Copper concentrate is the raw material used to produce copper ingots. The copper concentrate also contains sulfur. Dry smelting performed by smelters in Japan like Saganoseki Smelter and Refinery, remove the sulfur content as a byproduct and process it into sulfuric acid. Conversely, the wet smelting (solvent extraction-electrowinning [SX-EW]) method used to produce copper ingots produces the copper ingots through an electrolytic process from a leach solution obtained by dispersing sulfuric acid on copper ore. Typically this method uses large amounts of sulfuric acid. In Chile, the world’s number one copper producing country, the consumption of sulfuric acid can be very large depending on the global demand for copper. To address this supply & demand equation the Mar Camino (Sea Road) was launched in 2010 as the world’s only sulfuric acid/copper concentrate ore (bulk) carrier. The copper concentrate of 30% purity produced from the copper mines of Chile is stowed in the ship’s hold and then shipped mainly to the Pan Pacific Copper (PPC) Saganoseki Smelter & Refinery in Oita Prefecture. The by-product concentrated sulfuric acid produced in the dry smelting process is loaded in a special-purpose tank and shipped back to Chile, where it is again used in a smelting process at the copper mine or sold. With “freight” for the otherwise empty backhaul, the dual purpose Mar Camino thus reduces logistical costs.