Container, bulker, tanker, gas carrier, ro-ro, passenger, offshore, heavy-lift and specialised types.
55 terms in this category.
- Aframax
Crude tanker 80,000-120,000 DWT — historically the AFRA (Average Freight Rate Assessment) midpoint; now the most common medium-haul crude size.
- Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS)
Offshore vessel that handles MODU anchors during rig moves and supplies installations with deck cargo, mud, water, fuel.
- Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS)
An offshore support vessel designed to tow and position mobile drilling rigs and handle anchors in deepwater operations.
- Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS)
OSV that anchors and tows mobile offshore units and supplies rigs; high bollard pull and stern A-frame.
- articulated tug-barge (ATB)
Tug rigidly locked into a purpose-built notch barge via a specialised coupling, operating as a single integrated unit while retaining separate vessel registration.
- Azimuth Stern Drive Tug (ASD)
Harbour/escort tug with two stern-mounted azimuth (Z-drive) thrusters giving 360° thrust direction.
- barge
Non-self-propelled flat-bottomed vessel pushed or towed by a tug, used on inland waterways and coastal routes to carry bulk, liquid, or project cargo.
- breakbulk vessel
General cargo ship carrying non-containerised goods — bagged, crated, palletised, or bundled — loaded and discharged piece by piece.
- Bulk Carrier
A single-deck cargo vessel designed to carry unpackaged dry bulk cargoes such as grain, coal, iron ore, or fertiliser.
- Capesize
Bulk carrier > 100,000 DWT — too large for Panama Canal, must round Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn; iron ore, coal, bauxite trades.
- Chemical Tanker
A tanker built to carry noxious liquid substances in bulk, constructed to IBC Code standards for cargo containment.
- Container Ship
A cargo vessel designed to carry ISO standard intermodal containers stacked in cells below deck and in tiers on deck.
- Cruise Ship
A large passenger vessel offering multi-day voyages with onboard leisure facilities as the primary commercial product.
- Diving Support Vessel (DSV)
Vessel built around a saturation diving system, typically with DP-3, ROVs, and large moonpool.
- drillship
Ship-shaped deepwater drilling unit with a central moonpool, drilling derrick, and DP-3 dynamic positioning for ultra-deepwater exploration and production drilling.
- Drillship
Mobile drilling unit built on a ship-shaped hull, typically DP-3, capable of drilling in ultra-deep water.
- Escort Tug
Powerful, manoeuvrable tug attached to a tanker via line during port approach to brake or steer if main engine/steering fails.
- Feeder Container Ship
Small container ships (1,000-3,000 TEU) that ferry containers between regional ports and main hub-port hubs served by ULCVs.
- Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
A floating vessel used by the offshore oil and gas industry for production, processing, storage, and offloading of hydrocarbons.
- Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
Vessel that processes hydrocarbons from a subsea well, stores the production in cargo tanks, and offloads to shuttle tankers.
- Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit (FPSO)
Ship-shaped floating facility receiving, processing, storing, and offloading hydrocarbons from subsea wells.
- Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO)
A stationary floating vessel used to store crude oil or petroleum products at offshore fields pending transfer to shuttle tankers.
- General Cargo Ship
A multipurpose vessel with cargo holds, tween decks, and derricks or cranes, designed to carry a variety of break-bulk and unitised cargoes.
- Handysize
Smallest of the modern bulk carrier classes: 10,000-40,000 DWT — flexible, port-restriction-tolerant.
- Harbour Tug
Compact, high-bollard-pull tug used for berthing, unberthing, and shifting ships within a port.
- heavy-lift vessel
Specialised ship equipped with one or more large cranes (100–2 000 t SWL) for loading, transporting, and discharging oversized project cargo.
- Icebreaker
Vessel with reinforced bow, high-power propulsion, and ice-friendly hull form designed to break level ice and clear channels.
- jack-up rig
Mobile offshore drilling or installation unit with retractable legs that are lowered to the seabed, lifting the hull clear of the water surface for operations.
- LNG carrier (LNGC)
Cryogenic tanker transporting liquefied natural gas at −163 °C in insulated containment tanks, governed by the IGC Code.
