LaycanDeskSalt and sulphur bulk freight
Solar and rock salt from Australia, Mexico, Chile, India and Egypt, and granular sulphur from Canada and Central Asia, on Handysize to Supramax and larger bulkers. Freight for bulk salt and sulphur: solar salt from Western Australia and Baja California, rock salt from northern Chile, salt from Gujarat and Egypt, and granular sulphur from Vancouver and Central Asia, with the IMSBC Group B sulphur schedule, protective hold coating, electrical isolation and salt-free holds settled before a ship is named.
Salt is a high-volume, low-value cargo where the ship decides the delivered cost. Western Australia's solar saltfields at Dampier, Port Hedland and Lake MacLeod have capacity of about 10.3 million tonnes a year, most of it shipped to chlor-alkali plants in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia. In Mexico, salt from Guerrero Negro goes by barges of up to 10,500 tonnes to Cedros Island, which loads ships of up to 180,000 tonnes. Northern Chile ships rock salt from Caleta Patillos and Punta Patache, including road salt to the US East Coast. In India, Kandla is the main salt export port, followed by Jakhau, Mundra and Navlakhi; in Egypt, a record washed-salt cargo of about 47,000 tonnes sailed from El Arish to the United States. Sulphur is the harder cargo. Crushed, lump and coarse-grained sulphur is IMSBC Group B and IMDG class 4.1: it can catch fire, its dust can explode, and wet sulphur corrodes steel, faster when chlorides such as salt residues are present.
For sulphur, owners are asked for holds coated or lime-washed before loading, spotless of salt and previous cargo, and for electrical circuits in the cargo spaces isolated; a Group B sulphur cargo also needs the ship's document of compliance for dangerous goods. Canadian sulphur ships from the Vancouver terminals; Kazakh sulphur moves west across the Caspian through Azerbaijan to Georgia's Black Sea ports. Send us the product (solar, rock or washed salt, or granular, prilled or lump sulphur), its IMSBC group, quantity with tolerance, load port and rate, discharge port with draft and rate, laycan, commission and the charterer's name. Salt and sulphur are poor shipmates in sequence, so owners are asked for the last three cargoes. The producer comes first, and every counterparty is screened before an owner sees the stem.
How it ships
- Salt: shiploader or barge to transhipment port
- Sulphur: IMSBC Group B, IMDG class 4.1
- Holds coated or lime-washed before sulphur
- Electrical circuits in cargo spaces isolated
- No chloride residue: salt and sulphur kept apart
Load areas
- Australia (Dampier, Port Hedland)
- Mexico (Cedros Island)
- Chile (Caleta Patillos, Punta Patache)
- India (Kandla, Mundra, Navlakhi) and Egypt (El Arish)
- Canada (Vancouver) and Georgia for Kazakh sulphur
Discharge areas
- Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China and Southeast Asia (salt)
- US East Coast (road salt)
- North Africa and Europe (sulphur)
- South and East Asia (sulphur)
Ships that carry it
The cargo itself, on Commbril
Questions charterers and owners ask
Why do owners want holds lime-washed or coated for sulphur?
Because wet sulphur reacts with steel and corrodes it, and chlorides from salt or seawater speed that up. The IMSBC Code calls for holds and tank tops treated with an effective protective coating or lime-wash, and for holds clean of previous cargo. Owners price the preparation and the cleaning after.
Is all sulphur Group B?
Crushed, lump and coarse-grained sulphur under UN 1350 is Group B and class 4.1 because of the fire risk, and the ship needs a dangerous goods document of compliance for it. Some formed sulphur is declared under Group C. The master confirms the group from the shipper's declaration before loading.
How does Mexican salt reach an ocean-going ship?
From the saltworks at Guerrero Negro by barge of up to 10,500 tonnes to Cedros Island, which has storage and a ship loader for vessels of up to 180,000 tonnes. The ship loads at Cedros, not at the saltworks.
Can a ship carry salt right after sulphur, or sulphur after salt?
Not without thorough cleaning. Salt residue under a sulphur cargo accelerates corrosion, and sulphur residue contaminates salt. We ask owners for the last cargoes and the cleaning plan before a ship goes against either stem.