Maritime Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms

A phrase referring to the side of a ship. Goods delivered “alongside” are to be placed on the dock or barge within reach of the transport ship’s tackle so that they can be loaded.

Now means to stand apart or be indifferent, but it came from the Old Dutch word loef which meant “windward” and was used to describe a ship within a fleet which sailed higher to the wind and was thus drawn apart from the rest of the fleet.

Altered or Altitude

Privilege to use the rate producing the lowest charge.

ALUminium

ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE shall mean that the charterer undertakes that an available loading or discharging Berth be provided to the Vessel on arrival at the Port which the Vessel can reach safely without delay. The charterer additionally undertakes that the Vessel will be able to depart safely from the Berth and without delay at any time before, during or on completion of loading or discharging.

A charter party clause which requires that a ship is to berth for loading or discharging without touching the bottom of the sea / river / lake, etc.

The temperature of a surrounding body. The ambient temperature of a container is the atmospheric temperature to which it is exposed,

Average Most Probable Discharge

America's 12,000 mile navigable inland waterways system is the envy of the world because it allows the safe, economical, and environmentally friendly transportation of commodities that are essential to the nation's economic well-being. For example, barges transport 60% of America's export grain on the nation's inland waterways, helping American farmers stay competitive with foreign producers.

U.S. classification society which certifies seagoing vessels for compliance to standardized rules regarding construction and maintenance.

American Methanol Institute

In or toward the centre of the ship. (or 'Midships') . The middle portion of a vessel

A chemical grouping based on a nitrogen atom linked to an aliphatic or aromatic structure

Amines are produced from fatty acids for use as surface-active compounds. The primary and secondary amines can be converted to tertiary amines, quats and amine oxides, all of which have valuable surface-active properties. Based on their cationic nature and ability to be strongly absorbed on many surfaces, they have many industrial and cosmetic applications.

Chief components of proteins which are the building blocks of living tissues. Eighteen different amino acids commonly occur in our food supply and eight are considered essential because the body cannot make them from other materials.

Annual Machinery Survey

Americanised welsh coal charter party

An offshore tug/supply ship equipped with a high bollard pull and a stern roller for anchor handling

A vessel equipped to assist with the handling of anchors in coastal waters

Mooring point on the sea bed

An area inside a water body providing the ships some protection from the weather while lying at anchor to stand by, load or unload cargo, await repairs, etc. They are protected areas where shippers lay down their anchors and wait to exit the harbor.

Any chemical compound obtained, either in practice or in principle, by the elimination of water from another compound.

Anhydrous means dry or free from water. Oils are essentially anhydrous after refining and deodorisation, the usual specified maximum moisture level being 0.1%. Butter, made from dairy cream, consists of an emulsion with up to 16% of water. Margarine is formulated likewise. More and more the trend is to lower fat spreads. Anhydrous butter fat (ghee) is made from butter and is commercially available.

An organic base used to make dyes, drugs, explosives, plastics, and photographic and rubber chemicals. Aniline owes its name to the indigo-yielding plant, Indigofera anil, from the distillation of which aniline was first obtained.

A specification, quoted in degree Fahrenheit in the USA and Centigrade elsewhere, which reports the aromatics content of a hydrocarbon mixture. This quality consideration indicates the susceptibility of a vacuum gasoil to catalytic cracking because paraffins crack well, but aromatics do not. The higher the temperature the better, since higher temperatures mean less aromatics, hence more paraffins.

The anisidine value is a measure of the amount of aldehydes, principally 2-alkenals, present in oils. This gives a qualitative assessment of the amount of secondary oxidation products present in the oil. The anisidine value is determined by reacting a test solution of the oil with p-anisidine, which reacts with the 2-alkenals, and measuring the increase in absorbence at 350 nm, using a spectrometer. The anisidine value is often numerically combined with the peroxide value, a measure of primary oxidation, in the form of the Totox Value (2 x peroxide value + anisidine value) to give an overall assessment of the oxidation which has occurred.

