Bulk carrier

Picture of a bulk carrier from the side

All ships are given names. The ship shown above is named “Asahi Maru”. It measures 225m long and 38m wide, and when it is fully loaded, it has a draft of 13.5m. A ship’s draft is the distance between the water surface and the bottom of the ship underwater, and when the water reaches the green line painted on the ship, it means that the ship has a draft of 13.5m.

The ship’s anchor is located in the very front, and the crew’s living area, as well as the ship’s engine, propeller and rudder, are located in the rear. Bulk carriers of this size sail at a speed of between 13 and 15 knots (about 30km/h).

Let’s take a look inside the ship. The upper picture shows the ship “when it is loaded”, and the lower picture shows the ship “when nothing is loaded”.

The Asahi Maru has 7 “cargo holds” in which the cargo is loaded. When loading cargo such as coal, each cargo hold can be loaded with about 11,000–12,000 tons of cargo.

When the ship is fully unloaded, it is necessary to make the ship more stable by pumping seawater into tanks located inside the ship. This seawater is called “ballast water”. The Asahi Maru is able to pump ballast water into the No. 4 cargo hold. When ballast water is pumped inside the ship, it causes the ship to sink to the point that the propeller is under the water. The propeller moves the ship forward when it turns in the water.

This picture below shows the ship when viewed from the front.