Maritime Glossary
Source-cited definitions for shipping, engineering, navigation, and regulatory terminology. Confidence-scored and verified against primary IMO, IHO, and industry sources.
- P&I ClubProtection and Indemnity Club · P&I
- A P&I Club is a Protection and Indemnity Club, a mutual insurance association owned by its shipowner members that covers third-party liabilities not handled by ordinary hull insurance — such as injury to crew, cargo claims, pollution and collision liability.
- insurancecommerciallegalhigh confidence
- PanamaxPanamax vessel · Neopanamax · New Panamax
- Panamax describes the largest ships that can transit the original locks of the Panama Canal, constrained mainly by the lock dimensions to a beam of about 32.3 metres. The larger Neopanamax size fits the newer, bigger locks opened in 2016.
- ship-typescommercialhigh confidence
- Passage Planningvoyage planning
- Passage planning is the process of preparing a detailed plan for a voyage from berth to berth before the ship sails. Required by SOLAS, it follows four stages (appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring) to ensure the ship follows a safe, pre-considered route.
- navigationsafetyregulationhigh confidence
- Pilotagemaritime pilotage · compulsory pilotage
- Pilotage is the practice of a local navigation expert, the pilot, boarding a ship to advise the master on navigating confined or hazardous waters such as port approaches, rivers and canals. In many such areas pilotage is compulsory.
- navigationoperationsregulationhigh confidence
- Polar CodeInternational Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters
- The Polar Code is the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters, an IMO instrument setting mandatory safety and environmental requirements for ships in the Arctic and Antarctic. It addresses the extreme cold, ice, remoteness and sensitivity of polar regions.
- regulationsafetyenvironmenthigh confidence
- Port State ControlPSC
- Port State Control (PSC) is the inspection of foreign ships in national ports to verify that they meet international safety, security, pollution and crew standards. Ships that fail can be detained until serious deficiencies are corrected.
- regulationsafetyoperationshigh confidence
- Port and Starboardport side · starboard side · port · starboard
- Port and starboard are the nautical terms for the left and right sides of a ship as seen by a person aboard facing forward, toward the bow. Port is the left side and starboard is the right, and unlike "left" and "right" they never change with the observer's orientation.
- navigationseamanshiphigh confidence
- Propellerscrew · ship propeller · screw propeller
- A propeller is the rotating, bladed device that drives a ship through the water by converting the engine's torque into thrust. As it turns it accelerates water astern, and the reaction pushes the ship forward.
- propulsionnaval-architecturehigh confidence