A feeder vessel, ship or service, refers to a type of container vessel which is primarily used to transport containers between smaller ports and larger regional hub ports.
These vessels play a crucial role both in short sea shipping as they move containers inside a region but also in deep sea shipping as they move volumes of cargo from smaller port to the regional hubs called on by the larger container vessels.
Feeder vessels typically have smaller cargo capacities compared to larger container ships, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container capacity. They are designed to navigate shallow waters and have the flexibility to access ports with limited infrastructure, such as smaller piers or terminals.
