A

Affreightment
hire of the ship. Contract of affreightment contract of hire.

AR – all risks
Full insurance risk.

ARES
Insurance policy, the responsibilities of shippers. It does not cover all the responsibilities incumbent on the shipper, but only professional errors & omissions.

Owner – Ship owner
Person or company established & legally recognized & adibisce that manages the transport of goods, people, or both, one or more vessels: takes care of the supply, the composition of the crew & the award to the captain.

B

Flag – Flag
Identifies the nationality of the ship; is hoisted at the stern while sailing day.

Corner blocks
Locks to secure the unit load on the ship or on the vehicle that carries it.

Booking notes
Confirmation reserve space on ship.

Bond
security, good bond / bonded warehouse, warranty. Advance payment bond money back guarantee or warranty of return in advance. Bid bond / bond tender offer warranty. Ex / out bond duty, untied. In / under bonds on deposit / bond under customs. Performance bonds guarantee contract performance bond.

Bulk
A term used to transport unitized as opposed to the classification of goods under the cooling load. Shows in general all goods loaded as bulk, but it is usually accompanied by sub classification in solid bulk & liquid bulk, which specifies the characteristics .

Bulk carrier – BC
Ships for transport of dry bulk cargo.

Bulk cargoes code – BC Code
IMO for maritime transport of dry bulk cargo..

Bunker
Fuel. The bunker tank is the tank on board ships where the fuel is stored.

C

Cabotage
Transportation inside the national borders of a Country.

Cargo
Load. Cargo manifest A document where it is listed all the goods in the shipment.

Carriage forward
Agreement in which transport costs are paid by the receiver.

Carriage paid
Agreement in which transport costs are paid by the shipper..

Cash against documents (CAD)
Payment of the goods when they are delivered.

Clean on board
A term used the transport documents, mainly in the ocean bills of lading, confirming the integrity of the goods shipped.

Collect freight
A freight that is payable at destination place..

Combined Bill of Lading – CBL – HBL – TBL
Combined transport documents.

Container
wide used term that identifies a metallic structure capable to contain various kind of goods. The purpose of the container is to reduce handling time, loading & unloading from ship or other vehicles, & offer security throughout the whole shipment..

Container 45′
Non-ISO st&ard container. Its dimensions can vary from 45′ (13,72 mt) to 53′ (16,10 mt.) in length.

Containers shipping Lo/Lo – Containers shipping Ro/Ro
A ship designed to optimize the space reserved for containers. It can also have space for break bulk cargo or road vehicles.

Corner fitting
Blocks to secure the load on the ship or on the vehicle that carries it.

Crane
Traditional lifting crane in which the load is pulled thanks to an arm.

Crane
Traditional lifting crane in which the load is pulled thanks to an arm.

Customs broker
A profession that involves the “clearing” of goods through customs barriers for importers & exporters.

Customs clearance
Process that allow the goods to enter the country in which they are shipped to.

Customs warehouse
A warehouse with the only purpose to stock the goods waiting to be cleared.

D

Door to door
A transport organized from place of production (or other place agreed) to end customer place.

Door to pier
A transport organized from place of production (or other place agreed) to pier.

Dry bulk containers
Dry bulk containers have different type of openings on the side or on the bottom wall in order to ease the process of loading & unloading.

DSP / DTS – Droits de tirage special
Virtual money created by the International Monetary Fund in order to calculate the value of carrier responsibility.

E

ETA
Expected time arrival, data previsto arrivo.

ETD
Expected time departure, data prevista partenza.

F

FCR – Fiata forwarder certificate of receipt
Certificate of acceptance for the delivery of the goods by the forwarder.

FCT – Fiata forwarder certificate of transport
Transport document issued by the freight forwarder.

Feeder
Small tonnage ship or port used to traffic redistribution.

Ferry boat – Roll on/Roll off
A ship designed with the purpose to board different kind of vehicles like trailers or rail wagons.

FEU
Acronym of Forty feet Equivalent Unit

Flag
The flag distinguishes the nationality of the ship; is hoisted at the stern during the daytime sailing.

Flat rack containers
A flat rack container has removable side walls & is usually utilized to forward out of gauge material.

FWR – Fiata warehouse receipt
Receipt for the collection of goods in the warehouse.

G

Gas carriers
Tanks able to transport liquefied gases.

Gross registered tonnage
Measure of the volumes of spaces in a ship, including those not used for securing the load. It is performed by the Naval Register that issues the registration certificate.

H

Handling
Set of operations & ancillary services related to freight handling of the goods.

Hold
Space of the vessel used to receive the cargo to be transported.

Hull
An insurance term that defines the set consisting of hull, equipment & appliances of a ship.

Hull & Machinery
An insurance term that refers to the hull of the ship, as well as to the engine or auxiliary machinery & all other parts.

