Maritime Glossary
Source-cited definitions for shipping, engineering, navigation, and regulatory terminology. Confidence-scored and verified against primary IMO, IHO, and industry sources.
- BIMCOBaltic and International Maritime Council
- BIMCO is the Baltic and International Maritime Council, the world's largest international association representing shipowners, operators, managers and brokers. It is best known for drafting the standard contracts and clauses used across the shipping industry.
- commercialorganizationsstandardshigh confidence
- Ballastballast water
- Ballast is weight (almost always seawater pumped into dedicated tanks) that a ship takes on to keep it stable, safe and correctly trimmed when it is not carrying a full cargo. It is discharged as cargo is loaded and taken on again as cargo is discharged.
- operationsenvironmentengineeringhigh confidence
- Ballast Water Management ConventionBWM Convention · BWMC
- The Ballast Water Management Convention is an IMO treaty requiring ships to manage their ballast water so they do not spread harmful aquatic organisms between regions. Ships must exchange ballast at sea or, increasingly, treat it to an approved biological standard.
- regulationenvironmenthigh confidence
- Bareboat Charterdemise charter
- A bareboat charter, also called a demise charter, hires out a ship without crew or provisions. The charterer takes full possession and control, crewing, operating, maintaining and insuring the vessel for the period, almost as if it were the owner.
- commercialcharteringhigh confidence
- Beaufort ScaleBeaufort wind force scale
- The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure of wind force, running from 0 for calm to 12 for hurricane force. Each number describes the wind by its observable effects on the sea surface and on land, giving mariners a common language for conditions.
- navigationmeteorologyseamanshiphigh confidence
- Berth
- A berth is the place where a ship is moored or lies alongside to load and discharge cargo or embark passengers, such as a quay, wharf, jetty or pier. The word also refers to a crew member's bunk, and to sea room kept clear of a hazard.
- portsoperationscommercialhigh confidence
- Bill of LadingB/L · BOL
- A bill of lading is the central shipping document issued by a carrier for goods received for carriage by sea. It serves three roles at once: a receipt for the cargo, evidence of the contract of carriage, and a document of title to the goods.
- commercialcargolegalhigh confidence
- Biofoulinghull fouling · marine fouling
- Biofouling is the accumulation of marine organisms (algae, weed, barnacles and other growth) on a ship's hull and underwater surfaces. It increases drag and fuel consumption, and can carry invasive species between regions.
- environmentengineeringoperationshigh confidence
- Bollardbitts · mooring bollard
- A bollard is a short, strong vertical post (on a quay, jetty or ship's deck) to which a vessel's mooring lines are made fast to hold it in position alongside. Similar strong posts on the ship itself are usually called bitts.
- mooringseamanshipporthigh confidence
- Breakbulkbreak-bulk · general cargo
- Breakbulk is general cargo that is loaded and carried as individual units or packages (crates, bags, drums, bundles, machinery and project pieces) rather than in containers or as loose bulk. Each item is handled separately, often by crane and sling.
- cargooperationshigh confidence
- Bulbous Bowbulb bow · bow bulb
- A bulbous bow is a protruding bulb-shaped structure at the bow of a ship, just below the waterline. It reduces the ship's wave-making resistance, improving fuel efficiency and speed for vessels operating at their design conditions.
- naval-architectureship-designhigh confidence
- Bulk Carrierbulker · dry bulk carrier
- A bulk carrier is a single-deck ship designed to carry unpackaged dry bulk cargo (such as iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite and cement) loaded loose into large box-shaped holds through wide deck hatches.
- vessel-typescargohigh confidence
- Bunkermarine fuel · bunker fuel · bunkering
- Bunkers are the fuel oils a ship burns for its own propulsion and power, and 'bunkering' is the operation of taking that fuel on board. The term dates from the coal bunkers of early steamships and now covers heavy fuel oil, marine gas oil and newer alternative fuels.
- engineeringoperationsdecarbonizationhigh confidence