A.B.S.
|
American Bureau
of Shipping, an American ship classification society. |
| ADVANCED CHARGE |
Transportation charge advanced
by one carrier to another to be collected by the
later carrier from the consignor or consignee. |
AMERICAN BUREAU OF SHIPPING |
American ship classification
society. |
| AIR WAYBILL |
The forwarding agreement or
carrying agreement between shipper and air carrier
and is issued only in nonnegotiable form. |
| AMS |
The U.S. Customs' "Automated
Manifest System." |
| ARREST (OF THE SHIP) |
Seizure of a ship by the authority of a simple court
of law as security for a debt or simply to prevent
the ship from leaving until dispute is settled. |
| AVERAGE |
Term used in marine insurance
to mean a loss which may be general or partial. |
BOX CONTAINER |
Kind of shipping container which has on top of a
solid metal roof |
| BREAK BULK |
Break bulk : to commence to
discharge a bulk cargo. It is sometimes a condition
of contract of carriage that freight, or some percentage
of it, becomes payable on breaking bulk. |
| B/S or B.A.F. |
Bunker surcharge or Bunker adjustment
factor : Extra charge applied by shipping lines
and liner conferences to reflect fluctuations in
the cost of bunkers. |
| BILL OF LADING
(B/L) |
Document issued by a ship-owner
to a shipper of goods. It serves as a receipt for
the goods, evidence of the contract of carriage
and document title. As a receipt, it contains the
description and quantity of the goods as well as
suitable notations if goods are not in apparent
good condition when received by the ship. As evidence
of the contract of carriage, the bill of lading
contains the terms and conditions of the contract. |
|
Amended B/L: B/L requiring updates that do not
change financial status; this is slightly different
from corrected B/L. |
|
- B/L Terms & Conditions: the fine print
on B/L; defines what the carrier can and cannot
do, including the carrier's liabilities and contractual
agreements. |
|
- B/L's Status: represents whether the bill of
lading has been input, rated, reconciled, printed,
or released to the customer. |
|
- Clean B/L: A B/L which bears no superimposed
clause or notation which declares a defective
condition of the goods and/or the packaging. |
|
- Combined B/L: B/L that covers cargo moving
over various transports- Consolidated B/L: B/L
combined or consolidated from two or more B/L's. |
| - Domestic B/L: Non-negotiable
B/L primarily containing routing details; usually
used by truckers and freight forwarders. |
| - Duplicate B/L: Another original
Bill of Lading set if first set is lost. also known
as reissued B/L. |
| - Express B/L: Non-negotiable
B/L where there are no hard copies of originals
printed. |
| - Freight B/L: A contract of
carriage between a shipper and forwarder (who is
usually a NVOCC); a non-negotiable document. |
| - House B/L: B/L issued by a
freight forwarder or consolidator covering a single
shipment containing the names, addresses and specific
description of the goods shipped. |
| - Intermodal B/L: B/L covering
cargo moving via multimodal means. Also known as
Combined Transport B/L, or Multimodal B/L. |
| - B/L Numbers: U.S. Customs'
standardized B/L numbering format to facilitate
electronic communications and to make each B/L number
unique. |
| - Negotiable B/L: The B/L is
a title document to the goods, issued "to the
order of" a party, usually the shipper, whose
endorsement is required to effect is negotiation.
Thus, a shipper's order (negotiable) B/L can be
bought, sold, or traded while goods are in transit
and is commonly used for letter-of-credit transactions.
The buyer must submit the original B/L to the carrier
in order to take possession of the goods. |
| - Non-Negotiable B/L: See Straight
B/L. Sometimes means a file copy of a B/L. |
| - "Onboard" B/L: B/L
validated at the time of loading to transport. Onboard
Air, Boxcar, Container, Rail, Truck and Vessel are
the most common types. |
| - Optional Discharge B/L: B/L
covering cargo with more than one discharge point
option possibility. |
| - Original B/L: The part of
the B/L set that has value, especially when negotiable;
rest of set are only informational file copies.
