Glossary of Shipping Terms (A - B)
Glossary of Shipping Terms (A - B)
| A.S. (A.s.) | Alongside |
| AA | Always afloat |
| AAAA | Always Afloat, Always Accessible |
| AALA | American Association for Laboratory Accrediation |
| AASO | Assosiation of American Ship Owners |
| AB | Able seamen |
| AB (ABS) | American Bureau of Shipping 295 State Highway No. 70 W Suite 5 Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 USA 1-856-354-6366 American (US) Ship Classification Society. Under the provisions of the US Load-Line Act - it has the authority to assign load lines to vessels registered in the US and other countries. |
| Abandoned Well | An oil well where production has ceased. |
| ABS | American Bureau of Shipping;American classification society. |
| Accommodation Unit/Floatel | Normally a semisubmersible or jackup (See Jackup), equipped with cabins, catering facilities and office space for up to 800 persons. The installation is normally used for the accommodation and catering for personell constructing or operating a fixed production platform. An accommodation unit may also be equipped with workshops and/or storage facilities. |
| ACFN | American Committee for Flags of Necessity |
| ACGFO | Any Commercial Grade of Fuel Oil |
| Acid Gas | Gas with pollutants causing a low pH-value. Creates corrosion problems. |
| Acidizing | Te injection of hydrochloric acid into the production zone in order to stimulate greater yield. The acid corrodes the sedimentary partitions, thereby increasing permeability. |
| ACOT | Advisory Committee on Offshore Technology |
| ACP | Area Contingency Plan |
| ACS | American Chemicals Society |
| AD | Air Draft - Correctly used, air draft refers to the distance from the vessel's waterline to the top of the highest mast in an unladen condition. Important to determine whether the vessel can pass under fixed bridges. (Airdraft is also used to refer to the distance from the vessel's light waterline to the top of the hatch coaming. This dimension must be known to determine whether the vessel will fit under the fixed shore loading or discharging appliance.) |
| ADB | African/Asian Development Bank |
| ADEC | Alaska Departement of Environmental Conservation |
| ADR | Alternative Dispute Resolution - A relatively new innovation whose use has inreased in the last decade in response to a general rise in litigation in many jurisdictions and the thereby escalating cost associated therewit, as well as the increased dissatisfaction with the legal process itself. The ADR is a tool designed as a supplement to a given judicial system to provide parties of otherwise good and long term working relationship with a cheaper and in most cases less adversial alternative to lengthy court hearings and arbitrations. |
| Aerated Mud | Drilling mud mixed with oxygen to increase efficiency. |
| AFRA | Average Freight Rate Assessment - average costs for the freight of oil with tankships. Calculated by the Worldscale Association in London. based on an ongoing registration of all freightrates at particular points in time. |
| Aframax | American Freight Rate Association - approximately 80,000 - 105,000 dwt - term for a tank ship of standard size. |
| AFRASEC | Afro-Asian Organization for Economic Cooperation |
| AG | Arabian Gulf - also called PG - Persian Gulf. |
| AG | Arabian Gulf (Persian Gulf) |
| AGS | Annual General Survey |
| AH | Antwerp Hambug range |
| AHT | Anchorhandling Tug - vessel employed in the offshore field moving anchors and performing towing operations. |
| AHTS | AHT which is also a combined supplyvessel. |
| AID | Agency for International Development - US organization for civilian aid programmes. |
| AIMS | American Institute of Merchant Shipping - the American shipowners' association for the major part of the privately owned tonnage. |
| ALAMAP | Associac¢n Latinamericano de Armadores - Latin-American Shipowners' Association (established in March 1963). |
| ALU-TUCP | Philippine Seafarers' Union, member of TUCP (Trade Union Council of the Philippines). |
| AMA | Association of Maritime Arbitrators, New York |
| AMOSUP | Associated Marine Officers' and Seamen's Union of the Philippines - Filipino union for officers and crew. |
| AMPD | Average Most Probable Discharge |
| AMR | Amercoat |
| AMS | Automated Manifest System (For US Departement of Agriculture Entry Processing Procedures for US ports) |
| AMVER | Automatic Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System - American warning system for international shipping. |
| Anchorhandling Tug | AHT - ship carrying out tasks such as the placing or moving of anchors, as well as towing drilling installations and barges etc. May double as a supply vessel and is in such cases termed Anchorhandling Tug/Supply (AHTS). |
| Annular Blowout Preventer | Safety valve during drilling operations. Consists of rubber gasket stopping the flow of mud outside the drill string. |
| Annulus | The distance between the drill string and the casing or the wall of the drilling hole. |
| ANPRM | Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (U.S.) |
| ANS | Alaskan North Slope (crude oil) |
| ANSI | American National Standard Institute |
| AOSC | Assistant On-Scene Coordinator (U.S. Coast Guard) |
| AP | All Purposes or Additional Premium |
