Glossary

Shipping Terms

TERM		DEFINITION
Ammonia		Raw material used in fertilizer production.
Bareboat charter		Charter of a vessel, usually over longer periods of time ranging over several years, in which all voyage related costs, including vessel fuel and port dues as well as all vessel-operating expenses such as day-to-day operations, maintenance, crewing and insurance are paid by the charterer. The owner of the vessel receives monthly charter hire payments on a per day basis and is responsible only for the payment of capital costs related to the vessel. A bareboat charter is also known as a "demise charter" or a "time charter by demise".
Bbl		Barrels of oil (one barrel of oil = 159 liters).
Bulk carrier		Ships specifically designed to transport vast amounts of cargoes such as sugar, grain, wine, ore, chemicals, liquefied natural gas, coal and oil.
Bunker fuel		Heavy fuel oil and marine diesel oil used to power a vessel's engines.
Cbm		Cubic meter. A unit for a gas vessels capacity for carrying gas.
Charter		The hiring of a vessel, or use of its carrying capacity, for either (i) a specified period of time or (ii) a specific voyage or set of voyages. The contract for a charter is commonly called a "charterparty".
Charter hire rate		A sum of money paid to the vessel owner by a charterer for the use of a vessel. The charter hire rate paid under a voyage charter is also known as the "freight".
Chartered-in		Vessels to which the operator has access pursuant to a charter. Also commonly referred to as in-chartered vessels.
Charterer		The party that hires a vessel for a period of time or for a voyage or set of voyages.
Clean products		Liquid products refined from crude oil, whose color is less than or equal to 2.5 on the National Petroleum Association scale. Clean products include naphtha, jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel/gas oil.
Contract of Affreightment (COA)		Under a typical COA, the shipowner provides capacity to transport a certain amount of cargo within a specified period from one place to a destination designated by the customer. All of the ships operating, voyage and capital costs are borne by the shipowner. The freight rate normally is agreed on a per cargo ton basis. The freight rate can be fixed or floating, or a combination of both.
CPP		Clean petroleum products.
Deadweight ton (dwt)		A unit of a vessels capacity for cargo, fuel oil, stores and crew, measured in metric tons of 1,000 kilograms. A vessels dwt or total dwt is the total weight the vessel can carry when loaded to a particular load line.
Demurrage		Compensation paid by the charterer to the vessel owner for delay beyond the stipulated time for loading or discharging.
Dirty products		Liquid products refined from crude oil, whose color is greater than 2.5 on the National Petroleum Association scale. Dirty products will usually require heating during the voyage as their viscosity or waxiness makes discharge difficult at ambient temperatures. Dirty products include fuel oil, Low Sulphur Waxy Residue (LSWR) and Carbon Black Feedstock (CBFS).
Double hull		Hull construction design in which a vessel has an inner and outer side and bottom separated by void space, usually several feet in width.
Drydocking		The removal of a vessel from the water for inspection by the classification society and/or repair of those parts of a vessel that are below the water line. During drydockings, which are required to be performed periodically, certain mandatory classification society inspections are carried out and relevant certificates are issued.
FPSO		Floating Production, Storage and Offloading. An FPSO unit is a type of floating tank system designed to process and store crude oil. An FPSO unit typically has onboard the capability to carry out the oil separation process, obviating the need for such facilities to be located on the fixed platform. The processed oil is periodically offloaded onto shuttle tankers or ocean-going barges for transport to shore.
FSO		Floating Storage and Offloading. An FSO unit is an oil tanker that has been moored in an oil field and modified to store oil.
Fully refrigerated vessel		A gas carrier designed to carry cargoes fully refrigerated at atmospheric pressure.
IEA		International Energy Agency.
IFRS		International Financial Reporting Standards.
IMA		International Maritime Associates, Inc.
International Maritime Organization (IMO)		A United Nations agency that sets and issues international trade standards for shipping and is responsible for the administration of internationally developed maritime safety and pollution treaties, including MARPOL 73/78.
ISM Code		The International Safety Management Code for the Safe Operation of Ships and for Pollution Prevention, as adopted by the IMO.
ISO		International Organization for Standardization.
ISPS Code		The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code, as adopted by the IMO.
LGC		An abbreviation for Large Gas Carrier, which is a gas carrier of 50,000 to 70,000 cbm.
LNG		Liquefied natural gas.
Long-term time charter		A time charter for a period of five years or more.
LPG		Liquefied petroleum gas.