Abbreviated as OBL. |
| - Received for Shipment B/L:
Validated at time cargo is received by ocean carrier
to commence movement but before being validated
as "Onboard". |
| - Reconciled B/L: B/L set which
has completed a prescribed number of edits between
the shippers instructions and the actual shipment
received. This produces a very accurate B/L. |
| - Split B/L: One of two or more
B/L's which have been split from a single B/L. |
| - Stale B/L: A late B/L; in
banking, a B/L which has passed the time deadline
of the L/C and is void. |
| - Straight (Consignment) B/L:
Indicates the shipper will deliver the goods to
the consignee. It does not convey title (non-negotiable).
Most often used when the goods have been pre-paid.
|
| - "To Order" B/L:
See Negotiable B/L. |
| - Voided B/L: Related to Consolidated
B/L; those B/L's absorbed in the combining process.
Different from Canceled B/L |
BOOKING NUMBER |
Reservation number used to secure
equipment and act as a control number prior to completion
of a B/L. |
| C.A.F. |
Currency adjustment factor. |
| CANAL TRANSIT DUE |
Charge levied by a canal authority
such as for the Suez Canal or Panama Canal, for
transiting. The charge is based on the ship's tonnage. |
| CARRIER |
Any person or entity who, in
a contract of carriage, undertakes to perform or
to procure the performance of carriage by rail,
road, sea, air, inland waterway or by a combination
of such modes. |
| CARGO MANIFEST |
A manifest that lists all cargo
carried on a specific vessel voyage. |
CASH AGAINST DOCUMENTS (CAD) |
Method of payment for goods
in which documents transferring title are given
the buyer upon payment of cash to an intermediary
acting for the seller, usually a commission house. |
| C.B.R. |
Commodity box rate. |
| C&F or CFR |
Cost and freight. |
| CERTIFICATE OF ORIGIN |
A certified document showing
the origin of goods; used in international commerce. |
| C.F.S. |
Container freight station. |
| CHASSIS |
A frame with wheels and container
locking devices in order to secure the container
for movement. |
C.I.F. |
Cost, insurance and freight. |
C.O.D. |
Abbreviation for:- Collect
(cash) on Delivery. - Carried on Docket (pricing). |
| CONGESTION SURCHARGE |
Extra charge applied by shipping
lines and liner conferences to reflect the cost
of delay to their ships at a particular port caused
by congestion. |
| CONSIGNEE |
Person to whom goods are to
be delivered by the carrier at the place of destination. |
| CONSORTIUM |
Group of shipping lines, normally
members of a liner conference who pool their ships
and other resources to provide a combined service
in a particular trade. |
| CONTAINER YARD |
Place to which full container
loads are delivered by the shipper to the ocean
carrier and to which empty container are returned |
| C/P |
Charter party. |
| CU.FT. |
Cubic feet. |
| DEMURRAGE |
A penalty charge against shippers
or consignees for delaying the carrier's equipment
beyond the allowed free time. The free time and
demurrage charges are set forth in the charter party
or freight tariff. |
| DESTUFF |
To unload a shipping container. |
DETENTION CHARGE |
Charge payable by a shipper
or receiver to a shipping line. |
| DOOR TO DOOR |
Said of a service of freight
rate provided by a container shipping line whereby
goods are loaded into a shipping container at the
shipper's premises and not unloaded until they arrive
at the consignee's premises. Also referred to as
house to house. |
DRY CARGO |
Said of any commodity which
is not a liquid |
| D.W.T. |
Deadweight |
| E.T.A. |
Estimated time of arrival. |
| E.T.D. |
Estimated time of departure. |
| EX WORKS or EX FACTORY |
Sales term denoting that the
seller irresponsible for making the goods available
at his works of factory. The buyer bears the cost
of loading the goods on the vehicles and delivering
them to the destination.
