ABS
American Bureau of Shipping, a ship classification society.
Annual survey
The inspection of a vessel pursuant to international conventions, by a classification society surveyor, on behalf of the flag state, that takes place every year.
Bareboat charter
A charter in which the customer (the charterer) pays a fixed daily rate for a fixed period of time for the full use of the vessel and becomes responsible for all crewing, management and navigation of the vessel and the related expenses.
Brokerage commission
Commission payable by the ship’s owner to the broker, expressed as a percentage of the freight or hire and is part of the charterparty.
Bulker
A bulk carrier is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore or cement in its cargo holds.
Bunkers Fuel
consisting of fuel oil and diesel, burned in a vessel's engines.
Capesize
Ships that are the largest-sized bulk carriers and tankers; to travel between oceans, such vessels used to have to pass either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, as they could not transit the Panama or Suez canals.
Charter
The hiring of a vessel, or use of its carrying capacity, for a specified period of time.
Charterer
A person, firm or company hiring a vessel for the carriage of goods or other purposes.
Charterhire
The gross revenue earned by a vessel pursuant to a bareboat, time or voyage charter.
Charterparty
A contract covering the transportation of cargo by sea, including the terms of the carriage, remuneration and other terms.
Classification society
An independent society which certifies that a vessel has been built and maintained in accordance with the rules of such society and complies with the applicable rules and regulations of the flag state of such vessel and the international conventions of which that country is a member.
Container
A reusable steel rectangular box for carrying cargo.
Container vessel
A cargo ship designed to hold containerized cargoes.
Double-hull
Hull construction technique by which a ship has an inner and outer hull, separated by void space, usually several feet in width.
Drydocking
The removal of a vessel from the water for inspection, maintenance and/or repair of submerged parts.
DNV
Det Norske Veritas, a ship classification society.
DWT
Deadweight, a measure of oil tanker carrying capacity, usually in tons, based upon weight of cargo and other items necessary to submerge the vessel to its maximum permitted draft.
Flag state
The country where a vessel is registered.
Hire rate
The agreed sum or rate to be paid by the charterer for the use of the vessel.
Hull
Shell or body of a ship.
H&M
Hull and machinery insurance.
Ice Class 1A
A vessel meeting the requirements for transit through ice with a thickness of 0.8 meters or less.
IMO
International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency that issues international trade standards for shipping.
Intermediate survey
The inspection of a vessel by a classification society surveyor that takes place every two and a half years after the special survey.
ISM Code
International Safety Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, which, among other things, requires vessel owners to obtain a safety management certification for each vessel they manage.
LRS
Lloyd's Register of Shipping, a ship classification society.
MARPOL
The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships.
Medium-range (MR)
A tanker with a carrying capacity of 30,000-55,000 dwt which is used primarily for carrying a wide variety of refined oil products.
Newbuilding
A new vessel under construction or on order.
Off-hire
The time during which a vessel is not available for service.
Operating days
The days a vessel is in operation for a period, measured by subtracting idle days from available days.
OPEX
Operating expenses or operating costs. The costs of the vessels including crewing costs, insurance, repairs and maintenance, stores, spares, lubricants and miscellaneous expenses (but excluding capital costs and voyage costs).
P&I Protection and indemnity
This denotes the insurance coverage taken by a ship owner or charterer against third party liabilities such as oil pollution, cargo damage, crew injury or loss of life, etc.
P&I Association
A mutual insurance association providing P&I insurance coverage.
Post-Panamax
Ships which were not capable of passing through the lock chambers of the Panama Canal before its expansion was completed in 2016.
Product tanker
A tanker designed to carry a wide variety of liquid products, including clean products (such as refined petroleum products and edible oils) and crude oil. Product/chemical tankers also carry acids and other chemicals. The separated cargo tanks in both types of tankers are coated to prevent product contamination and hull corrosion.
Refined
petroleum products The resulting product recovered in an oil refinery at the various stages of processing crude oil, such as fuel oil, diesel and gasoil, kerosene and gasoline.
Sister ships
One or more vessels with the same specifications, typically built at the same shipyard.
SOLAS
International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea, which provides, among other things, rules for the construction and equipment of commercial vessels.
Special survey (S/S)
The extensive inspection of a vessel by a classification society surveyor that takes place every five years.
Spot market
The market for chartering a vessel for single voyages.
Tanker
A vessel that transports liquid (wet) cargoes, such as refined petroleum products, crude oil, edible oils and chemicals.
TCE (Time Charter Equivalent)
A shipping industry performance measure used primarily to compare daily earnings generated by vessels on time charters with daily earnings generated by vessels on voyage charters, because charter hire rates for vessels on voyage charters are generally not expressed in per day amounts while charter hire rates for vessels on time charters generally are expressed in such amounts. TCE is expressed as a per ship per day rate and is calculated as voyage and time charter revenues less voyage expenses during a period divided by the number of operating days during the period.
TEU
Twenty foot Equivalent Units. The unit of measurement of a standard twenty foot long container.
Time charter
A charter in which the charterer pays for the use of a ship's cargo capacity for a specified period of time. The owner provides the ship with crew, stores and provisions, ready in all aspects to load cargo and proceed on a voyage as directed by the charterer. The charterer usually pays for bunkering and all voyage-related expenses, including canal tolls and port charges.
