Deadweight

When you are shipping ocean freight as LCL (less than container load), you get an instant freight quote online. One of the factors of a shipment that determines the price you pay is the weight of your cargo that you want to be transported internationally. Weight is very important in container shipping. If there is too much weight on the vessel, then there could be massive safety issues at hand. Deadweight is an important measurement of weight. Deadweight results in the number of tones of cargo on the ship that is available for storage on a vessel. If a ship goes past their deadweight level, then the ship could sink. Thus, the total capacity of the vessel must be less than deadweight.
The deadweight equation is used for all types of ocean freight vessels that carry a variety of containers, dry bulk and liquid shipments. Each ship will have a different DWT (which stands for deadweight tonnage) levels for how much weight can be stored. With the more weight on a vessel, the more that vessel will sink to their deep load line, which is the safe limit for when a ship can continue to be buoyant. This buoyancy helps showcase weight differences when a ship is loaded with cargo and when that ship is not loaded with cargo. The is why the next time you determine the weight of you shipment, understand the important role used in determining the safety of the ship.