The risk of loss or damage to the goods generally
passes from the seller to the buyer from the time
that they are made available. |
| F.A.S. |
Free alongside or free alongside
ship. |
| F.C.L. |
Full container load. |
| F.D.A. |
Food and Drug Administration. |
| FEEDER VESSEL |
Short-sea vessel which transfer
cargo/container between a central hub port and smaller
ports. |
| F.E.U. |
Forty foot equivalent unit. |
| F.I.L.O. |
Free in liner out. |
| F.I.L.T.D. |
Free in liner terms discharge. |
| F.I.O. |
Free in and out. |
| F.I.O.L.S. & D |
Free in and out, lashed secured
and dunnaged. |
| F.I.O.S. |
Free in and out and stowed. |
| F.I.O.T. |
Free in and out and trimmed. |
| FLAG OF CONVENIENCE |
Registration of a ship in a
country whose tax on the profit of trading ships
is low. |
| FLAT RACK/FLAT BED CONTAINER |
A container with no sides and
frame members at the front and rear. Container can
be loaded from the sides and top. |
| F.M.C. |
Federal Maritime Commission.
The U.S. Governmental regulatory body responsible
for administering maritime affairs including the
tariff system, Freight Forwarder Licensing, enforcing
the conditions of the Shipping Act and approving
conference or other carrier agreements. |
| F.O.B. |
Free on board. |
| F.O.Q. |
Free on quay. |
| F.O.R. |
Free on rail. |
| F.O.T. |
Free on truck. |
| FREE IN |
Free of expenses to the ship-owner
of cargo handling at the loading port. |
| FREIGHT PAYABLE AT DESTINATION |
Method of paying the freight
often used for shipment of bulk cargoes whose weight
is established on discharge from the ship. |
| FRT |
Freight. |
| G.M.T. |
Greenwich mean time. |
| G.R.I. |
General rate increase - Used
to describe an across-the-board tariff rate increase
implemented by conference members and applied to
base rates. |
| HEAVY LIFT ADDITIONAL |
Extra charge applied by a liner
conference of a shipping line on lifts exceeding
a weight specified in its tariff, often five tons.
Also referred to as a heavy lift surcharge. |
| GROUPAGE |
A consolidation service, putting
small shipments into containers for shipment. |
| I.C.D. |
Inland container depot. |
| INDUCEMENT |
Minimum quantity of cargo required
by a shipping line to make it worthwhile to call
at a particular port for loading or discharging. |
| LADEN |
Loaded. |
| L.C.L. |
Less than container load. |
| L.I.F.O. |
Liner in free out. |
| LINE |
Abbreviation for shipping line. |
| LINER (SHIP) |
Cargo carrying ship which is
operated between scheduled, advertised ports of
loading and discharge on a regular basis. |
| LINER TERMS |
Qualification to a freight rate
which signifies that it consists of the ocean carriage
and the cost of cargo handling at the loading and
discharging ports according to the custom of those
ports. |
| LO-LO |
Lift-on, lift-off. |
| LONG LENGTH ADDITIONAL |
Extra charge applied by liner
conferences and shipping lines on cargo exceeding
a length specified in their tariff. |
| LONG TON |
2240 Lbs. |
| MEASURE OF MEASUREMENT |
Size of a piece of cargo or
consignment expressed in cubic meters or cubic feet
determined by taking the length, width and height
of the piece or consignment. |
| METRIC TON |
1,000 Kilograms. |
| M/V |
Motor vessel. |
| NAUTICAL MILE |
Distance equal to 6,411 feet. |
| NET WIGHT |
Weight of the goods only, not
including their packing. |
| NON-CONFERENCE LINE |
Shipping line which operates
on a route served by a liner conference but which
is not a member of that conference. Also referred
to as an independent line or an outsider. |
| NON-NEGOTIABLE BILL OF LADING |
Bill of lading which is not
a signed "Original Bill of Lading " and
which is therefore not capable of being used to
transfer little in the goods described in it. |
| N.V.O.C. |
Non-Vessel Owning Carrier. |
| N.V.O.C.C. |
Non-Vessel Operating Common
Carrier. - A cargo consolidator in ocean trades
who will buy space from a carrier and sub-sell it
to smaller shippers. The NVOCC issues bills of lading,
publishes tariffs and otherwise conducts itself
as an ocean common carrier, except that it will
not provide the actual ocean or intermodal service.
