Course 02 of 20 · Freight and Shipping Desk Academy

Vessel Classes, Cargoes & Routes

Stage A, Shipping and voyage foundations. Level 1 of 10.

Matching cargo to tonnage: vessel segments and dimensions, stowage and draught limits, port restrictions and the main trade routes each class serves.

114 chapters · 11 modules · every chapter one 8 to 10 minute explainer · builds on: Course 01

Enrol or enquire See the 114 chapters
How a chapter is delivered

One chapter is one idea taken to the point of use

Each chapter covers one idea to the point where you can use it, and comes two ways: a narrated explainer, and a deep dive audio discussion of around thirty minutes that works the same material at depth.

Self-paced throughout, and the same chapters can be taught as a cohort. Chapters run in order: each one assumes only what the chapters before it taught, and capability belonging to a later course is named and deferred rather than half-covered.

Curriculum

11 modules · 114 chapters

Open any module for its full chapter list, in teaching order.

M0 Cargo First, Then the Ship Ch 1-9
  1. The Matching Question Behind Every Enquiry
  2. A Hull Has Three Hard Limits
  3. Why the Parcel Picks the Ship
  4. Deadweight, Displacement and Lightship
  5. Reading a Vessel Particulars Sheet
  6. The Suitcase That Closes but Cannot Be Lifted
  7. Segments as Commercial Shorthand
  8. Three Cargoes and the Tonnage Each Demands
  9. What Fit Settles and What It Leaves Open
M1 The Weight and Volume Arithmetic of a Loaded Ship Ch 10-19
  1. What Competes With Cargo for Deadweight
  2. Constants, Deductibles and the Figure That Remains
  3. Grain Capacity Against Bale Capacity
  4. Stowage Factor and the Cubic Metre per Tonne
  5. Light Cargo, Heavy Cargo and the Hold That Decides
  6. Working a Full and Down Load
  7. Broken Stowage and the Space Nobody Pays For
  8. Deadweight Scales and the Draught You Choose
  9. Parcel Size and the Margin Around It
  10. A Capacity Check on One Enquiry
M2 Draught, Trim and the Water Under the Keel Ch 20-29
  1. Draught as the Limit That Moves
  2. Load Lines and the Seasonal Zone Map
  3. Tonnes per Centimetre and the Last Hundred Tonnes
  4. Fresh Water Allowance and the Dock Water Correction
  5. Under-Keel Clearance and the Port's Own Rule
  6. Tidal Windows and the Sailing Hour
  7. Air Draught and the Obstruction Overhead
  8. Trim, Even Keel and the Arrival Condition
  9. Part Cargo and the Second Load Port
  10. A Draught-Restricted Load, Worked Through
M3 The Tanker Size Ladder Ch 30-40
  1. Why Tanker Sizes Settled Where They Did
  2. Handysize and MR Tankers
  3. LR1 and LR2 in the Long-Range Product Trades
  4. Aframax and the Regional Crude Lift
  5. Suezmax, the Class Named After a Canal
  6. VLCC and the Long-Haul Crude Economy
  7. ULCC and the Limits of Scale
  8. Tank Arrangement and the Cargo Range a Hull Can Take
  9. Crude Tankers and Product Tankers as Different Animals
  10. Matching a Clean Parcel to a Tanker Class
  11. Specialised Wet Tonnage Outside the Ladder
M4 The Dry-Bulk Size Ladder Ch 41-51
  1. Why Dry-Bulk Sizes Cluster
  2. Handysize and the Geared Coastal Trades
  3. Handymax and Supramax
  4. Ultramax and the Drift in Standard Designs
  5. Panamax and Kamsarmax
  6. Post-Panamax and the Capesize Threshold
  7. Capesize and the Iron Ore Mainline
  8. Newcastlemax, Valemax and the Very Large Ore Carriers
  9. Geared or Gearless, and the Ports That Follow
  10. Hatch Openings, Tanktop Strength and What Fits Below
  11. Matching a Grain Parcel to a Dry-Bulk Class
