ABSTRACT
Dry bulk shipping was developed as a result of the need to reduce transportation costs when shipment size of commodities increased enough for the commodity to be carried in shiploads and economies of scale could be utilised. This goes back to the nineteenth century when small wooden ships, fully laden with coal, were employed to meet the increasing demand for coal transportation between North England and London. Nowadays, the number of commodities carried on a “one ship, one cargo” basis has increased, thanks to world economic growth, increased demand for raw materials and energy commodities, liberalisation in international trade, trans-nationalisation of industrial processes as well as technological advances in shipbuilding and design. The growth in international trade led to a corresponding expansion of the bulk shipping fl eet to match the requirements of seaborne bulk trade.
