Glossary — vessel-types

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.