50 Commonly Used Words in the Shipping Industry

50 Commonly Used Words in the Shipping Industry

In today’s interconnected global economy, the shipping industry serves as the spine of international trade, facilitating the movement of over 90% of the world’s goods. One of the most important industries operates with its specialized vocabulary, a language shaped by centuries of maritime tradition, technological advancement, and regulatory evolution. The “special” words aren’t merely jargon; they represent precise concepts that ensure clarity in a field where precision and safety are paramount.

This comprehensive guide explores the 50 most frequently used terms in the shipping industry. Join us as we explore the terminology that keeps global trade afloat.

1. Aframax: This term is derived from Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA), a system for standardizing shipping contract terms. It is used for oil tankers that weigh less than 120,000 metric tons.
2. Auxiliary Engine: A ship’s auxiliary engine provides power for functions other than propulsion. These engines are often diesel-powered and can be used to generate electricity, compressed air, and more. Ships generally have three and five, depending on the electricity requirement.
3. Ballast: Ballast is weight added to a ship to improve its stability and control. Sea water is carefully pumped in ballast tanks, or cargo spaces when the ship is not carrying cargo, to lower the ship in the water so that the propeller is sufficiently submerged to perform efficiently. Water Ballast and Solid Ballast are the common ballasts used.
4. Berth: Berthing, a process of safely navigating the vessel into its designated position alongside a pier, quay, or dock for smooth cargo operations. It’s a crucial step in the freight’s journey requiring careful coordination between the ship, port authorities, and terminal operators.
5. Bulk Carrier: A single-deck ship that carries dry cargoes like ore, coal, sugar and more. Smaller vessels may have their cranes, whilst larger sizes rely on shore-based equipment.
6. Bare Boat Charter: Also known as demise charter, is a contract to rent a ship or a boat without crew and provisions. The charterer is responsible for the vessel’s operation, crew salary, bunker, port dues, canal transit dues, maintenance, and legal aspects.
7. Bunkers: Fuel used in ships to power the engines and machinery. The process of supplying fuel to a ship is called bunkering. There are two types of bunkering: TTS (truck to ship) and STS (ship to ship).
8. Cape Size: Cape size refers to a type of large dry bulk carrier that can carry between 110,000 and 200,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage).
9. Charterer: Charterer is a person or company that rents a ship or transportation to move goods or for tourism. The charterer may also be an agent or broker acting on behalf of the owner of the goods. There are two types of charterers: Voyage Charterer (hires for specific voyage/s) and Time Charterer (hires for a specific period).
10. Classification Society: Organization, such as Lloyd’s Register, which sets standards for ship construction; supervises standards during construction; and inspects the hull and machinery of a ship classed with the society at regular intervals, awarding the ‘class certificate’ required to obtain hull insurance. A ship with a current certificate is ‘in class’.
11. Container: Containers are standard boxes of length 20 or 40 ft, width 8 ft and height 8 ft 6 in. High cube containers are 9 ft 6 in. high, and container-ships are usually designed to carry some of these.
12. Container ship: Also called a box ship, that carries all of its load in truck size intermodal containers in a technique called containerization. Containers carried on deck are lashed and secured.
13. Compensated Gross Ton (cgt): A unit of measurement used to gauge the amount of the work required to build a ship. It’s also used to measure shipbuilding output.
14. Deadweight Tonnage(dwt): A measure of weight a ship can carry. It’s a key metric for shipping companies indicating a ship’s carrying capacity and operational capabilities. This includes cargo, fuel, fresh water, crew, and more.
15. Freeboard: A ship’s freeboard is the distance between the waterline and the top of the ship’s main deck. It’s a critical factor in a ship’s safety and stability. 
16. Freight Rate: A freight rate is the price to transport cargo from one place to another for each cargo unit (tonne, cubic metre or container load) between the named ports.
17. Freight alt Kinds (FAK): The standard rate charged per container, regardless of the commodity, e.g. FAK rate of $1500 per TEU.
18. FEU: FEU (Forty-foot Equivalent Unit) a unit of measurement used to calculate the capacity of cargo containers.
19. Gas Tanker: Refers to a specialised ship designed to transport LNG (liquefied natural gas), petroleum gases or ammonia in bulk. The gases are kept in liquid state through refrigeration, allowing for efficient transportation over long distances.
20. Gross Ton (gt): GT is a unit of measurement of the total volume of a ship’s enclosed spaces, including the hull, bulkheads, and decks.
21. Handy Bulker: Handy Bulker refers to a small-sized bulk carrier (15,000- 40,000 DWT), which is versatile and can access a wide range of ports due to its smaller size; making it “handy” for various shipping needs. Typically carries a variety of dry bulk cargoes like grain, coal, iron ore, and more to ports often equipped with its cranes for loading and unloading.
22. Ice Class 1A: Ice class 1A is a classification for ships that can navigate difficult ice conditions, but may need to be escorted by an icebreaker. Ships are certified to transit 0.8m of thickness.
23. IMO: International Maritime Organisation is a United Nations agency responsible for maritime regulations.
24. Lay-Up: Lay-up means to temporarily take a vessel out of service due to low demand or economic factors. The goal is to minimise operational costs while preserving the ship’s condition by protecting it from deterioration and corrosion.
