Perhaps in no other transportation industry you shall find this volume of jargon as in the shipping industry. Also these shipping terminologies are such tricky terms that if you do not know their proper definition, there is no way that you can figure them out by yourself. And there is no way that you can perform your business activities properly without knowing these shipping definitions. In order to make your job a lot easier, we at Maritime Information are providing a shipping terms glossary which is much easier to look up, understand the terms, remember them and make their proper implementation at your workplace.
- Berth: The area used to lodge a vessel alongside a dock while anchored at a port.
- Break-bulk: Generalized freight like iron, steel, machinery linerboard, wood pulp, and yachts etc which are not put inside a container while loading on the ship.
- Charter Party: A contract between a ship owner and a cargo owner, usually fixed up by a factor, by which a ship is hired for a single voyage or for a period of time.
- Consolidated Freight Station or Container Freight Station (CFS): The specified location of a port where the cargo is packed into containers for despatch or unpacking of the cargo is carried out upon arrival of the ship and made ready for despatch.
- Container: The huge rectangular steel boxes generally of 20, 35, 40 or 45 feet used to stuff cargo for transportation in ships. These containers after being disembarked from ships can be handled interchangeably among trucks or railcars for transportation to the inland areas.
- Customs Broker: Works in favour of the importer taking care of cargo documentation and cargo clearance through international custom barriers.
- Deadweight Tonnage (DWT): It indicates the maximum carrying capacity of the vessel. Deadweight tonnage (DWT) is the displacement at any loaded condition minus the lightship weight. It includes the crew, passengers, cargo, fuel, water, and stores. Like Displacement, it is often expressed in long tons or in metric tons.
- Displacement: It means the volume of water the vessel will displace.
- Dock: A platform built along the navigable waterways so that the vessel can be anchored alongside it for loading and unloading cargo.
- Dry Bulk: Generally related to freights of minerals or grains that is moved without mark or count. E.g.: potash, salts, sugar, and aggregate.
- Feeder Service: Ocean transport systems which are used for further transportation of cargo to and from additional ports within a specific geographical area after they arrive at major ports.
- Freight Forwarder: Freight forwarder generally arrange cargo movement to an international destination; books or arranges space for those shipments, prepare and process corroboration and perform related activities concerning international shipments.
- Gantry Crane: Crane mounted over a track used to embark and disembark shipments like cargo, containers and heavy lifts.
- Gross Tonnage: Previously known as Gross Register Tonnage (GRT) it refers to the capacity of a vessel which is calculated by approved formula.
- Net Tonnage: Previously known as Net Register Tonnage (NRT) it refers to the volume of the cargo that a vessel can carry i.e. the volume of ship that can be used to transport freight or passenger. It is measured by
Net Tonnage = Gross Tonnage – volume of space that will not hold cargo
(includes engine compartment, helm station, crew spaces, etc.)
- Hopper Car: A cargo carrier car plying on the dock with a top that can be opened along with one or more openings at the bottom through which the cargo is dumped.
- Interchange: A specific place in the port for the purpose of delivering and picking up containerized cargo.
- Intermodal: Relating to cargo that can be hauled over different modes of transportation e.g.: truck, rail, ocean etc.
- LCL: Less than container load.
- Length Overall (LOA): Linear measurement of a vessel from bow to after part of the ship.
- Lift On-Lift Off (LO/LO): The technique of loading and unloading of cargo container on and off the ship by the shore side cranes.
- Liquid Bulk: Liquid cargo that is stored and transported in specific vessels custom -made to transport it.
- Longshoremen: People who perform services like operating equipment, rigging cargo or administrative tasks associated embarking and disembarking of cargo under the supervision of a operator or stevedoring company
- Long Ton: A unit of weight measurement unique to the shipping industry.
1 long ton = 2240 pound or 1016 kilogram
- Marshaling Yard: The specified place of a dock where the cargoes are assembled for shipment or for inland transport after arrival.
- Metric Tonne or Tonne: 2204.6 pounds.
- Mean Low Water (MLW): Lowest average water level attained during outgoing tide.
- Mean High Water (MHW): Highest average water level attained during outgoing tide.
- Motor Ship (MS) or Motor Vessel (MV): A ship propelled by internal-combustion engines.
- On-Dock Rail: Rail service that goes inside the port so as to load and unload containers/break bulk directly to and from the rail wagon and the vessel.
- On-Terminal Rail: Rail service and rail track provided within a designated terminal area.
- Per Container Rate: The charge of shipped cargo transported in containers or trailers. The charges are decided over the class of container or trailer.
- Reefer: Refers to refrigerated cargo either in break bulk or in container. It also pertains to the capability of the ship to handle, store and transport such type of cargo.
- Roll on-Roll off (RO/RO): The vessels used for this purpose are equipped with specialized ramp for driving on and off wheeled cargo e.g. cars.
- Rubber-Tired Gantry (RTG): Gantry cranes mounted over transportable platforms that can travel within the premise of Marshaling Yard for the movement and positioning of containers.
- Salvage: Property recovered from wrecked vessel. It can also mean recovering the wrecked vessel itself.
- Short Ton: 1 short ton = 2,000 pounds or 907 kilograms.
- Steamship Line: Ship owning companies which operates carriers/vessels to transport cargo.
- Stevedore: Agency or an agent who is hired by vessel operators to determine the procedure of loading and unloading of cargo. They are also responsible for providing manpower and necessary equipment to carry out and supervise the whole process.
- Shipper: The establishments responsible for packaging and shipping of cargo.
- Stripping: Disembarking cargo from vessels.
- Stuffing: The process of making the cargo ready either for shipment or for inland transportation.
- Top Lift: Equipment used to handle containers placed in the storage yard, truck or railroads where it is required to lift them from above rather than below.
- Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC): A chassis on which a container is placed that can wholly be placed on railroad flat car.
- Tramp ship: Any cargo carrying ship, which mostly operates a charter party and can dock in briefly at any port for cargo.
- Transit Shed: A dock side locker where the consignment/cargo is briefly stored before export or import.
- Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU): A unit of measurement relating to space occupied by a standard 20 foot container. This measurement is used to measure the capacity of container vessel or storage area.
One 40 ft. Container (FEU) = 2 TEU’s
- ULCC: Ultra Large Crude Carriers larger than 300,000DWT.
- Waybill: Document acting as an acknowledgement of the procurement of goods and attestation of the contract of carriage.
- VLCS: Very Large Container Ship. Generally referred to vessels with carrying capacity 8000 and more TEU. Of late a considerable number of VLC Ships reportedly have a carrying capacity in excess of 13,000 TEU.