What is Break Bulk Shipping? The term break bulk comes from the older phrase “breaking bulk” which is the extraction of a portion of the cargo on a ship, or the beginning of the unloading process from the ship’s holds. In modern context, break bulk is meant to encompass cargo that is transported in bags, boxes, crates, drums, or barrels – or items of extreme length or size. To be considered break bulk, these goods must be loaded individually, not in intermodal containers nor in bulk as with liquids or grains.
Break bulk was the most common form of cargo for most of history. Since the late 1960s, break bulk cargo has declined while containerized cargo has grown significantly. Moving containers on and off a ship is much more efficient than having to move individual goods. This efficiency allows ships to minimize time in ports and spend more time on the sea. Break bulk cargo is also more susceptible to loss, theft and damage.
Loading and unloading break bulk cargo can be very labor-intensive. Generally such cargo is brought to the quay next to the ship, and then each individual item is lifted on board separately – oftentimes using heavy-duty cranes from the boat or by the dockside. Once on board, each individual item must be secured and stowed separately as well.
Examples of commonly shipped break bulk cargo commodities include:
Bagged or sacked cargo
Bailed goods
Barrels, drums, and casks
Corrugated and wooden boxes or containers
Reels and rolls
Equipment, vehicles and components
Steel girders and structural steel
Any long, heavy or over-sized goods
The biggest challenge when shipping break bulk cargo is that it requires more resources and coordination – longshoremen, loading and unloading cranes, warehouses, specialized ships, transport vehicles, etc. That’s why working with an experienced and capable break bulk logistics company can make all of the difference in the world. Logistics Plus has 20 years of break bulk and project cargo experience. We’ve shipped every sort of break bulk cargo imaginable: locomotives, airplane components, tugboats, pipes, tanks, transformers windmills, and so much more! Some people call this type of cargo “the big, the bad, and the ugly” … but that’s exactly the type of logistics project we love to handle!
If you have any upcoming break bulk shipments, just click the banner below to give us a try … or email us at projectcargo@logisticsplus.com!
The Logistics Plus Project Cargo Team continues to be busy helping our customers move their big, bad, and uglycargo shipments. Here are some recent projects completed by the team:
Dismantle, truck and ship four complete V66 vestas turbines from site in Wieringerwerf to Uddevalla, Sweden. Towers and hubs via Amsterdam, nacelles and blades by trailer direct.
Deliver extremely wide skid and parts from factory in Jiaxing to shipyard on Zhoushan island by truck and coastal vessel.
Deliver two identical shipments each comprising of two deck tanks, platforms and foundations, from Shanghai direct to Hanjin Heavy Industry Shipyard in Busan.
The animated image below contains a short slideshow of photographs from these three projects.
Here are some great photographs, as always, from Frederik Geirnaert showcasing a couple recent logistics projects completed by the Logistics Plus Project Cargo team.
In the first project, Logistics Plus delivered a deck house unit from China to Portland in the U.S. The unit weighed 120 tonnes and measured 13 meters in length, 11 meters in width and 5 meters in height. The project team received the deck house on a barge at the supplier’s facility then shipped to Shanghai. It was loaded aboard a heavy-lift vessel in Qidong in the southeastern Jiangsu province of China and shipped on a free-on-board basis.
In another project, Logistics Plus also completed a recent breakbulk delivery of two complete Vestas V90 turbines from the Netherlands to Finland. This consignment was collected from the client’s site in Eemshaven shipped on a free out basis to Pori, Finland. The turbines weighed a total of 82 tonnes and measured 12 meters in length.
You can read more about these and other projects on our Project Cargo Portfolio page. You can also download, view and share our Project Cargo Portfolio PDF Document by clicking the image below.
Need help with a unique, heavy-lift or complete logistics project of your own? Let us know!
Logistics Plus media partner, WP$E Radio, continues to air short audio clips from Jim Berlin and others within the company as part of its business programming. WP$E AM 1450/FM 107.1 is a commercially licensed radio station serving Erie County, Pennsylvania. The station is owned by the Penn State Board of Trustees, and it is operated by Penn State Behrend, under the direction of professional broadcast staff. In addition to providing a one-stop source for global and financial news, WP$E also airs ongoing commentaries from regional business leaders.
Here are some recent audio clips from WP$E Radio with Jim discussing our recent 2-million pound gas tanks shipment, new warehousing, and global logistics (click icons below to hear audio replays).
Logistics Plus Delivers four, 2-million pound gas tanks from South Korea to USA
Online video provides amazing footage of the logistics required for the move.
ERIE, Pa. (September 20, 2016) – Logistics Plus Inc., a leading worldwide provider of transportation, logistics and supply chain solutions, is proud to report that it has successfully delivered four 30x24x17 meter, 1038 metric ton (2 million pounds), empty ammonia (NH3) gas tanks from Onsan, South Korea to Portland, Oregon in the United States. The entire project took over a year of planning, engineering, and execution, and it is the largest shipment ever handled by Logistics Plus in its 20-year history.
At the origin port in South Korea, 48-axle lines of self-propelled modular trailers were used to move the enormous tanks from their storage location onto two barges in order to transport them to the main loading port. From there, they were carefully loaded sequentially onto a heavy-load ocean vessel. The vessel – one of only two in the world capable of handling the massive shipment – took 14 days to sail to the Vigor shipyard in Portland. Using the vessels two massive 1500mt capacity heavylift cranes, all four tanks were discharged and loaded onto specialized modular trailers and carefully moved into final storage.
“We manage many large cargo projects all around the world, but this is the largest one we’ve ever coordinated in our 20-year history,” said Frederik Geirnaert, project manager for Logistics Plus, and the leader for this project. “The Logistics Plus project cargo team has been at the center of this move in many ways. We handled the selection of the most skilled subcontractors, organized a tender for each part of the move, provided oversight and drafting of the method statement, liaised with the marine warranty surveyor, provided on-site supervision of every move, and we also found on-the-spot solutions to the few small issues that inevitably come up along the way. In the end, our passion for excellence came through once again.”
The project highlight video, which includes amazing live and time-lapse footage, can be viewed online at https://youtu.be/M1HwMlUKeOk (or by clicking the image below).
About Logistics Plus Inc. Logistics Plus Inc. provides freight transportation, warehousing, global logistics, and supply chain management solutions through a worldwide network of talented and caring professionals. Founded in Erie, PA by local entrepreneur, Jim Berlin, 20 years ago, Logistics Plus is a fast-growing and award-winning transportation and logistics company. With a strong passion for excellence, its 400+ employees put the “Plus” in logistics by doing the big things properly, and the countless little things, that together ensure complete customer satisfaction and success.
The Logistics Plus® network includes offices located in Erie, PA; Alma, AR; Little Rock, AR; Los Angeles, CA; Riverside, CA; San Francisco, CA; Visalia, CA; Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Kansas City, MO; Charlotte, NC; Lexington, NC; Buffalo, NY; Cleveland, OH; Charleston, SC; Greenville, SC; Nashville, TN; Dallas, TX; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; Laredo, TX; Madison, WI; Bahrain; Belgium; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Egypt; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Kazakhstan; Libya; Mexico; Poland; Saudi Arabia; Turkey; and UAE; with additional agents around the world. For more information, visit www.logisticsplus.com or follow @LogisticsPlus on Twitter.
Logistics Plus media partner, WP$E Radio, continues to air short audio clips from 