I

Insulated containers
This type of containers have insulated walls to reduce the gap of temperatures between outside & inside environment.

L

Lash carriers
Carriers that have their own equipment allowing the loading & unloading of barges without the mooring quay.

Lashing
The operation that, with the use of special cables, permits the displacement of voluminous & heavy loads.

Layday
The layday is the period of time during which the vessel remains at the disposal of the loader or receiver the perform the loading or unloading of the goods. The laydays are agreed in the contract.

LCL – “Less than Container Loaded”
Container used by more than one shipper both on departure & arrival. A typical case is the groupage, where the final destination is not the whole container but individual packages, pallets, cartons etc..

Liner
Regular seafreight traffic of containers.

Liquid bulk
Bulk liquids whose load is via pumps. These include, for example: oil & derivatives, liquid chemicals, vegetable oils, wine, soda caustic solution, fertilizers.

Log book
The log books are usually books that have to be necessarily kept on board the ship & on which are shown chronologically, the inventory of existing objects, revenues & expenses, the route followed, meteorological observations & extraordinary events that have occurred..

Lo-Lo – Lift on/Lift off
Boarding & unloading of intermodal transport units through vertical movement with a lifting system.

Lump sum
Amount that include every cost of the shipment.

M

Mulex
Great bag for bulk cargo in small batches.

N

Net
net weight. Net-net Weight measured without packaging.

Net registered tonnage
Measure of the volumes of spaces in a ship for securing the loads. It is performed by the Naval Register that issues the registration certificate.

Non-vessel operating common carrier – NVOCC
An NVOCC is a common carrier that holds itself out to the public to provide ocean transportation, issues its own bills of lading or equivalent documents, but does not operate the vessels that transport cargo..

O

Ocean bill of lading (B/L)
Document attesting the shipment of goods & shows all elements relating to the shipment.

On deck loading
If the goods are boarded on deck (not on hold), the policyholder or the insured must notify the insurer in order to be aware of the risk.

Open hatch gantry crane – OHGC
Ships with open hatch & a overhead granty crane.

Open top containers
Unlike what happens with traditional container, the goods are protected by tarpaulin fixed to the walls. Goods are loaded from the top, utilzed usually for heavy loads.

P

Packing list
List indicating the quantity, weight & description of goods in a shipment.

Perils of the sea
Any damages resulting from accidents during navigation, exluding the natural action of wind & waves.

Pier
Quay, wharf, jetty.

Q

Quick work – Bottom
Part of the ship under the waterline.

R

Refrigerating containers
Containers provided with fixed or removable refrigerating equipment, powered by the electric generator coupled to a diesel engine.

S

Said to contain – STC
Term wrote in B/L by the ocean carrier when there is a full container load (FCL).

Ship owner
Person or entity that is entitled of the management of one or more ship to transport goods or persons.

Shipper
Person or entity that is entitled of transport contract with the carrier.

Shipper declaration for transport of dangerous goods – SDT
Declaration issued by the shipper for the transport of dangerous goods, prepared on a FIATA model.

Shipping agent
Maritime agent or freight forwarder.

Shipyard
A ship construction site.

Short sea shipping (SSS)
The “short sea shipping” expresses the movement of goods & passengers by sea between domestic ports.

Slot
Cell of a ship designed to load containers, boxes or trailers.

Solid bulk (or dry bulk)
Solid bulk cargoes may include iron, zinc, bauxite, sugar, coal, s&. Loading operation are usually performed thanks to bucket elevators or lifting belts.

Spreader
Equipment that connects the wires of a crane with a container.

Stowage
Arrangement of the goods inside the hold of a ship or any box or mean of transport.

T

Tank containers
Cylindrical tanks fixed to a metal structure having the external dimensions of a container.

Tanker
Ship to transport liquid bulk.

Tankers
Ships that transport liquid cargo (oil & its derivatives, wine, water & so on). The tanks, in almost all cases, have walls glazed the ensure greater protection for the product & facilitate the washing operations.

Terms
Conditions of transport, see Incoterms.

TEU
Acronym of Twenty feet Equivalent Unit.

THC (Terminal handling charges)
Charges for handling containers stowed on the ship.

Through bill of lading
Sea multimodal transport document.

Transhipment
The process by which the goods are transferd from the ship or other means for the transport, on the ground or other vessel or other means of transport to enable it to reach the place of final destination

Transroulage
Combined transport sea/road.

Twistlock
Locking pin of a loading unit (e.g. container) to lock it to the vessel or the transport vehicle.

V

Very large crude carrier – VLCC
Large tonnage ship used to transport liquid bulk.

W

Warehouse
Deposit. Bonded warehouse Where goods are temporary stored (e.g. goods in transit). Customs warehouse Where goods are stored before clearing.