# feeder ship

*Last updated: 2026-06-26*

> The feeder ship enters the picture wherever mainline vessels are too large or too deep-drafted to call: it collects containers from smaller or regional ports and delivers them to a major hub terminal for transhipment onto deep-sea carriers.

The feeder ship enters the picture wherever mainline vessels are too large or too deep-drafted to call: it collects containers from smaller or regional ports and delivers them to a major hub terminal for transhipment onto deep-sea carriers. Typical capacities range from 1,000 to 5,000 TEU, and vessels operate on fixed shuttle schedules—connecting Baltic or North Sea ports to Rotterdam, for instance, or Mediterranean outports to large transhipment hubs. This hub-and-spoke arrangement lets carriers concentrate their largest vessels at a handful of gateway ports while maintaining broad regional coverage. Feeder ships differ from coastal trampers in that their routes are schedule-driven and linked to a specific hub, rather than chartered on an ad-hoc basis.

**Source:** [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeder_ship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeder_ship)

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Term | feeder ship |
| Language | EN |
| Word count | 114 |
| Last updated | 2026-06-26 |
| Source | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeder_ship |

## Related Pages

* [Kajalleq Upernavik](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/seaports/kajalleq-upernavik-port-gljuv)

---

*Logistics Glossary — Freight Academy: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/glossary/feeder-ship](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/glossary/feeder-ship)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/glossary/en/feeder-ship](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/glossary/en/feeder-ship)*

*JSON summary: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/glossary/feeder-ship/llm-summary?lang=en](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/glossary/feeder-ship/llm-summary?lang=en)*