Deck Cargo Ships for Sale
Second-hand deck cargo ships and deck barges on the market now, with DWT, year built, class and photos. The asking price, class certificates and inspection arrangements are sent on request.
- Listed
- 109
- DWT
- 400–27,838
- Built
- 2006–2026
- IACS class
- 14
The deck cargo ships listed now
Counted from the 109 published listings as stated by the sellers; 94 with photos; 92 under ZC, China’s domestic register.
- Class society
- ZC92
- CCS14
- Panama1
- Not stated2
- Flag
- China106
- Panama1
- Not stated2
- Navigation area
- Near-coastal50
- Coastal45
- Unlimited5
Buying deck cargo ships: what to check
Read the navigation area on the class and statutory certificates (the listing shows it where the seller states it) against the route you plan — a restricted area is one of the items the class societies record on a transfer.[1]
The Load Lines Convention limits how deep a ship may be loaded; its main objective is freeboard together with weathertight and watertight integrity, and since its 1988 Protocol its surveys and certificates run on the same cycle as SOLAS and MARPOL. Check that the load line certificate is valid and was issued for the waters you mean to trade in.[2]
Start with class. When a ship moves between IACS member societies, the gaining society obtains the ship’s current status directly from the losing one under the transfer-of-class agreement, and the class entry survey it then carries out is set by the ship’s age and the losing society’s class status — from an annual survey for a ship under five years old up to a special survey at 20 years and over. A ship coming from a domestic register (ZC, China’s, is common in this list) is not a transfer between IACS members; ask the society you intend to class with what its entry survey will cover before you make an offer.[3]
Ask for the records the class societies themselves review on a transfer: damages, major repairs, hull conversions and machinery alterations with their dates, the condition evaluation or hull summary report where one exists, the history of conditions of class, thickness measurements from the last special survey (including areas of substantial corrosion), the report of that survey and the periodical reports since, the coating condition of the water ballast tanks, and any restriction on the navigation area.[1]
Check the ship on Equasis, which publishes safety-related information on ships and companies free of charge to registered users, against the particulars in the listing.[4]
Under SOLAS chapter VI regulation 5, cargo, cargo units and cargo transport units are loaded, stowed and secured throughout the voyage in accordance with the ship’s Cargo Securing Manual approved by the flag Administration. Ask for the approved manual and an inventory of the lashing gear that goes with the ship.[5]
Sources
- Türk Loydu — Procedural Requirements, July 2024 (embeds the IACS PRs): Annex 3 to PR1A/1B/1C, items to be considered in the review of vessel records
- IMO — International Convention on Load Lines, 1966
- Croatian Register of Shipping (IACS member) — Transfer of class (TOCA)
- Equasis — ship safety information (free, registration required)
- UK MCA — MGN 699 (M), Annex A: requirements from SOLAS chapter VI (cargo securing manual)
Particulars are given in good faith but not guaranteed; buyers should verify them by inspection and against the class records.