Would you like to familiarise yourself with or remember terminology about maritime shipping? Come and let’s go through our list.
A
Aft: The rear part of a ship or the opposite of the bow
Anchorage: The designated area where ships anchor, often with specific rules and charges.
Arbitration: Method for resolving disputes in shipping contracts without going to court.
Adventure: Shipment of goods paid for by the shipper. Additionally, a phrase used to refer to a voyage or shipment in certain insurance contracts.
Agent: A person who is permitted to conduct business on behalf of and under the name of another individual or organisation.
B
Beam: The width of a vessel
Berth Rate: The cost from the end of the ship’s tackle at the load port to the end of the ship’s tackle at the discharge port is included in the shipping rate.
Backhaul: To haul a shipment back over part of a route that it has already travelled; return movement of cargo, usually opposite from the direction of its primary cargo destination.
Ballast Water: Water carried in tanks to improve the stability and balance of the vessel.
Bunkering: The logistics of loading and distributing the fuel among the available onboard tanks are part of the delivery of fuel for usage by ships.
Bill of Lading (B/L): A contract between a shipper and a transportation provider that lays out the parameters of the agreement. It functions as a receipt for commodities, a contract of carriage, and a document of title.
Broker: The person who arranges for the transportation of loads in exchange for a portion of the load’s earnings.
Bulk cargo: Not in containers or packaging; delivered unmarked and uncounted in a ship’s hold.
Bond port: First port of call, or the place of a ship’s first customs entry into any country.
C
Cargo: Goods transported by a ship, airplane, or other vehicles.
Caboate: Water transportation term applicable to shipments between ports of a nation; commonly refers to coastwise or intercoastal navigation or trade.
Container: Steel or aluminium frame forming a box in which cargo can be stowed meeting International Standard Organization (ISO)-specified measurements
Capesize Vessel: A dry bulk vessel above 80,000dwt or whose beam precludes passage via the Panama Canal and thus forces them to pass around Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope.
Charter: A contract for leasing a vessel.
Convoy: A group of ships travelling together for mutual protection.
Charter Party: A formal agreement outlining the conditions of the arrangement, including the length of the agreement, the freight rate, and the ports of call, between the owner of a vessel and the party wishing to hire the vessel.
Classification Society: To help insurance underwriters and others understand the quality and condition of the vessels given for employment or insurance, an organization is established for the surveying and classification of ships.
Chandler: An individual or company selling equipment and supplies for ships
D
Demurrage: Fine imposed on shippers or consignees who delay the carrier’s equipment for longer than permitted.
Draught: Depth of the vessel below the waterline.
Deadweight Tonnage: Measure of how much weight a ship can carry, not including the empty weight of the ship.
Displacement: The weight of water that a ship pushes aside when it is floating.
Dry Bulk: Unpackaged goods shipped in large parcels by sea.
E
Export: Shipment to another country.
EDIFACT: Electronic Data Exchange for Trade, Commerce, and Administration. United Nations-sponsored international standards for data interchange.
F
Feeder Service: Transportation system using smaller vessels serving larger cargo ports.
Fixed Cost: Costs that do not vary with the level of activity.
Free Trade Zone: Special sites within the country that are deemed to be outside of the customs territory
Freight: Goods transported in bulk by truck, train, ship, or aircraft.
Flag State: The country under whose laws a ship is registered or licensed.
Freight Forwarder: The person or firm that organizes all environmental issues during transportation. The Forwarder ensures that goods are transported from point A to point B.
Freight Payable at Destination: A common freight payment method for bulk cargo shipments, the weight of which is determined upon ship unloading.
G
Gateway: A point at which freight moving from one territory to another is interchanged between transportation lines.
Gross Weight: Entire weight of goods, packaging and freight car or container, ready for shipment.
Groupage: Assembling multiple consignments that work well together to form a whole container load. Another name for it is consolidation.
H
Hatch: The opening in the deck of a vessel.
Harmonized System of Codes (HS): An international products classification system that uses a single commodity-coding scheme to describe cargo in international trade.
Heavy–Lift Charge: Charge designed to raise objects that are too heavy for a ship’s standard tackle.
Hull: The main body of a ship, excluding the superstructure.
I
Import: Goods brought into a country by ship.
Inventory: A detailed list of cargo or ship equipment.
International Waters: Areas of the sea not under the jurisdiction of any country.
In Gate: The transaction or interchange that occurs at the time a container is received by a port from another carrier
Inducement: Placing a port on a ship’s itinerary because the amount of cargo it can handle makes the cost of routing the ship worthwhile.