- LNG Carrier
A purpose-built vessel carrying liquefied natural gas in insulated cargo tanks at approximately −163°C.
- LPG carrier (LPGC)
Gas tanker carrying liquefied petroleum gas (propane, butane) or petrochemical gases in pressurised, semi-refrigerated, or fully refrigerated tanks.
- LPG Carrier
A gas tanker designed to carry liquefied petroleum gases such as propane or butane under pressure or refrigeration.
- Multipurpose Support Vessel (MPSV)
OSV combining DP, large deck, crane, ROV, and accommodation for varied subsea/inspection/maintenance work.
- multipurpose vessel (MPP)
Versatile geared cargo ship carrying containers, breakbulk, project cargo, and heavy lifts in a single voyage, typically 3 000–15 000 DWT.
- Neo-Panamax / New-Panamax
Maximum vessel size for the post-2016 Panama Canal expansion: 366 m LOA × 49 m beam × 15.2 m draft tropical fresh.
- Newcastlemax
Bulker class sized for the Port of Newcastle, Australia (50 m beam max): ~205,000 DWT, 300 m LOA, 18.5 m draft.
- Ocean-Going Tug
Long-endurance tug used for ocean towage of barges, rigs, or disabled ships.
- Offshore Support Vessel (OSV)
General class of vessels supporting offshore oil/gas/wind operations: PSVs, AHTS, MPSVs, ROV vessels, etc.
- Panamax (bulker)
Bulk carrier sized to fit the original Panama Canal locks: max 32.31 m beam, 294 m LOA, ~12.04 m draft fresh; ~65,000-80,000 DWT.
- Platform Supply Vessel (PSV)
An offshore supply vessel designed to carry deck cargo, dry bulk, liquid mud, and fuel to offshore platforms and rigs.
- Platform Supply Vessel (PSV)
Offshore supply vessel dedicated to ferrying personnel, deck cargo, and bulk products (mud, brine, water, fuel) between shore base and offshore installation.
- Product Tanker
A tanker designed to carry refined petroleum products such as gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel in coated or stainless steel tanks.
- pusher tug
River or coastal tug designed to push a barge tow from astern using a notch system, commonly employed on major river systems worldwide.
- Ro-Ro Vessel
A ship with built-in ramps allowing wheeled cargo such as cars, trucks, and trailers to be driven directly on and off.
- semi-submersible (semi-sub)
Column-stabilised offshore unit with submerged pontoons providing stability for drilling, accommodation, or production in deepwater and harsh environments.
- Semi-Submersible Rig
Floating MODU with submerged pontoons supporting the operating deck on columns, station-kept by anchors or DP.
- service operations vessel (SOV)
Offshore wind-farm support vessel with motion-compensated walk-to-work gangway, long-stay accommodation, and DP-2 positioning for technician transfers.
- Suezmax
Crude tanker sized to fully transit the Suez Canal in laden condition — typically 120,000-200,000 DWT, ~250 m LOA, ~17 m draft.
- Supramax / Ultramax
Mid-size geared bulkers ~50,000-65,000 DWT; Ultramax is the slightly-larger evolution at ~63,000-65,000 DWT.
- Tractor Tug
Tug with propulsion forward of midship — either Voith-Schneider or azimuth — towing from the stern.
- Ultra Large Container Vessel (ULCV)
Container ships >= 14,500 TEU — too large for the new Panama locks; restricted to Asia-Europe and Asia-East-coast-US-via-Suez routes.
- Valemax
Vale-built 380,000-400,000 DWT very large ore carriers (VLOC) for the Brazil-China iron ore trade.
- Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC)
A crude oil tanker with a deadweight of 200,000 to 320,000 DWT, among the largest vessels operating at sea.
- VLCC (VLCC)
Very Large Crude Carrier — single-hull-era 200,000-320,000 DWT crude tanker; today all double-hull post-OPA-90.
- Well Intervention Vessel
Specialised OSV equipped to perform downhole work on subsea wells without a full drilling rig.