VLOC

VLOC stands for Very Large Ore Carrier, a single-commodity dry-bulk ship of about 200,000 to 400,000 dwt built for the long-haul iron ore trade. The holds are tall, narrow, and set high over deep wing ballast tanks, matched to iron ore’s high density near 0.4 cubic meters per tonne, so a VLOC fills out on deadweight long before it fills on cubic. Most have a double-hull ore-carrier section. The largest VLOCs, the Valemax type at about 400,000 dwt, are built to the Chinamax limits of 360 meters length, 65 meters beam, and 23 meters draft. The deep draft confines them to a short list of dredged deep-water ore terminals.