Open Hatch General Cargo, abbreviated (OHGC), is a

ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

designed to transport

forest product A forest product is any material derived from forestry for direct consumption or commercial use, such as lumber, paper, or fodder for livestock. Wood, by far the dominant product of forests, is used for many purposes, such as wood fuel (e.g. in fo ...

bulk cargo Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. Description Bulk cargo refers to material in either liquid or granular, particulate form, as a mass of relatively small solids, such as petroleum/ crude o ...

s, unitized cargoes, project cargoes and

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

Description

The vessel is typically fitted with two

Gantry crane A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, us ...

s for self-loading and unloading, with a typical SWL (

safe working load Safe Working Load (SWL) sometimes stated as the Normal Working Load (NWL) is the maximum safe force that a piece of lifting equipment, lifting device or accessory can exert to lift, suspend, or lower, a given mass without fear of breaking. Usually ...

) between 30 and 80 tons. Different equipment is connected to the gantry crane depending on cargo type as vacuum clamps for paper, unihook for unitised cargo, container frame and grab for bulk cargoes. Cargo holds are box shaped to fit containers and some holds can be equipped with tweendecks to improve flexibility of cargo mixture in same hold. Holds are typically equipped with

dehumidifier A dehumidifier is an air conditioning device which reduces and maintains the level of humidity in the air. This is done usually for health or thermal comfort reasons, or to eliminate musty odor and to prevent the growth of mildew by extracting w ...

for sensitive cargo.

Cargo hatch 120px, View of the hold of a container ship A ship's hold or cargo hold is a space for carrying cargo in the ship's compartment. Description Cargo in holds may be either packaged in crates, bales, etc., or unpackaged (bulk cargo). Access to h ...

covers for holds are opened and closed by mean of gantry crane. Space on those hatch covers can also be used to carry containers, lumber or project cargoes.marineinsight.com Different Types And Designs of Hatch Covers Used For Ships, By Tanumoy Sinha, January 8, 2021
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References

Notes

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Sources

*Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. ''Victory ships and tankers: The history of the ‘Victory’ type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II'', Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5. Ship types