1. Source: UNCTAD (2000) Review of Maritime Transport. Lloyd's Register information
sheet.
Vessel Size Groups (in deadweight tons)
Major ship size groups include:
• Handy and Handymax: Traditionally the workhorses of the dry bulk market, the
Handy and more recent Handymax types remain popular ships with less than
60,000 dwt. The Handymax sector operates in a large number of geographically
dispersed global trades, mainly carrying grains and minor bulks including steel
products, forest products and fertilizers. The vessels are well suited for small ports
with length and draft restrictions and also lacking transshipment infrastructure.
This category is also used to define small-sized oil tankers.
• Panamax: Represents the largest acceptable size to transit the Panama Canal,
which can be applied to both freighters and tankers; lengths are restricted to a
maximum of 275 meters, and widths to slightly more than 32 meter. The average
size of such a ship is about 65,000 dwt. They mainly carry coal, grain and, to a
lesser extent, minor bulks, including steel products, forest products and fertilizers.
• Capesize: Refers to a rather ill-defined standard which have the common
characteristic of being incapable of using the Panama or Suez canals, not
necessarily because of their tonnage, but because of their size. These ships serve
deepwater terminals handling raw materials, such as iron ore and coal. As a result,
"Capesize" vessels transit via Cape Horn (South America) or the Cape of Good
Hope (South Africa). Their size ranges between 80,000 and 175,000 dwt. Due to
their size there are only a comparatively small number of ports around the world
with the infrastructure to accommodate such vessel size.
• Aframax: A tanker of standard size between 75,000 and 115,000 dwt. The largest
tanker size in the AFRA (Average Freight Rate Assessment) tanker rate system.