Capesize

Capesize is the largest of the standard dry-bulk carrier classes, and its name comes from the fact that these ships are too big to pass through the major canal shortcuts and must instead round the great capes — the Cape of Good Hope at the south of Africa and Cape Horn at the tip of South America. Typically about 150,000 tonnes deadweight and ranging up to 400,000 tonnes in the largest ore carriers, they are giants of the dry trades, and their size gives them a low cost per tonne of cargo over the long ocean routes they serve.

Capesize vessels are dedicated mainly to the two biggest dry-bulk commodities: iron ore and coal. They carry these in enormous quantities on long-haul routes, such as iron ore from Brazil and Australia to the steel mills of Asia and Europe, and coal on similar trades. Because they are so large and deep-draughted, they can only use ports and terminals with sufficient depth and specialised loading and discharging equipment, which limits where they can trade and ties their fortunes closely to the big bulk-export and import centres.

The capesize market is among the most closely watched barometers of the dry-bulk shipping business, because these ships are so exposed to a small number of commodities and routes that their freight rates swing sharply with the balance of demand for iron ore and coal and the number of ships available. This volatility makes the capesize freight market a leading indicator of dry-bulk shipping conditions generally. Together with the smaller panamax, supramax and handysize classes, each defined by a combination of size, the ports they can enter and the canals they can transit — the capesize sits at the top of the fleet that moves the world's raw materials by sea, and understanding these classes is basic to the chartering and operation of bulk carriers.