There are four main types of modern anchors made of cast steel or forged steel.

① Rod anchor: the fluke and the anchor stem are usually integral and have a cross bar perpendicular to the plane of the fluke. Most of the rod anchors are double clawed and some are single clawed. When used, one claw is deep in the soil and has great grasping power. However, due to the cross bar, it is inconvenient to collect, so it is mostly used for small ships. The main types of rod anchors are navy anchor, single claw anchor , Foshan anchor, Japanese anchor, etc.

② Rodless anchor: the claw and anchor rod can rotate at a certain angle, without cross bar. When used, the two flukes are locked into the soil at the same time, so it is convenient to hoist and collect the anchor, so it is widely used. Hall anchor and its improved sbeck anchor are the representative ones.

③ High grip anchor: the claw is wide and can be rotated at a certain angle. There is a protruding rod body at the anchor head or middle part of the anchor claw, which plays a stabilizing role. Due to the large area of the anchor claw, it is suitable for sandy or soft water bottom. The main types of high grip anchors are Danfoss anchor, Markovian anchor and speedboat anchor.

④ Special anchor: the shape of special anchor is different from that of general anchor, such as mushroom anchor. The anchor head is mushroom shaped or umbrella shaped. It is deeply embedded in the soil, has large grasping force and is not easy to move. It is mainly used for long-term anchoring and positioning, such as the fixed anchor of lightboat, pontoon, pontoon, etc.