LR1 product carrier		Long Range One Product Carrier. A Product Carrier within the range of 55,000 to 80,000 dwt.
LTI		Lost time incident. Number of accidents per million working hours.
MARPOL 73/78		The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978.
MGC		An abbreviation for Medium Gas Carrier, which is a gas carrier of 20,000 to 50,000 cbm.
MT		Metric ton.
Newbuilding		A new vessel under construction or a newly constructed vessel.
Off-hire		Any period during which a vessel is unable to perform the services for which it is immediately required under a time charter. Off-hire periods can include days spent on repairs, drydocking and surveys, whether or not scheduled.
Petroleum products		Refined crude oil products, such as fuel oils, gasoline and jet fuel.
Pool		An arrangement where vessels owned by different owners are chartered into a pool and the pool manager markets the vessels as a single, cohesive fleet, operating them under spot contracts, COAs and time charters. The income from the vessels included in the pool is distributed to individual owners according to an agreed upon pool point system whereby each vessel receives its share of the pool's earnings according to the vessels earning potential.
Product carrier		A tanker designed to carry a variety of liquid products, including crude oil, clean and dirty petroleum products, acids and certain chemicals. The tanks are coated to prevent product contamination and hull corrosion. The ship may have equipment designed for the loading and unloading of cargoes with a high viscosity.
Scrapping		The disposal of usually old or damaged vessels by way of sale as scrap metal.
Semi-refrigerated vessel		A gas carrier designed to carry cargoes both fully refrigerated and at a pressure that is higher than atmospheric pressure.
Short to medium-term time charter		A time charter for a period of less than five years.
Single hull		Hull construction design in which a vessel has only one hull.
Spot charter		A trip charter or voyage charter from a load port to a discharge port for a fixed dollar amount.
Spot market		The market for immediate chartering of a vessel, usually for single voyages, on the basis of current market levels.
Spot rate		The rate for chartering a vessel on the spot market.
Spot voyage		Typically a single round trip that is priced on a current or spot market value. The owner of the vessel receives one payment derived by multiplying the tons of cargo loaded on board by the agreed upon freight rate expressed on a per cargo ton basis. The owner is responsible for the payment of all expenses including voyage expenses (including bunker fuel, agency and port costs), operating expenses and capital costs of the vessel.
Suezmax		The largest type of tanker that when fully laden can pass through the Suez Canal, with a cargo size of between 120,000 and 200,000 dwt.
Tanker		A ship designed to carry liquid cargoes in bulk with cargo space consisting of many tanks. Tankers carry a variety of products including crude oil, refined products, liquid chemicals and liquid gas.
Time charter		A charter under which a vessel is chartered to a customer for a fixed period of time at a rate that is typically fixed. The charterer pays all voyage costs. The owner of the vessel typically receives monthly or semi-monthly charter payments on a per day basis and is typically responsible for providing the crew and paying all vessel operating expenses (including maintenance, repair and docking) and capital costs of the vessel.
Time charter equivalent (TCE) rates		Time charter equivalent per day, or TCE per day, is a measure of the average daily revenue performance of a vessel on a per-voyage basis. Our method of calculating TCE per day is consistent with industry standards and is determined by dividing revenues (net of voyage expenses) by the number of available days during the period. TCE per day is a standard shipping industry performance measure used primarily to compare period-to-period changes in a shipping companys performance despite changes in the mix of charter types (i.e. spot charters, time charters, and bareboat charters) under which the vessels may be employed during specific periods.
Ton		A metric ton of 1,000 kilograms.
Turret		Single point mooring system with fluid transfer system (swivel).
VLCC		An abbreviation for Very Large Crude Carrier, which is a large crude oil tanker of 200,000 to 320,000 dwt. Modern VLCCs can generally transport two million barrels or more of crude oil. These vessels are mainly used on the longest (long haul) routes from the Arabian Gulf to North America, Europe and Asia, and from West Africa to the U.S. and North Asian destinations.
VLGC		An abbreviation for Very Large Gas Carrier, which is a gas carrier above 70,000 cbm.
Voyage charter		A charter involving the carriage of a specific amount and type of cargo on a load-port to discharge-port basis, subject to various cargo handling terms. Most of these charters are of a single voyage nature, as trading patterns do not encourage round voyage trading. The owner of the vessel receives one payment derived by multiplying the tons of cargo loaded on board times the agreed upon freight rate expressed on a per ton basis. The owner is responsible for the payment of all expenses including voyage, operating and capital costs of the vessel. The charterer is typically responsible for any delay at the loading or discharging parts.