Newcastlemax

A Newcastlemax is the largest Capesize bulker that can berth at the Port of Newcastle in New South Wales, the world’s largest coal-export port, capped at about 300 meters length overall and 50 meters beam for roughly 185,000 dwt. The port limits, not the cargo, set the class. Newcastlemax hulls carry coal, iron ore, and grain on the same long-haul routes as larger Capesizes but keep the dimensions Newcastle accepts. Capesize itself, about 100,000 to 200,000 dwt, is named because the ships are too large for the Suez and Panama canals and route around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. Newcastlemax is a constrained sub-class within that band.