Which shipping segments does the site cover?
The site groups the companies it covers by what their ships carry (or, for a few, how they earn), because ships of one segment earn from the same markets. Each segment has its own page comparing the companies in it.
Sizes below are the usual industry ranges in deadweight tonnes (dwt), the weight a ship can carry. Exact boundaries differ between sources. A class name such as Handysize means one size in tankers and another in dry bulk.
Crude tankers
Crude oil, from producing regions to refineries.
Main classes: VLCC (very large crude carrier: about 300,000 dwt, roughly 2 million barrels); Suezmax (about 150,000–160,000 dwt); Aframax (about 80,000–120,000 dwt).
Product tankers
Refined oil products such as diesel, gasoline, jet fuel and naphtha, from refineries to consumers.
Main classes: LR2 (about 80,000–120,000 dwt); LR1 (about 55,000–80,000 dwt); MR, medium range (about 45,000–55,000 dwt); Handysize (smaller).
Dry bulk
Unpackaged dry cargo: iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, fertiliser and smaller bulk trades.
Main classes: Capesize and Newcastlemax (about 150,000–210,000 dwt); Panamax and Kamsarmax (about 65,000–85,000 dwt); Supramax and Ultramax (about 50,000–65,000 dwt); Handysize (smaller).
Container
Manufactured goods in standard boxes. Liner companies run scheduled services and earn freight per box; ship owners charter their ships to the liners for a daily hire.
Main classes: Feeders up to the largest ships of over 20,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units), sized by box capacity rather than dwt.
Gas
Liquefied gas: LNG (natural gas cooled to about −162°C) and LPG (propane and butane), plus petrochemical gases such as ethylene.
Main classes: LNG carriers and VLGCs (very large gas carriers, for LPG), sized in cubic metres; smaller gas carriers; floating LNG (FLNG) units that liquefy gas at sea under long-term contracts.
Offshore
Not cargo: rigs that drill for oil and gas, and vessels that support offshore fields. Rigs earn a dayrate from the oil company that hires them.
Main classes: Drillships and semisubmersibles (floaters, for deep water); jackups (standing on the seabed in shallow water); support vessels such as platform supply (PSV), anchor-handling (AHTS) and service operation vessels (CSOV).
Car carrier
Cars, trucks and machinery, driven on and off the ship, on contracts with car makers and other shippers.
Main classes: Pure car and truck carriers (PCTC), sized by the number of cars they hold.
Chemical
Chemicals, vegetable oils and some refined products, often many different cargoes on one voyage.
Main classes: Chemical tankers with many separate, coated or stainless-steel tanks.
Lessor
A business model rather than a cargo: companies that own ships or rigs and lease them to operators on long charters, earning contracted hire.
Holding
A business model rather than a cargo: a company whose main assets are stakes in other shipping companies.
Passenger
Passengers and some cargo on scheduled coastal voyages, earning from tickets rather than a daily hire.
How each company's fleet is priced, segment by segment, is on the coverage page.
An explainer, not investment advice (disclaimer). How the site's own estimates are built is on the methodology page.