|
| OPEN SIDE CONTAINER |
Shipping container with side
door which drop down to give unrestricted access
to the sides of the container for loading or discharging. |
| OPEN TOP CONTAINER |
Kind of shipping container which
has an open top instead of a solid roof to enable
cargo, such as timber or scrap metal, to be loaded
from the top |
| PIER |
Structure at which ships can
berth, built at right angles to the shore. |
| PILFERAGE |
Petty theft. |
| PORT DUES |
Charge levied against a ship
owner or ship operator by a port authority for the
use of a port. |
| PRE-SHIPMENT CHARGES |
Any charges incurred prior to
the shipment of a cargo which are not included in
the sea freight. |
| REEFER BOX |
Refrigerated container. |
| REEFER SHIP |
Refrigerated ship. |
| ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF |
System of loading and discharging
a ship whereby the cargo is driven on and off ship
designed to handle such cargo. This is known as
a roll-on roll-off ship or RO-RO ship. |
| ROUND VOYAGE |
Voyage involving two legs the
second of which brings the ship back to the geographical
area where the first leg commenced. |
| S.C.Q. |
Special commodity quotation. |
| SHIPS |
- Bulk Carriers: All vessels
designed to carry bulk cargo such as grain, fertilizers,
ore, and oil. |
| - Combination Passenger and
Cargo Ships: Ships with a capacity for 13 or more
passengers. |
| - Freighters: Breakbulk vessels
both refrigerated and unrefrigerated, containerships,
partial containerships, roll-on/roll-off vessels,
and barge carriers. |
| - Barge Carriers: Ships designed
to carry barges; some are fitted to act as full
containerships and can carry a varying number of
barges and containers at the same time. At present
this class includes two types of vessels LASH and
Sea-Bee. |
| - General Cargo Carriers: Breakbulk
freighters, car carriers, cattle carriers, pallet
carriers and timber carriers. |
| - Full Containerships: Ships
equipped with permanent container cells, with little
or no space for other types of cargo. |
| - Partial Containerships: Multipurpose
containerships where one or more but not all compartments
are fitted with permanent container cells. Remaining
compartments are used for other types of cargo.
|
| - Roll-on/Roll-off vessels:
Ships specially designed to carry wheeled containers
or trailers using interior ramps. |
| - Tankers: Ships fitted with
tanks to carry liquid cargo such as: crude petroleum
and petroleum products; chemicals, Liquefied gasses(LNG
and LPG), wine, molasses, and similar product tankers. |
| SLOT |
Compartment in the hold of a
container ship into which a shipping container fits
exactly. Also referred to as a cell. |
| SLOT CHARGER |
The chartering in of a ship
by a fleet operator for a specific voyage when none
of the ships in the fleet is available. |
| STUFFING |
Putting cargo into a container. |
| STEVEDORE |
Person running a business whose
functions are to load, stow and unload ships. |
| S/S LINE |
Steamship line. |
| TARE (WEIGHT) |
Weight of packing or of a shipping
container. This is deducted from the gross weight
in order to obtain the net weight of the goods. |
| TARIFF |
Schedule of charges, such as
the freight tariff, of a shipping line. |
| TEU |
Twenty foot equivalent unit. |
| TRANSSHIPMENT PORT |
Place where cargo is transferred
to another carrier. |
| TRANSIT CARGO |
Goods which are discharged from
a sea-going ship in one country but which are destined
for another country. |
| TRANSIT TIME |
Time taken for goods to be carried
from one place to another. |
| VESSEL |
Ship or boat. |
| W/M |
Weight or measurement. |