Operations Vocabulary
Shipping Terms
Complete maritime shipping vocabulary reference with searchable terms used in operations, compliance, and port logistics.
Showing 25 of 392 terms
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| BACKLETTER | Where a seller/shipper issues a 'letter of indemnity' in favour of the carrier in exchange for a clean bill of lading. May have only a limited value. Example: P & I problems. |
| BAGGED CARGO | Various kinds of commodities usually packed in sacks or in bags, such as sugar, cement, milk powder, onion, grain, flour, etc. |
| BALE CAPACITY | Cubic capacity of a vessels holds to carry packaged dry cargo such as bales/pallets. |
| BALLAST | Heavy substances loaded by a vessel to improve stability, trimming, sea-keeping and to increase the immersion at the propeller. Sea water ballast is commonly' loaded in most vessels in ballast tanks, positioned in compartments right at the bottom and in some cases on the sides, called wing tanks. On a tanker, ballast is seawater that is taken into the cargo tanks to submerge the vessel to a proper trim. |
| BALLAST MOVEMENT | A voyage or voyage leg made without any paying cargo in a vessel's tanks. To maintain proper stability, trim, or draft, sea water is usually carried during such movements. |
| BALLAST TANK | Compartments at the bottom of a ship or on the sides which are filled with liquids for stability and to make the ship seaworthy. Any shipboard tank or compartment on a tanker normally used for carrying salt water ballast. When these compartments or tanks are not connected with the cargo system they are called segregated ballast tanks or systems. |
| BARE BOAT CHARTER | A charter in which the bare ship is chartered without crew; the charterer, for a stipulated sum taking over the vessel for a stated period of time, with a minimum of restrictions; the charterer appoints the master and the crew and pays all running expenses. See Demise Charter. |
| BAREBOAT CHARTER | Vessel contract where charterers take over all responsibility for the operation of the vessel and expenses for a certain period of time. |
| BARGE | Flat-bottomed boat designed to carry cargo on inland waterways,usually without engines or crew accommodations. Barges can be lashed together and either pushed or pulled by tugs, carrying cargo of 60,000 tons or more. Small barges for carrying cargo between ship and shore are known as lighters. |
| BARGE ABOARD CATAMARAN | A way of loading cargo into large barges and then in turn loading the barges into a ship. |
| BARGE CARRIERS | Ships designed to carry either barges or containers exclusively, or some variable number of barges and containers simultaneously. Currently this class includes two types of vessels, the LASH and the SEABEE. |
| BEAM | The width of a ship. Also called breadth. |
| BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP | When a liner cargo vessel accepts extra cargo to fill up the empty space remaining. |
| BERTH C/P | Term used in a voyage charter party, e.g. vessel shall proceed to Berth 2 at Falmouth. |
| BERTH CARGO | When a liner cargo vessel accepts extra cargo to fill up the empty space remaining. |
| BILL OF LADING | A document by which the Master of a ship acknowledges having received in good order and condition (or the reverse) certain specified goods consigned to him by some particular shipper, and binds himself to deliver them in similar condition, unless the perils of the sea, fire or enemies prevent him, to the consignees of the shippers at the point of destination on their paying him the stipulated freight. A bill of lading specifies the name of the master, the port and destination of the ship, the goods, the consignee, and the rate of freight. |
| BLACK CARGO | Cargo banned by general cargo workers for some reason. This ban could be because the cargo is dangerous or hazardous to health. |
| BLACK GANG | A slang expression referring to the personnel in the engine department aboard ship. |
| BLS | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor. |
| BOATSWAIN (BOSUN) | The highest unlicensed rating in the deck department who has immediate charge of all deck hands and who in turn comes under the direct orders of the master or chief mate or mate. |
| BOW THRUSTERS | A propeller at the lower sea-covered part of the bow of the ship which turns at right angles to the fore-and-aft line and thus provides transverse thrust as a manoeuvering aid. |
| BREADTH | See Beam |
| BREAK BULK | The process of assimilating many small shipments into one large shipment at a central point so that economies of scale may be achieved; to commence discharge of cargo. |
| BREAKBULK VESSEL | A general, multipurpose, cargo ship that carriers cargoes of nonuniform sizes, often on pallets, resulting in labor-intensive loading and unloading; calls at various ports to pick up different kinds of cargoes. |
| BRIDGE | Used loosely to refer to the navigating section of the vessel where the wheel house and chart room are located; erected structure amidships or aft or very rarely fore over the main deck of a ship to accommodate the wheelhouse. |