Bulk carriers transport materials such as iron ore, corn, and sugar, and some can also move liquids. They can unload automatically or use quayside cranes. Early bulk carriers had difficulties unloading and sank due to faulty hatch seals. Modern bulk carriers have large overhead cranes and some use conveyors to move bulk cargo to a bagging area. Some carry both liquid and dry cargo.
A bulk carrier is a type of ship designed to transport bulk materials such as iron ore, corn, and sugar. Some of the bulk carrier designs are also used to move liquids, however these are generally classified as tankers with the rare exception of a combined dry/liquid bulk ship which is used to move both. Some types of bulk carriers unload automatically with large deck-mounted cranes, while others are quayside unloading versions that use quayside cranes to remove cargo from the ship’s hold. Other designs are known as bulk in, bag out (BIBO). These ships transport materials in bulk and then bag the product into individual bags as the materials are unloaded.
Some of the first bulk carriers were wooden sailing ships that carried coal and grain. Many of these early ships needed to assemble makeshift containers inside the hold to transport the bulk material. This created difficulties in unloading, and many of the ships sank due to water absorption through faulty hatch seals. Sandbags and seawater were commonly used as ballast on early bulk carriers to counteract the weight of loose cargo materials. Once in port, it could take a crew several days to unload cargo from the cramped and congested hull.
Some modern bulk carrier ships are known as self-loading and self-unloading due to the implementation of large overhead cranes mounted on the deck of the ship. Cranes make unloading much easier and are also used to remove hatch covers on many ships. The size of the cranes makes it possible to lift an excavator and place it in the hold. The excavator is used to push cargo, such as grain, coal, or sugar, into a pile in the center of the hatch opening. This makes it possible for the cranes to easily remove the entire cargo from the bulk carrier.
Some BIBO vessels carry cargo in the hold as bulk material and then bag the cargo as it is unloaded. This is done to speed up the loading process, provide a more stable cargo, and avoid certain taxes and restrictions placed on ships containing packaged materials. Large conveyors are used to move bulk cargo to a bagging area within the ship, and the bagged materials are palletized and unloaded. In some cases, the bulk carrier carries some liquid and some dry cargo in a single vessel. This is especially true with sugars and sweetening syrups.
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