In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, are goods, that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units, and traditionally the large number of items are recorded on distinct bills of lading that firstly list them by the different commodities. This in contrast to cargo stowed in modern shipping containers – or to bulk cargo, which goes directly, unpackaged and in large quantity, into a ship's hold(s), measured by volume or weight; for instance oil or grain.

The term break-bulk derives from the phrase breaking bulk – using "to break bulk" as a verb: to initiate the extraction of a portion of a ship's cargo, or to begin the unloading process from the ship's hold(s). Ships carrying break-bulk cargo are often called general cargo ships.

Break-bulk / general cargo consists of goods transported, stowed and handled piecemeal to some degree, typically bundled somehow in unit loads for hoisting, either with cargo nets, slings, crates, or stacked on trays, pallets or skids. Furthermore, batches of break-bulk goods are frequently packaged in smaller containers: bags, boxes, cartons, crates, drums, or barrels/vats.

At best (and today mostly) lifted directly into and out of a vessel's holds, but otherwise onto and off its deck, by cranes or derricks present on the dock or on the ship itself. If hoisted on deck instead of straight into the hold, liftable or rolling goods then have to be man-handled and stowed competently by stevedores. Securing break-bulk and general freight inside a vessel, includes the use of dunnage. When no hoisting equipment available, break bulk would previously be man-carried on and off ship, over a plank, or by passing via human chain.
Since the 1960s, the volume of break bulk cargo has enormously declined worldwide in favor of mass adoption of Intermodal containers.