In shipping, break bulk cargo or general cargo are goods that must be loaded individually, and not in intermodal containers nor in bulk cargo as with oil or grain. Ships that carry this sort of cargo are often called general cargo ships. The term break bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulkāthe extraction of a portion of the cargo of a ship or the beginning of the unloading process from the ship's holds. These goods may not be in . Break bulk cargo is transported in , , , , or . of items secur..