This refers to the hour and date the ship is delivered to the charterer and, therefore, hire is paid from that date, either semi-monthly, monthly, or per 30 days, through the end of the charter period. This is especially important when negotiating for an extension, or when ‘fixing” in direct continuation.

Electrode at which the anodic reaction predominates

Electrochemical protection achieved by increasing the corrosion potential to a value within the potential range of the passive state

American National Standards Institute

Antwerp - Hamburg range

Anthracene is a solid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon consisting of three benzene rings derived from coal tar. Anthracene is used in the artificial production of the red dye alizarin. It is also found in some coal tar oils which are used for example as wood preservatives, insecticides and coating materials.

A tariff imposed to discourage sale of foreign goods, subsidized to sell at low prices detrimental to local manufacturers.

Foam is a two phase system consisting of liquid and gas wherein gas is distributed in the form of small bubbles throughout the liquid. Formation of foam is quite common in some oils and fats during prolonged heating/frying. To overcome or minimise foaming, food additives known as anti-foaming agents, generally silicone based, are added to the oils at very small levels, e.g. 1-5 ppm of Dimethyl Polysiloxane. These additives are usually only incorporated on request from the end user.

Normally contains toxic compounds to prevent marine growth. Non-toxic products are gradually being introduced to the market

The average of a motor gasoline's or blending component's RON and MON (RON + MON)2, sometimes written (R + M)2.

Substances which inhibit the oxidation of fats and oils. They are added to fats and oils or fatcontaining products to provide greater stability and longer shelf-life by delaying the onset of oxidative rancidity.

Usually refers to a rating that applies to an article regardless of size or quantity.

As On Board

American Oil Chemists Society. One of the largest professional bodies for oils and fats technologists. It has a large international membership and publishes a comprehensive book of analytical methods and two journals - "Lipids" and "Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society" - with a worldwide circulation. Its headquarters are in Champaign, Illinois, USA.

Act of God

After office hours

Atlantic Ocean Region East

Atlantic Ocean Region West

All purposes

Additional premium or Auto pilot

Aft perpendicular

After peak tank

Aromatics Producers Association, a sector group of the Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe (APPE).

Accident prevention on board ships at sea and in port (second edition) International Labour Office, Geneva (ILO)

American Plastics Council

Alaska Petroleum Distributors and Transporters

Afloat Prepositioning Force

Arabian Persian Gulf

American Petroleum Institute.The American Petroleum Institute, founded in 1919, was the first oil trade association to include all branches of the petroleum industry. The API scale is a scale used to define the specific gravity of a cargo. It is mainly used in the crude trades, with the product trades preferring the metric SG scale.

The units of API's density scale.

A density scale expressed in API degrees. The following formula relates this representation of density to specific gravity: API = (141.5specific gravity @ 60`F)-131.5. AR: American rate. Tanker hire prices according to the American Tanker Rate Schedule. This system applies to voyages which begin and end in US ports. US law (the Jones Act) allows only US-flag ships in this domestic service. (Relative Density) - A means used by the petroleum industry to express the density of petroleum liquids. API gravity is measured by a hydrometer instrument having a scale graduated in degrees API. The relation between API gravity and relative density (formerly called specific gravity) is: API Gravity at 60 Deg. F. = 141.5 - 131.5\Relative Density 60F/60F

Latin American Petrochemical Association

Ship Stability: The drafts obtained form reading the draft at the draft marks.

When freight appears to be free of damage so far as a general survey can determine.

Association of Petrochemicals Producers in Europe

Determination of the dutiable value of imported merchandise by a Customs official who follows procedures outlined in their country’s tariff, such as the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930.

The warehouse or public stores to which samples of imported goods are taken to be inspected, analyzed, weighed, etc. by examiners or appraisers.