| API | American Petroleum Institute Founded in 1919, the first oil trade association to include all branches of the petroleum industry |
| API GRAVITY | Petroleum industry expression for density of petroleum liquid expressed in API units. API gravity is obtained by means of simultaneous hydrometer/temperature readings, equated to, and generally expressed at 60ºF. The relative density to API gravity relation is: API gravity at 60ºF = 141.5 divided by relative density 60ºF minus 131.5. |
| APICOM | Association of Petroleum Industry Cooperative Managers |
| APS | Arrival Pilot Station: Signifies a location, on arrival at which vessel will deliver on to a time-charter. Of advantage to a ship owner when compared with TIP, which see. |
| APT | After Peak Tank |
| AR / ATRS | American Tanker Rate Schedule-Revised A Standards of reference published by a group of American tanker brokers and expressed in dollars and cents for thousands of possible voyages. Commonly used for U.S. coast wise voyages. |
| ARA | Antwerpen-Rotterdam-Amsterdam, often used as destination specification. |
| Arbitration | A method of settling disputes by one or more arbitrators. Quicker and cheaper than taking a case to court. |
| ARPA | Automatic Radar Plotting Aid |
| ART | Alternative Response Technology |
| ASBA | Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (U.S.A., Inc.), New York |
| ASEAN | Association of South East Asian Nations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore. |
| ASF | Asian Shipowners' Forum - shipowners' association for East Asia and Oceania. |
| ASME | American Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| ASO | Arbeidsgiverforeningen for Skip og Offshorefartoyer - The Employers' Organization for Ships and Offshore Installations (Oslo). |
| AST | Atlantic Strike Team (U.S. Coast Guard) |
| ASTF | Alaska Science and Technology Foundation |
| ASTM | American Society for Testing and Materials |
| ATDN | Any Time Day or Night |
| ATDNS/ATDNSHINC | Any Time Day or Night Shinc |
| ATRS / AR | See AR above |
| ATS | All Time Saved |
| ATSB | All Time Saved Both ends |
| AUTOMATIC SAMPLER | A device installed in a flow, automatically controlled so as to extract a representative sample of the flow. |
| AUTOMATIC TANK GAUGE | An instrument capable of indicating the level of product from a location remote to the Manual gauge site |
| AWES | Association of Western European Shipbuilders |
| AWO | American Waterways Operators |
| B.S.&W. | Bottom Sediment and Water |
| B/D | Barrels per Day |
| B/L | Bills of Lading (Blading) The basic document between a shipper and a carrier and a shipper and a consignee. It represents the contract of carriage and defines the terms and conditions of carriage. It is the final receipt from the carrier for the goods shown on it and for the condition of the goods. It describes the nature, quantity and weight of the cargo carried. It is also the document of title of the goods shown.. Dirty B/L Bill of Lading with Captain's note of protest as to the condition of the cargo. |
| B/N | Booking Note |
| BA | Buenos Aires |
| BAC | The Bioremediation Action Committee (EPA sub-committee) |
| BAF | Bunkers Adjustment Factor |
| Ballast | Sea water taken into a vessel's tanks in order to submerge the vessel to proper trim. Proper trim is necessary in order to safely navigate the vessel in light condition. Ballast can be taken into cargo tanks, double bottoms, fore and aft peak tanks and/or segregated ballast tanks (SBT) Clean: Term applied to the sea water used for ballast when it is not contaminated by any oil and is carried in clean tanks. Dirty: Term applied to the sea water used for ballast when it is contaminated with the remnants or residues left in cargo tanks that previously carried crude oil or heavy persistent refined products. Segregated/Dedicated: Ballast kept in tanks segregated from cargo pipes and tanks. Passage: The "ballast leg" of a voyage as differentiated from the "laden/loaded leg". Pump: A pump used for filling and emptying the ballast tank(s). Tanks: The tanks used to carry the vessel's ballast. They may be permanent, dedicated, segregated, or cargo tanks. |
| BAP | Best Available Protection |
| Bareboat | The hiring or leasing of a vessel from one company to another (the charterer), which provides crew, bunkers, stores, etc. and pays all operating costs. |
| Bareboat Charter-Party (Demise C/P) | Contract for the hire of an empty ship. All operating costs are covered by the charterer. |
| Barrel | Measure for oil. There are 7.1 barrels of oil in one ton. Each barrel is approximately 159 litres. |
| Barrel | Volume measurement. Many abbreviations: b, bbl, bar. Sometimes written with capital letters. Barrels per day (Bd or b/d) specifies the production rate per day. |
| BB | Bahia Blanca Or: Ballast Bonus: A lump sum amount paid to a ship owner, usually as a reward (a bonus) for positioning the vessel at a certain place as a prerequisite for her delivery on to time-charter - e.g.: for a ship ex-Mediterranean Sea, "delivering United States Gulf for a time-charter trip to the Far East at US$ 5,000 daily, plus a ballast bonus of US$ 100,000". Occasionally paid as a reward for accepting redelivery from time-charter in an unfavorable position. A Ballast Bonus may be nett (i.e. free of address commissions and brokerages) or gross (i.e.: subject to deduction of brokerage and address commission). Or: Below Bridges: Indicates agreement for a vessel to proceed to that section of a port or a river/canal that is "below bridges" - in other words below the place(s) where height restrictions would prevent a vessel navigating beneath certain overhead obstructions. - e.g.: "Vessel to discharge at one safe berth River Thames, Below Bridges". |
