Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I have always heard Freighter used to mean any cargo carrying vessel (aside from tankers and ro-ro's). Before I wrote this I looked it up in a few places and in all the references I could find, other then sometimes differentiating freight from express, there was no distinction in the type of cargo. It is useful to remember that the terms meaning has changed allot. In the 19th century (Well 1867 source) a freighter was the party hiring the vessel to carry the cargo not the vessel itself. I think it is safe to say though that in current usage a freighter is a general term for a cargo carrying vessel and Bulk Carrier is a specific type of ship.

Freighter is an old term which designated a ship carrying freight which not too long ago pretty much meant a general cargo ship as they were the only kind afloat. During the 50's ship design began to evolve and gradually bulk commodities were carried by specially designed vessels called bulk carriers. The term freighter, used as a general term, therefore became "incorrect". A laker today is a bulk carrier as very few carry fright other than bulk. When you look at a small canaller, you could call it a freighter as it generally carried both. It is fair to say that the term freighter has become a regionalism in that it designates anything self propelled that is not a tanker. What the Algocape or the Arthur M.Anderson are are Bulk carriers and are designated as such by all classification society.

I've heard the terms freighter and bulk carrier used almost synonymously, but I was curious if people preferred one term over the other. Is one more common among the boatnerd community, and one more used by the average layman?
Also, if you were searching for a boat like the St. Marys Challenger and needed a term to describe it, would you use freighter or bulk carrier?