25. Lashing: The process of securing cargo to a vehicle or a vessel to prevent it from shifting or falling during transit.
26. LIBOR: London Interbank Offer Rate is the global reference rate for unsecured short-term borrowing in the interbank market acting as a benchmark for short-term interest rates.
27. Lightweight (lwt): Referring to the weight of a ship without any cargo, fuel, ballast, stores, passengers or crew on board, representing the empty weight of the vessel, including only its permanent structure and machinery.
28. MARPOL: Adopted in 1973 by IMO, stands for International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. Set of international regulations aiming to reduce pollution from ships.
29. Off Hire: Refers to a ship or a container no longer being used or is nearing the end of its lease. Damage to hull, breakdown of machinery, deficiency of crews or stores, dry docking, fire, and more are events that can trigger an off-hire.
30. Operation Costs (OPEX): Expenses involved in the day-to-day running of the ship and incurred whatever trade the ship is engaged in. These include crew wages and expenses, victualing, stores, spares, repairs and maintenance, lubricants, and insurance.
31. P&I Club: Mutual society which provides third party insurance to shipowner members.
32. Panamax: Refers to a type of vessel with the size and specification (length 294m, width: 32.3m), specifically designed to pass through the Panama Canal.
33. Reefer: A refrigerated container or truck used to transport temperature-sensitive perishable goods like fruits, pharmaceuticals, meat, vegetables and more.
34. Reefer Container: A shipping container that keeps cargo at a regulated temperature (-65°C to +40°C). 
35. Seller’s Commission: Refers to a percentage of the total shipping cost that a seller or a broker earns for facilitating the arrangement of a shipment. The broker is usually paid by the shipper as fees for their services.
36. Service Agreement: Refers to a legal contract between a shipper and a carrier outlining terms and conditions for the transportation of goods. It includes details like delivery time, packaging, pricing, cargo handling responsibility, and any other services provided by the carrier.
37. Shipbroker: An individual with current market knowledge acting as an intermediary between buyers and sellers in return for a percentage commission on the transaction. There are several types of shipbrokers, chartering brokers deal with cargo; sale and purchase brokers buy and sell ships; newbuilding brokers place contracts.
38. SOLAS: Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), refers to an international treaty that establishes minimum safety standards for the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships, ensuring their safety on the ocean. This is also known as the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS Convention).
39. Special Survey: Mandatory marine and technical examination of the ship’s hull and machinery carried out every five years, or on a rolling basis, by the classification society with which the vessel is classed.
40. Spot Rate: A spot rate in maritime shipping represents the current market price for transporting cargo on a one-time, immediate basis, fluctuating daily according to supply and demand conditions, unlike long-term contract rates that remain fixed for extended periods.
41. String of Container Ships: The number of container-ships needed to maintain a regular service on a specific route (‘loop’). For example, a string of four ships is needed to run a transatlantic loop.
42. Suezmax: A Suezmax vessel refers to the maximum size ship capable of fully transiting the Suez Canal while carrying complete cargo, primarily designating oil tankers whose critical dimensions—beam, draft, and height—allow unrestricted passage through this vital maritime corridor.
43. Tanker: A tanker is a specialized maritime vessel engineered to transport substantial volumes of liquid cargo in bulk through an integrated system of internal storage compartments, primarily carrying petroleum products, chemicals, or liquefied natural gas across international waters.
44. TEU: Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) is a unit of measurement used to measure the capacity of container ships and terminals. (40 ft container = 2 TEU)
45. Time Charter: A time charter constitutes a maritime contractual arrangement whereby a vessel owner provides a ship to a charterer for a predetermined period, granting the charterer operational control over routing and cargo decisions while the owner retains responsibility for crewing, vessel maintenance, and technical management in exchange for a fixed daily or monthly fee.
46. Time charter equivalent: Time Charter Equivalent (TCE) is a standardized financial metric that calculates a vessel’s average daily revenue performance by deducting voyage expenses from total voyage revenue and dividing by the voyage duration in days. It enables shipping companies to effectively compare profitability across different charter arrangements, voyage types, and operational periods.
47. Tonne: Refers to a metric unit of weight, equivalent to 1000 kilograms. Tonne is used to measure the cargo capacity of a ship.
48. Twist-Lock: A mechanical locking device used to secure shipping containers to trailers, platforms, or ships, preventing them from shifting during transport.
49. VLCC: Very Large Crude Carrier is a type of tanker ship used to transport crude oil. Generally, they carry 2 million barrels of oil.
50. Voyage Costs: The cost of fuel, port expenses, and canal costs, which are specific to the voyage. On a voyage charter where the ports are specified, they are generally included in the negotiated spot rate and paid by the shipowner. On a time charter where the ports are not known in advance, they are paid by the charterer.