigors of their work.
• Bulkers represents about 40% of the worlds merchant fleet and the
development of freight prizes are often used as an indicator of the
world economy through the Baltic Dry Index.
Bulk carrier size and classes
Bulker are categorized into four main classes, Handysize,
Handymax/Supramax, Panamax, Capesize - that describe their size. The
unit used for defining size of bulkers is DWT (dead weight tons), and
describes how much weight a ship can carry.
• Handysize: DWT 10 000 – 35 000
Handymax/Supramax: DWT 35 000 – 59 000
Panamax: DWT 60 000 – 80 000
Capesize: DWT 80 000 ≤
Further, there are also a number of abbreviations to describe bulk
carriers especially in the lager segments with terms like “VLOC”(very
large ore carrier), “VLBC” (very large bulk carrier), “ULOC” (ultra large
ore carrier), “ULBC” (ultra large bulk carrier).
Bulk carrier
Bulk carrier
Ro-Ro Vessels

Most vehicles that you use on a daily basis are transported across the
globe using a special type of ships known as Ro-Ro or car carriers (or
Pure Car Pure Truck, PCPT carriers).

Basically they are like a big floating garage (Yes ! like that in your
house); where newly made cars are parked, latched and then shipped.

Generally these ships are 500-700 feet long with high free board. These
ships are used to transport vehicles like trucks, tractors and cars all over
the globe in a safe efficient way.
Ro-Ro Vessels

RoRo (Roll-on/roll-off) ships are vessels designed to carry

wheeled cargo such as automobiles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers
or railroad cars that are driven or towed on and off the ship on their
own wheels.
This ships “Roll-on” and “Roll-off” its cargo through its built-in ramps.
The ramps could be located at the stern or/and on at the bow. Some
ships have ramps installed on the port side of the hull.
Ro-Ro Vessels
Ro-Ro Vessels
Tankers
It is a special type of ship constructed to carry heavy bulk of liquid
cargo.
These are primarily used to carry petroleum and its derivatives; but can
also be used to carry water, juice, wine, chemicals etc.
These might look similar to those of bulk carrier apart from missing
hatches; (There are small manholes provided for inspection and
maintenance purposes).
These ships are normally quite large in size with a large part of its fleet
being super tankers.
Tankers can be classified into following categories depending on its
cargo.
Tankers
A tanker is ship that is designed to transport liquids in bulk.
Tankers, like other ship types, are today highly specialized and exists in
number of varieties and sizes.
From small self propelled barges up to ULCC (ultra large crude carrier).
An example of what Tankers are designed to carry is: crude
oil, Petroleum, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum
gas, Bitumen, molasses, wine and chemicals (i.e. ammonia, chlorine).
The tanker segment represents about 30% of the worlds total merchant
fleet.
Tanker size and classes
Petroleum tankers are categorized into the following classed that
determines theirs size in DWT (Dead Weight Tons).
• Seawaymax: DWT 10 000 – 60 000
Panamax: DWT 60 000 – 80 000
Aframax: DWT 80 000 – 120 000
Suezmax: DWT 120 000 – 200 000
VLCC (very large crude carrier): DWT 200 000 – 315 000
ULCC (ultra large crude carrier): DWT 315 000 – 520 000
Types of Tankers
Oil Tankers
They carry oil and its derivatives and are further classified into product and crude tankers. Crude
oil is used to transport crude oil while product tanker is used to transport refined oil; such as
diesel, jet fuels and petrol.

Gas Tankers
These are the modified form of tankers well suited for transporting gases such as LPG, Natural gas,
LNG, Etheline etc. They are further classified into fully pressurized, semi refrigerated, fully
refrigerated, ethylene and LPG, LNG ships.

Chemical Tankers
They are another type of modified tankers well suited for carrying hazardous chemicals; such as
acid, base, alcohols and other reactive chemicals.

Juice & Wine Tankers

According to their name; they are used to transport juice and wine from one place to another.
Tankers
Tankers
Crude oil tanker
Passenger ships and specialized support vessels

Passenger Ships
Half a century ago, passenger ships were used for going one place to another
by many people across the world. But today passengers ships are mostly used
as a cruise ships for pleasure voyage. They provide luxury voyage with beautiful
sight seeing. They are like a five start hotel floating on the sea which focus on
the user experience rather than reaching destination on or before time.

Specialized Support Vessels

These are the ships used to assist the work of commercial vessels like ice
breakers, dredging vessels and other offshore support vessels. They can also be
used for specialized purposes such as laying underground sea cables and other
research purposes.
Cruise ship
Cruise ship
Ferry
The Offshore segment
The offshore market is characterized by vessels built for assistance in oil
extraction and exploration at sea.
The specifications of the vessels depend on whether they are built primarily
to move drilling rigs and their anchors, to deliver goods and supplies to oil
rigs, to act as safety and fire-fighting vessels (stand-by vessels) or for other
purposes required to maintain and expand oil production at sea.
The North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are the largest markets for offshore
vessels, but other areas such as Western Africa, Canada, the Far East and
Brazil employ an ever-increasing share of the global fleet.
The offshore vessel segment has increased over the past decade due to
extensive exploration of new fields in deeper waters than ever before.
Vessels in this segment are highly specialized. 
Offshore