Bulk carrier chartering
Charter a bulk carrier for your cargo.
From handysize to panamax and kamsarmax. CharterDeck's AI analyses your cargo, works out which size of bulk carrier fits the stem, the ports and the laycan, and ranks the ships on the whole voyage; your broker then takes the best ones to owners and negotiates the charter.
- The right size first
- Size classes that your quantity, stowage factor and ports can use, before any ship is chased.
- Geared or gearless
- Ports without shore cranes narrow the choice early, not at the discharge berth.
- Broker-led charter
- Your broker takes the strongest ships to owners and negotiates freight and terms.
Choose by size
How AI narrows the bulk carrier market
Many bulk carriers may be open near your load port; only a few fit your cargo and your ports. CharterDeck's AI cuts the list down before your broker approaches a single owner:
- Picks the size classes your quantity, tolerance and stowage factor can actually fill
- Removes ships that cannot meet the draft or length limits at either port
- Separates ports that need a geared ship from those where shore cranes do the work
- Checks each candidate's open position against your laycan
- Compares freight and whole-voyage costs across sizes, not only within one class
What a bulk carrier charter gives you
A bulk carrier charter puts your cargo on a whole ship, or an agreed part of one, on terms negotiated for your parcel: a size that suits the stem, loading and discharge terms that suit your terminals, and a laycan that matches your contract. It is the usual way to move free-flowing dry cargoes, from grain and fertilizer to cement, clinker and scrap.
Geared or gearless
Most handysize, supramax and ultramax bulk carriers have their own cranes; most panamax and kamsarmax ships don't and rely on shore equipment. Where a port has no cranes, that settles part of the choice before price comes in.
Draft and berth limits set the ceiling
The largest ship that can work both berths is often the cheapest per tonne, but draft, length and berth restrictions at either end decide how large that can be. Both ports are checked before a size is proposed.
Not sure which size fits your cargo? Send it, and the shortlist shows which classes can do it.
Send your cargoCubic space or deadweight
Light cargoes fill the holds before the ship is down to her marks; dense cargoes reach the ship's deadweight with space left in the holds. The stowage factor tells which limit applies, and so how much cargo each ship can take.
Cargoes we charter bulk carriers for
- Grain and agricultural products
- Fertilizers
- Cement and clinker
- Scrap
- Coal, ores and minor bulks
What moves the freight
- Ship size, and how well it fits the stem
- The market for that size near your load port
- Ballast distance to the load port
- Port costs, draft limits and waiting time
- Whether ship's gear is needed at either port
- Load and discharge rates, and the laytime and demurrage terms
How a bulk carrier charter runs with CharterDeck
- You send the requirement, in a minute with the form or as you would circulate it
- Our AI structures it, screens suitable ships and compares the voyage economics
- Your broker reviews the shortlist with you and checks every point the AI has flagged
- Your broker works the owners and negotiates freight and terms
- The recap is issued from the agreed terms, and the voyage is followed to discharge
Questions, answered
- Which bulk carrier size do I need?
- It depends on the quantity, the stowage factor and the ports. We start from your cargo and from the draft and gear at both ends, then propose the sizes that can load the full stem and work both berths.
- Can I charter only part of a bulk carrier?
- Sometimes. Part cargoes work when a ship can combine parcels safely and the holds suit both cargoes. Send the quantity and ports and your broker checks what the market can offer.
- Voyage charter or time charter for a bulk carrier?
- For a single cargo, a voyage charter fixes the freight per tonne and leaves the voyage costs with the owner. A time charter hires the ship by the day and you run the voyage; it suits operators and regular shippers.
Explore more
Matched in seconds, negotiated by a broker
Send us a cargo or an open vessel. Our system matches it in seconds, and your broker comes back with the best options.