Break bulk cargo is non containerised and is usually transported as individual pieces due to cargo often being oversized and overweight meaning freight containers cannot accommodate the cargo. Cargo of such nature includes construction equipment, oil and gas equipment, windmills, yachts and steel etc.
Due to reduction of costs and minimising the possibility of pilferage or damage much of the worlds’ freight is now containerised meaning cargo is usually loaded into ISO standard containers but because of size/weight restrictions there is still a lot of cargo (such as oversized and heavyweight equipment) which has to be shipped break bulk.
Oversized / overweight or otherwise known as out of gauged cargo can sometimes be fitted on equipment like flat rack, platform (collapsible flat rack), open top instead of laying them on deck or underdeck on vessels.
Break bulk freight transportation still has a major role to play in the international trade industry as countries continue to expand infrastructure and require bulk cargo for building projects such as wind farms, power plants, highways etc. Sometimes, if cargo is too huge and is of certain urgency, chartering is another option for cargo owners. Bulk cargo need not be huge in nature but it can be dense and in large quantity. Examples of such will be coal, sugar, salt, rice, etc… These will be usually shipped as bulk cargo underdeck.
Many specialist break bulk vessels come fitted with heavy lift cranes which can manage the heaviest of cargo safely and quicker than dockside cranes, this can speed up the process of loading/unloading and reduce costs for the shipments.
Although break bulk shipping rates are often seen as more expensive than containerised shipping costs when taking into account the costs (and time delays) of disassembling, packing, shipping, unpacking and re-assembling, shipping break bulk can often make commercial sense.