ABSTRACT
What is specialized shipping? Companies transporting the bulk cargoes discussed in Chapter 11 trade in perfectly competitive markets where hundreds of similar ships compete for homogeneous cargoes on an equal basis. There is little shipowners can do to differentiate their service, so they rely on the entrepreneurial skills needed to charter and trade the bulk cargoes. But some cargoes such as chemicals, gas, refrigerated cargo, forest products, vehicles, heavy lift and people are more demanding to transport, offering transport providers an opportunity to improve their service by investing in specialized ships and services.
