Cargo Ship Name Generator

Real cargo ships are named by their owners, and most owners follow a house style so the whole fleet is recognisable in a port schedule. The commonest schemes are a shared first word plus a variable second (Cape Agulhas, Cape Finisterre for capesize bulkers; Pacific Opal, Pacific Kestrel; City of Antwerp, City of Santos), a family or company name paired with a given name (Astrid Halvorsen, Lotte Brandt), and national traditions such as the Japanese suffix Maru, Greek saints and island names (Agios Nikolaos, Chios Pride), and Chinese pinyin compounds like Hai Feng or Tian Long. Merchant ships carry the prefix MV (motor vessel) or M/V in documents, while older or steam-powered ships used SS.

The second word usually signals what the ship is for. Bulk carriers lean on minerals, grain and virtues (Iron Duke-style names, Grain Harvest, Perseverance); container ships favour speed and reach (Express, Navigator, Pioneer); coasters and feeders take local rivers, islands and birds (Elbe, Borkum, Kittiwake); car carriers and reefers use brighter, commercial words. Sizes even have nicknames that show up in names, from Handysize and Panamax to Aframax and Capesize.

For fiction or games, pick one scheme and stick to it across a fleet, then break the rule once for a ship with a story behind its name.