The problem of routing and scheduling a fleet of ships to transport a set of (partially optional) bulk cargoes is a complicated task. This is an important planning problem in tramp and industrial shipping and a basic version of this problem can be formulated as a Pickup and Delivery Problem with Time Windows. However, practical problems often pose additional complexities and opportunities that are not considered in this basic version. The purpose of this talk is, in addition to show the basic version of this problem, to show how some of these real-life extensions, such as flexible cargo quantities, split cargoes and sailing speed optimization, can be incorporated. Furthermore, it will be demonstrated that although the problems become harder to solve when introducing these extensions, better solutions might be obtained, and fleet operators have the possibility to significantly improve the financial results of their operation.