Dry cargo ships are used to carry solid dry goods that have a higher tolerance to heat and cold, such as metal ores, coal, steel products, forest products, and grains. These vessels are equipped with on-deck cranes and other mechanism for loading and unloading of goods.

As dry cargo shipment doesn't require special types of precautions (as required for carrying liquid and gases), bulk carriers and container ships don't have onboard temperature control equipment.

Today, bulk of international trade is carried out by thousands of dry cargo carriers transporting goods to ports across the world.

Dry cargo vessel category mainly includes bulk carriers and container ships. Bulk carriers are used for transportation of unpackaged bulk cargo, such as metal ores, coal, cement, tin, steel, and grains in its cargo holds.

Container ships are primarily used for the transportation of non-bulk cargo, generally manufactured goods, in truck-size intermodal containers.