This is the expression used for charters – whether “agreed”, “adopted” or “recommended.”

approximately

Arrival Pilot Station or At Pilot Station. Location often used as the place of delivery of a ship by the shipowner to the charterer at the commencement of a time charter. The hire charge commences from the time of arrival unless the ship arrives prior to the first of the laydays. In such a case, the hire charge commences at the beginning of the first layday or sooner at the option of the charterer.

Asia Pacific Terminal Forum

Any Quantity: Usually refers to a rating that applies to an article regardless of size or quantity.

Product name for an environmentally-adapted cleaning agent which can be used throughout the ship

Product name for an environmentally-adapted cleaning agent used in cargo holds

Accounts receivable

Auxiliary engine room (OCIMF acronym)

Antwerp - Rotterdam - Amsterdam range

Amsterdam - Rotterdam - Antwerp - Gent range

Antwerp - Rotterdam - Amsterdam - Ghent range

Antwerp - Rotterdam - Amsterdam - Zeebrugge range

Arbitration

A stated amount over a fixed rate to one point to make a rate to another point.

Method of settling disputes which is usually binding on parties concerned. A clause usually in a charter party

Clause in a contract, such as Charter-Party, which stipulates that any dispute between the parties arising from the contract be resolved by arbitration. The clause also specifies the place where the arbitration is to be held, the number of arbitrators and their qualifications, and the procedure should one party fail to nominate an arbitrator.

Ship Stability: Area of WP= 420*TPI

Antwerp - Rotterdam - Hamburg range

Antwerp - Rotterdam - Hamburg - Bremen range

Around

Aromatics are a highly reactive group of hydrocarbons with unsaturated rings of carbon atoms, producing a great variety of products. As their name implies, they have a strong odor, which is not unpleasant.

A family of hydrocarbons characterized by a single or multiple ring structure containing unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds. Common aromatics which boil in the gasoline range (benzene, toluene, and xylenes, in particular) have a very high octane rating. Reformers produce high octane blend-stock by making aromatics. The "A" in PONA and N+A stands for aromatics.

Automatic Radar Plotting Aid

A notification by carrier of ship’s arrival to the consignee, the “Notify Party,” and – when applicable – the “Also Notify Party.” These parties in interest are listed in blocks 3, 4 and 10, respectively, of the Bill of Lading.

Requirement of all voyage charters that the ship must have arrived before laytime can commence. Where the charterer has nominated a berth or dock, the ship must have arrived at that berth or dock. When a port is nominated, the ship must have arrived at the pod in this context in cases where there is no berth available and the ship is obliged to wait, a vessel is an “arrived ship” as soon as the following conditions have been met: (1) The vessel must have arrived at the loading or discharging berth or port as stipulated in the charter. (2) The vessel must be fully prepared to load or discharge. (3) Notice of readiness in writing, as prescribed, must have been given to shippers or consignees. (4) If berth nominated by charter is not available, then vessel can be considered “arrived” when NOR is tendered.

After right and true delivery

The articulated tug barge is a new state-of-the-art design aimed to increase efficiency and safety in ocean towing by eliminating the long towline. Instead, the tugboat fits into a notch designed into the stern of the barge and the two units are tightly connected. This allows for more control in steering the barge. ATBs are often mistaken for tank ships by the casual observer.

The Document containing all particulars relating to the terms of agreement between the Master of the vessel and the crew. Sometimes called ship's articles.

Annual Survey

Form of words used with a signature to a Charter-Party or Bill of Lading to indicate that the party signing is doing so merely on behalf of a principal, whether is to be the master, owner or charterer of the ship, and has no rights or liabilities under the contract of carriage.

When lost or unsure of their position in coastal waters, ships would release a caged crow. The crow would fly straight towards the nearest land thus giving the vessel some sort of a navigational fix. The tallest lookout platform on a ship came to be know as the crow's nest.

Always safely afloat

As soon as possible

Association of Shipbrokers and Agents

American Standards Committee X12 responsible for developing EDI standards for the United States.