DOVER CASTLE (IMO. 8010685) - BULKER OR GENERAL CARGO?

[Jens Boldt]

Hi all,

I see that Dover Castle has been uploaded here as a general cargo ship as well as a bulker.
Can anyone help which one is correct? Or a both categories possible?

Thanks,
Jens

[Stan Muller]

Hi Ken,

got one for you too:
IMO: 9159347
VIJITRA NAREE

eguasis says GCS
other sites gives classification Bulker

rgds Stan

[Arnes]

This has, as far as I remember, also been discussed before. I was sailing for some years on Mowinckels Gearbulk-vessels, and on all papers, drawings etc. which we had, they were referred to as bulk-carriers. (Open-hatch bulk-carriers). On one of them we were engaged in coal-transport between Baltimore and Sines,Portugal. With almost 40000 tons of coal inside holds I will not call them General Cargo.
It seems like it is in later years, that they has changed from bulkers to General Cargo. I also have some copies of Clarkson Bulk Carrier registers, they are listed there, and I can't understand if they should list General Cargo-vessels in there

[Jens Boldt]

Hi guys,

thanks for clarifying this!

Think I had already raised this question quite a while ago with Ja Aladdin Rainbow. If I remember correctly it had something to do with open hatches, but I really couldn't have told if this applies to Dover Castle or not.

Again, thanks for the help.

Kind rwgards,
Jens

[Phil English]

Hi all,

Thanks to Derek for alerting me to this thread but sorry I have come in a bit late. I see that the question has really been answered. Yes, she is an open hatch bulk carrier which, according to Equasis and IACS classification, is a "general cargo ship". I won't go into the why's and wherefore's as it has been discussed many times before, suffice to say that this site's type categories work on the basis of Equasis/IACS, rather than ships' real-world commercial purpose. As an aside, the DOVER CASTLE was built with portable container fittings (1164 teu cap) and this together with her box shaped holds made her ideal for the liner trades of the 1980s. This probably explains the bulk/container (conbulker)classification.

Thanks also to Arne for mentioning the Clarkson Bulk Carrier Register. I can confirm that she is a bulk carrier as far as that publication is concerned 

Brgds
Phil

[BobS]

Phil and I seem to have agreed to disagree on this subject of open-hatch ships and whether or not they are bulk carriers. Phil views things from a ship operator

[Jens Boldt]

Very interesting, indeed. And I've discovered another one, Corella Arrow (IMO. 9385477). Do these explanations apply to her to?

[John Jones]

Hi Jens,

Very interesting, indeed. And I've discovered another one, Corella Arrow (IMO. 9385477). Do these explanations apply to her to?

Yes, she is one of Gearbulk's Oshima built '6th generation' open hatch bulk carriers with 8 hatches, 8 box shaped holds and two 70 tonne gantry cranes. The 'open' hatches mean that there is little or no deck overhang at the sides of the holds allowing unitised cargo such as packaged timber etc. to be placed directly at the required stowage position. These ships are used widely for the carriage of  forest products and non-ferrous metals though the high lifting capacities and tank top strengths also lend themselves to the carriage of project cargoes.

Despite being referred to as open hatch bulk carriers in the industry, for the purposes of this site they should be posted under the 'general cargo' rather than 'bulk carrier' categories.

Best Regards
John Jones

[Geir Vinnes]

Thor Endeavour (Imo: 9074793) was also classed as a general cargo vessel but I sendt a message to Equasis and asked about it because on the companys website she was reported as a bulk carrier so they checked it out and changed her and her sisters class to bulk carriers.

Brgds,
Geir

[BobS]

Geir: The ship you refer to is indeed a conventional bulk carrier - not an open-hatch type.You were right to correct Equasis.

[Phil English]

That's interesting Geir and shows a lack of consistency by Equasis/IHS Fairplay. Bob: She's not a conventional bulk carrier. "Thor Endeavour" (ex "Sanko Resource) is an open hatch bulk carrier with 8 box-shaped holds.

[BobS]

Phil: I stand corrected and bow to your superior knowledge and access to data. Looking at the photos of her on the site, she did not obviously look like an open type; NKK says she is just a bulk carrier but the operator's site calls her an open bulk carrier.
Bob

[Phil English]

Bob,

You can be forgiven for thinking that she is a conventional bulker, as she is not quite in the same league as the gantry-craned Gearbulk ships.  

You are quite correct to say that open-hatch bulkers command a price-premium over their conventional counterparts, probably about 40% for a modern, full-open hatcher with gantry cranes, though not so much for a jib-craned example. The price differential doesn't amount to much though as the ships get older, especially for jib-craned ships, which means that old open-hatchers sold out of original ownership are just as likely to be employed in the "pourable" bulk trades as in the "liftable" bulk trades.

Brgds
Phil