M5 Beyond Wet and Dry: the Other Segments Ch 52-61
  1. Container Ships and the Slot as a Unit
  2. Nominal Capacity, Homogeneous Loading and Reefer Plugs
  3. Boxship Classes and the Service They Are Built For
  4. Gas Carriers: Pressure, Refrigeration and Size
  5. LNG Carriers Seen as a Freight Segment
  6. Ro-Ro, PCTC and the Lane Metre
  7. Multipurpose Tonnage and the Flexible Hull
  8. Heavy Lift and the Cargo Nothing Else Will Take
  9. Reefer Ships and the Box That Displaced Them
  10. Specialised Ship or Mainstream Hull
M6 Ports, Terminals and the Limits They Impose Ch 62-72
  1. The Port as a Set of Published Restrictions
  2. Reading a Port Restriction Entry Line by Line
  3. Length, Beam and the Berth Envelope
  4. Berth Depth Against Channel Depth
  5. Locks, Chambers and the Ships They Define
  6. Loading at Anchor, Offshore and Mid-Stream
  7. Shore Equipment and the Reach It Must Have
  8. Manifold Height, Freeboard and the Connection Fit
  9. Ice Class and the Winter Port
  10. The Ship a Terminal Will Not Accept
  11. Building a Port Restriction File for a Trade
M7 Canals, Straits and the Geometry of the Sea Ch 73-82
  1. Chokepoints as the Architects of Vessel Size
  2. The Panama Locks and the Beam They Set
  3. Suez and the Draught Ceiling
  4. The Turkish Straits and the Ships That Fit
  5. The Malacca Draught and the Deeper Alternatives
  6. Baltic Approaches and the Shallow Belt
  7. The Seaway Maximum and a Captive Fleet
  8. Rivers, Barges and the Transhipment Point
  9. Going the Long Way Round
  10. Choosing a Routing on Physical Limits Alone
M8 The Main Trade Routes and Who Serves Them Ch 83-93
  1. What Makes a Route a Named Route
  2. Crude From the Gulf to Asia
  3. Atlantic Crude and the Mid-Size Belt
  4. Clean Product Routes and Their Direction
  5. Dirty Product and Residual Movements
  6. Iron Ore From Brazil and Western Australia
  7. Coal Routes and the Fleet That Carries Them
  8. Grain Routes and the Seasonal Rhythm
  9. Minor Bulk Lanes and the Cargoes Nobody Names
  10. Container Trunk Routes and Feeder Legs
  11. Fronthaul, Backhaul and the Empty Leg
M9 Fleet Supply, Age and the Tonnage Actually Available Ch 94-103
  1. The Fleet as a Standing Constraint
  2. Orderbook, Deliveries and Demolition
  3. Vessel Age and the Cargo It Can Still Win
  4. Standard Designs and Why Classes Drift Larger
  5. Class, Survey Cycle and the Ship Out of Service
  6. Flag, Registry and the Trades They Open or Close
  7. Dry Dock and the Tonnage Temporarily Absent
  8. Storage, Conversion and Ships That Stop Trading
  9. Efficiency Features on a Modern Vessel Card
  10. Mapping Available Tonnage for a Requirement
M10 Putting the Match Together Ch 104-114
  1. The Matching Sequence, Start to Finish
  2. Screening Tonnage Against an Enquiry
  3. Two Ships, One Cargo: Framing the Comparison
  4. Two Ships, One Cargo: Deciding on Fit
  5. A Worked Match, Part One: The Cargo and Its Constraints
  6. A Worked Match, Part Two: The Candidate Vessels
  7. A Worked Match, Part Three: The Shortlist and the Reason
  8. One Ship, Two Receivers: Splitting a Cargo
  9. When Nothing Fits and the Cargo Must Change
  10. What Physical Fit Cannot Tell You
  11. The Habits the Next Courses Assume

The brochure gives each of these 114 chapters a paragraph on what it covers and what you can do once you have worked through it.

This is course 2 of twenty

It stands alone, and it is also the entry point to the Freight and Shipping Desk Academy pathway.

Enrol or enquire See the whole pathway