Re: Short Ton vs Long Ton

From: Bill
Location: ~25N 77W
email:
Remote Name: 63.245.125.227
Date: 09.29.06
Time: 07:07:36 PM

Comments

A ship's deadweight (Carrying capability)was historically expressed by the architect & builder in Long Tons of 2240 lbs for The USA, UK and parts of Europe. European & Asian deadweight was usually expressed in Metric Tonnes of 2204.6 lbs. The weight of cargo commodities varied by each commercial trading practice in the case of Great Lakes. Coal and sand were traded in Short Tons of 2000 lb. Iron and stone traded in Long Tons. One old world salt trader friend used to think he was getting a vicarious bargain when he sold salt in short tons and chartered ocean freight on it in long tons. Early Lakes directories such as Greens(Before Greenwood) used to list each ships coal carrying capacity in short tons. Coal and grains like many commodities can have quite a range of specific gravity, so the ocean practice is to focus on the hold volume expressed as grain cubic as a better basis for voyage planning.