Inherent Vice: Any flaw or other feature of a product that could cause damage to the product without an outside cause is referred to as an insurance term.
J
Jetty: A structure projecting into the sea, used for docking ships.
Jettison: The act of discarding cargo to lighten a ship in an emergency.
K
Knot: The unit of speed equal to 1 nautical mile (nm) per hour. It is exactly equal to 1,852 meters per hour, approximately equal to 1,151 land miles per hour and 0.514 meters per second.
Keel: The backbone of a ship, running along the bottom of its hull
L
Landbridge: Transporting goods via water from one nation to another via a port, then to an inland location within that nation or to a third nation via train or road.
LASH: An acronym for “Lighter Aboard Ship” used in the maritime sector. A specifically built ship with an overhead crane for hoisting barges that are particularly made and storing them.
Letter of Credit (LC): A document, issued by a bank per instructions by a buyer of goods, authorizing the seller to draw a specified sum of money under specified terms, usually the receipt by the bank of certain documents within a given time.
Lloyds’ Registry: To help insurance underwriters and others understand the quality and condition of the vessels given for employment or insurance, an organization is established for the surveying and classification of ships.
Lighter: A small vessel used to transfer cargo to and from larger ships.
M
Mooring: Securing a ship to a dock or anchorage.
Manifest: A document listing the ship’s cargo, passengers, and crew.
N
Net Tonnage: A ship’s total usable volume, excluding non-revenue spaces.
Notation: A classification of society’s symbols indicating a ship’s compliance with specific standards.
O
On-carrier: A person or business that enters into a contract to convey goods using a feeder vessel, truck, train, or barge from the port or point of discharge of an ocean-going or sea-going ship to another location.
Overhaul: Major maintenance or repair work on a ship or its systems.
P
Payer: A party obligated to pay, as shown by the provided document.
Pallet: A flat tray, generally made of wood, but occasionally steel or other materials, on which goods can be stacked.
Pilotage: Assisting a ship’s master to navigate when they are in confined water or arriving or exiting a port.
Port of registry: The where a ship’s nationality is established by registering it with the government.
Panamax: Terms for the size limits for ships travelling through the Panama Canal.
R
Revenue Ton: A ton on which the shipment is freighted.
Ro-Ro: An abbreviation for “Roll On/Roll Off.” Wheeled vehicles can be loaded and unloaded without the use of cranes thanks to a maritime shipping service that uses a ship with ramps.
Reefer: A refrigerated ship or container for perishable goods.
S
Supply Chain: The network of all the people, businesses, assets, activities, and technology that go into making and selling a product.
Stern: The rear part of a ship.
Suezmax Tanker: A tanker of 120,000 to 199,000dwt.
Stripping: Removing cargo from a container.
Stowage: Loading freight into vessels’ holds.
T
Terms of Sale: The point when sellers have met their responsibilities and the items are legally considered delivered to the customer. These succinct sentences outline each party’s responsibilities and rights with regard to the transportation of commodities.
Tare Weight: The weight of wrapping or packing.
Terminal Charge: A fee for a service rendered in a terminal area, usually involving handling related to cargo delivery, inspection, or receipt through land-based activities.
Topping of: The procedure of stopping the liquid cargo in a cargo tank at a desired level.
Towage: Fees associated with tugs helping ships or other boats in ports.
Tonnage: 100 cubic feet.
Tramp Line: An ocean carrier that operates ships that don’t follow set routes or schedules.
U
UCP: Abbreviation for the “Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits,” published by the International Chamber of Commerce.
Unit Load: Packages that can be handled as a single item at a time, such as those placed in crates, pallets, or any other manner.
Unloader: Port equipment employed to unload ships carrying dry bulk cargo.
Unladen Weight: The weight of a ship without cargo, fuel, or crew.
V
Vanishing Point: The critical angle at which a ship’s stability is compromised.
VLCC: Very Large Crude Carrier. A tanker of 200,000 to 319,000dwt.
Vessel Load Free Out: The conditions for loading and unloading the goods for shipment are decided upon by the chartered party.
W
Warehouse: A location where commodities and cargo are received, delivered, consolidated, distributed, and stored.
Wharfage: Fee that the terminal charges for using a wharf and related machinery for loading or unloading cargo.
Waybill: A shipping company gives a shipper this document, which acts as both proof of the carriage contract and a receipt for the cargo.
Z
Zero Discharge: A policy prohibiting waste release into the sea.
