Bulk Carriers (A Detailed Synopsis) : Maritime Trade
Bulk Carriers (A Detailed Synopsis) : Maritime Trade
Bulk Carriers (A Detailed Synopsis) : Maritime Trade
Whenever the word ship comes to our mind, we may invariably think of lavish yachts and passenger
ferries like the Titanic, the robust fighter ships and destroyers used for defence purposes or pleasure
crafts used for recreation. But we must also note that a commendable share of our fleet traveling around
the globe is comprised of the ships known as Bulk Carriers which are also termed as workhorses of
maritime trade. Over 15-17% of our merchant vessels are comprised of these amazing bulk carriers.
As of 1999, 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. But, let us not get into the
technical lingo first, a bulk carrier as a general purpose cargo-carrying ship which is employed to carry
enormous amounts of bulk unpackaged (note: they are not like container vessels ) cargo in its single-deck
structure. Broadly there may be 2 types of cargo:
Liquid bulk cargo transported by chemical tankers, crude oil carriers, product tankers, petroleum
tankers.
Dry bulk carriers carrying ore, grains, raw materials, coal, steel etc.
Another special type of carrier called OBO carriers are found which carry all the three in
combinations (Ore-Bulk-Oil) and that too in a single voyage.
Now, let me come to the point. A simple bulk carrier is a single deck, high capacity cargo ship mainly
intended for carrying unpackaged bulk cargo. It normally has a complex internal hull structure designed to
meet its efficiency, capacity and storage, strength as well as safety.
Now the hull form of a bulker is generally cell-guided to account for its longitudinal strength (for larger
ships) and is web framed (in shorter ships) to account for its transverse strength. The basic design of the
hull form of bulk carriers is mainly comprised of a thick double shell plating and girded by tanks in the
sideways, bottom, and top zones.
The elaborate arrangement of tanks with the double bottom tank below, lower hopper side tank or bilge
tank at the bilge or the upper hopper side tank underneath the corners of the upper weather deck mainly
account for the ballasting systems in ships. Ballasting is an operation done by the intake of some amount
of freshwater or seawater in the tanks for the purpose of maintaining the stability and buoyancy of the
ship (hence maintaining its centre of gravity in diverse sea conditions). The tanks also have manholes for
the purpose of surveying, discharging, repairing and maintenance.
The deck and hull elements have an elaborate arrangement of girders and stiffeners for providing
longitudinal strength.These may be welded or riveted depending on their location both in transverse and
longitudinal direction.
Midship Section of a single skin bulk carrier.
The hatch covers may slide, fold, roll or be guided by hydraulic lifting systems. Some special techniques
as in the pontoon decks may be adopted. All such designations are in congruence with the load outlines
and the structural necessities of a ship.
Specialized cranes and derricks may be used for loading and unloading. A crane's discharge rate is
limited by the bucket's capacity (from 6 to 40 tons) and by the speed at which the crane can take a load,
deposit it at the terminal, and to return to take the next. For modern gantry cranes, the total time of the
grab-deposit-return cycle is about 50 seconds. It may also be of self-loading or self-discharging type
where the process of loading and unloading may be by the use of conveyor belts where the loading and
unloading rates may range from 100 to 700 tons per hour where the most advanced ports have a range of
up to 16,000 tons.
Cargo handling arrangement of the same bulk carrier above, in plan view.
Proper surveillance and checking methodologies are adopted for the cargo both ensuring its quality and
the stability and safety factors of a ship. Grain shifting is an awkward and often dangerous problem in
case of dry bulk, where the unpackaged or loosened cargo pose the problem of shifting when exceeding
the angle of repose mostly due to lack of levelling or the heavy sea conditions. It leads to the loss of
stability and precarious rolling motion.
If you observe the slope of the wing tank plating, it has a reason. This angle differs in different bulk
carriers, matching the angle of repose of the cargo that is to be carried. If the angle of the wing tank
plating matches the angle of repose of the cargo, then cargo shifting is considerably prevented.