On this part of the page we wish to introduce you to some of the different terms and rarities that you may meet within the shipping industry. It is impossible to cover anything close to all the peculiar things in the complex world of transport, but we have tried to make a nice little selection that covers some of the important aspects.
Cargo specifications
Stowage factor = The stowage factor of a cargo is the ratio of weight to stowage space required under normal conditions. It indicates how many cubic meters one metric ton of a particular type of cargo occupies in a hold.
– A stowage faxtor of 35,30 indicates that 1 Mt of cargo takes up 1 cmb of space in hold.
– A stowage factor of 20 indicates that 1 Mt of cargo only takes up 0.56 cbm in hold. A heavy cargo.
– A stowage factor of 60 indicates that 1 Mt of cargo will take up 1.7 cbm in hold. A light cargo.
This is especially important when transporting light cargoes as 2000 Mts of a light cargo may require tonnage capable of carrying more than 2000 Mts in order to fit all of the cargo in the hold. Cbm/cbft then becomes very important.
Angle of Repose = This describes at what angle a commodity may start to slide, this is important to know as a slide in cargo hold may affect the ships stability and seaworthyness. To avoid that cargopiles start sliding, a ship carrying bulk cargoes will be trimmed after loading (cargo flattened/spread more evenly out in hold).