| BBB | Before Breaking Bulk - freight to be paid, i.e. the money deposited into the shipping company's account, prior to discharging. |
| BCH Code | International code (IMO) for the construction and equipment of ships carrying dangerous chemicals in bulk |
| BCM | Distance from Bow to Center of Cargo Manifolds |
| BD | Bar draft or: Bundle |
| BDI | Both Dates Inclusive |
| BEI | Banque Europenne d'Investissement - The European Investment Bank. |
| Bell Diving | Carrying out diving within a diving vessel, shaped like a bell. |
| Benchmarking | To compare someone or something with the best that can be achieved within a specified field. |
| BENDS | Both Ends |
| Benelux | Belgium, Netherland, Luxembourg |
| BFI | Baltic Freight Index - an index for bulk freight rates. |
| BGCP | Berth Grain Charter Party |
| BH | Bordeaux Hamburg Range |
| BHP | Brake Horse Power |
| BIAC | Business and Industry Advisory Committee - OECD's advisory committee. Opposite to TUAC. |
| BICC | Bureau International des Chambres de Commerce - International information bureau for Chambers of Commerce. |
| BIFA | British International Freight Association |
| BIFFEX | Baltic International Freight Futures Exchange (London) - an exchange for the buying and selling of futures, based on the BFI. |
| BIFFEX | Baltic International Freight Futures Market Founded in 1985, part of the London Commodity Exchange. It offers shipowners, operators and charterers a method of protection against the risks of volatile freight rates by means of a standardized contract that is settled against an index of international dry bulk spot markets' voyages, The Baltic Freight Index (BFI). |
| BILGE | The lower internal part of the hull where the vertical sides meet the bottom. This term also applies to both the inside and the outside of the hull. The internal space can be the lower part of a ship's hold or the engine room and serves as a drainage area where accumulated water can run into and be pumped from. |
| Bill of Lading (B/L) | Negotiable document issued by shipowner to shipper of goods. Contains terms and conditions of the contract. |
| BIMCO | The Baltic and International Maritime Council (Copenhagen) |
| BIMCO | The Baltic and International Maritime Council, Copenhagen |
| BIS | Bank for International Settlements (Basel) |
| BISCO | British Iron and Steel Corporation |
| Bit | Drill bit. |
| BITT | Cast steel heads serving as posts to which mooring lines and cables are secured on ships |
| BLF | Bow Loading Facilities |
| Block | Denotes an area awarded for test drilling or production. Block sizes may vary. |
| Blowout | Uncontrolled blow out of oil or gas due to excessive pressure in the reservoir. |
| Blowout Preventer | Also called "Christmas Tree", a safety valve placed on the well head. |
| BLT | Built |
| BMIN | Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation |
| BMLA | British Maritime Law Association |
| BNA | British North America |
| BO | Best Offer |
| BOA | Basic Ordering Agreement |
| BOP | Abbreviation for Blowout Preventer. |
| BOSVA | British Offshore Supply Ships Association |
| BOTB | British Overseas Trade Board (London) |
| BOW | The forward most part of a vessel. This area usually houses gear lockers and is the end where anchors and mooring equipment are located. |
| Box | Everyday term for container. |
| Break-Bulk Cargo | Goods shipped loose in the vessel's hold and not in container. |
| BRM | Bridge Resource Management |
| BROA | British Rigowners' Association |
| BS (B/S) | Bunker surcharge |
| BSC | British Shippers Council |
| BSI | British Standards Institution |
| BT | Berth Terms |
| BTCS | Butterworth Tank Cleaning System A mechanical device used for the purpose of cleaning oil tanks by means of high pressure jets of hot water. The apparatus basically consists of double opposed nozzles which rotate slowly bout their horizontal and vertical axis and project two streams of water through all possible angles against all inside surfaces of the space being cleaned. The tank washing machines can deliver sprays of water at various temperatures and pressures which are dictated by the type of cargoes carried and the reasons for cleaning (Quick bottom wash through gas-freeing and tank entry for hot work). |
| Bulk ship (bulk carrier) | Single deck ship carrying homogenous unpackaged cargoes. Loaded through large hatchways. |
| Bulkcargo | Homogeneous dry cargo (not packaged), e.g. coal, grain, iron ore, etc. |
| Bulk-oil carrier | Multipurpose vessel built to carry cargoes of coal as well as oil. Most bulk-oil carriers are reinforced to carry ores and are called OBO-ship (ore/bulk/oil). |
| Bunkers | Ship's fuel. To take on fuel, is called bunkering. |
| Bury Barge | Vessel especially equipped to bury oil and gas pipelines on the sea bed. |
| BV | Bureau Veritas - French classification society. |