Bulk Carrier

[JMorrison]

Hello!!

I am looking for a bulk carrier service,,, for shipments of commodities, ex-Thailand to West Africa by sea.

I have googled, 'bulk carrier company',, but, my search returns,, COSCO (does not operate to Africa) and several, European, operators.

If anyone could throw out some names, of bulk carrier agencies, whom I can contact, or even PM me their contacts, that would, be very kind.

Thank you,

JMorrison,,,

[bak875]

Jm,

Are you looking to charter a entire bulker? Or will the commodity be stuffed in containers? Chances are its the latter. If so best to go thru a freight forwarder here in HK as they have regular bizness with all the shipping lines and the cargo can be loaded from Thailand.

It wont be a problem all the major Lines call West Africa via feeder. if you want names of some forwarders PM me.

[Brown_By_Nature]

Try Maersk Line, CMA CGM

[JMorrison]

Hello bak875,

Appreciate, if you can PM me a couple of contacts.

Brown by nature, I will contact Maersk, about this, thanks. CMA CGM, and their Africa lines like Delmas, unfortunately, only offer containerised shipments (including open-top for minerals, but that is not what I am looking for).

We are not looking the charter an entire bulk vessel. The commodity, will be packed in FIBC, or jute bags, depending on what is available. I prefer dealing with freight agencies,, rather than directly with carriers, as their customer service is, for all intents and purposes, non-existent.

Thank you both, for your replies!,,,

JMorisson

[LBEAR 40]

Hi JM,

I would suggest that you to use containers since you have the commodities packed bags, as it will give you many more options for freight.

As it would be very difficult to get partial space on a bulk carrier, you might consider a general cargo carrier, bur not knowing more details of your commodity, I cannot say for sure what I would recommend.

Many local shipping firms can book you space on a general carrier, and there are local vessel brokers for bulk.. but as mentioned, it is generally difficult to find partial space.

When I use bulk vessels for the commodities that I am involved, I fix the entire vessel.

Hope that this assists....

[JMorrison]

Hi LBEAR 40,

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, shipping the commodity in containers is going to cost a fair bit more, than shipping by bulk (difference is circa USD 15/ton) and the market is rather competitive.

Concerning the booking of partial space on a bulk vessel, this is what I had in mind. Booking the entire vessel, I am not sure that will be particularly cost-effective either, as each consignment will definitely not make the low-end of the DWT range. Probably not even for a handysize-class bulk ship. But we coulc have a look at mini-bulkers as a possibility.

That said, I have got some contacts from bak875 (thank you) so I have some place to start from, and will take it from here.

Thanks again everyone!,,,,,