Breakbulk cargo

In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk,^[2] or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, is goods that are stowed on board ships in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading that list them by different commodities.^[3] This is in contrast to cargo stowed in modern intermodal containers as well as bulk cargo, which goes directly, unpackaged and in large quantities, into a ship's hold(s), measured by volume or weight (for instance, oil or grain).

The term break-bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulk, a term for unloading part of a ship's cargo, or commencing unloading the cargo. Ships carrying break-bulk cargo are often called general cargo ships.

Break-bulk/general cargo consists of goods transported, stowed and handled piecemeal to some degree, typically bundled somehow in unit loads for hoisting, either with cargo nets, slings, or crates, or stacked on trays, pallets or skids.^[4] Furthermore, batches of break-bulk goods are frequently packaged in smaller containers: bags, boxes, cartons, crates, drums, or barrels/vats.

Ideally, break-bulk cargo is lifted directly into and out of a vessel's holds, and this is mostly the case today. Otherwise, it must be lifted onto and off its deck, by cranes or derricks present on the dock or on the ship itself. If hoisted on deck rather than straight into the hold, liftable or rollable goods then have to be man-handled and stowed competently by stevedores. Securing break-bulk and general freight inside a vessel includes the use of dunnage. When no hoisting equipment is available, break bulk has traditionally been manually carried on and off ship, over a plank, or it might be passed from man to man via a human chain.

Since the 1960s, the volume of break-bulk cargo has enormously declined worldwide in favor of mass adoption of intermodal containers.^[5]