Short maritime terms glossary - part 6

MAIN DECK - The main continuous deck of a ship running from fore to aft; the principle deck; the deck from which the freeboard is determined.

MANIFEST - A document containing a full list of the ship's cargo, extracted from the bills of lading.

MANNING SCALES - The minimum number of officers and crew members that can be engaged on a ship to be considered as sufficient hands with practical ability to meet every possible eventuality at sea.

MARITIME ADMINISTRATION (MARAD )- Oversees subsidy programs to the United States Merchant Marine. Assigns routes to subsidized liners.

MARITIME LIEN - A claim which attaches to the res, i. e., the ship,. freight, or cargo.

MARITIME SUBSIDY BOARD (MSB)- A branch within the Maritime Administration which deals with Operating Differential Subsidy and Construction Differential Subsidy.

MARPOL 73/78- The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978.

MASTHEAD LIGHT - A white light positioned over the fore and aft centerline of the vessel.

MIB - Marine Index Bureau.

MFN - Most Favored Nation.

MINILAND BRIDGE - The process of taking inland cargo bound for export to the coast by rail and loading it directly to the ship.

MIRAID - Maritime Institute for Research and Industrial Development.

MIXED SHIPMENT - A shipment consisting of more than one commodity, articles described under more than one class or commodity rate item in a tariff.

MICROBRIDGE - A system of through rates and service offered by a carrier for cargo shipments from any inland U. S. location to a port, by sea to a foreign port and finally overland to foreign inland destination.

MOA - Memorandum of agreement

MODU - Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit.

MOORING LINE - A cable or line to tie up a ship.

MORTGAGE - Loan issued against some security

MSB - Maritime Subsidy Board.

M/T - Metric tons (2,250 lbs.).

MTC - Maritime Transport Committee, OECD

MULTIPURPOSE SHIP - Any ship capable of carrying different types of cargo which require different methods of handling. There are several types of ships falling into this category, for example, ships which can carry roll on/roll off cargo together with containers.

NATIONAL CARGO BUREAU - A private organization having representatives throughout the main harbors in the U. S. It is empowered to inspect cargoes of a hazardous nature and issue certificates which are automatically approved by the Coast Guard.

NATIONAL FLAG - The flag carried by a ship to show her nationality.

NEOBULK - Shipments consisting entirely of units of a single commodity, such as cars, lumber, or scrap metal.

NET CAPACITY - The number of tons of cargo which a vessel can carry when loaded in salt water to her summer freeboard marks. Also called cargo carrying capacity, cargo deadweight, useful deadweight.

NATIONAL CARGO BUREAU - A private organization having representatives throughout the main harbors in the U. S. It is empowered to inspect cargoes of a hazardous nature and issue certificates which are automatically approved by the Coast Guard.

NATIONAL FLAG - The flag carried by a ship to show her nationality.

NEOBULK - Shipments consisting entirely of units of a single commodity, such as cars, lumber, or scrap metal.

NET CAPACITY - The number of tons of cargo which a vessel can carry when loaded in salt water to her summer freeboard marks. Also called cargo carrying capacity, cargo deadweight, useful deadweight.

NET TONNAGE - Equals gross tonnage minus deductions for space occupied by crew accommodations, machinery, navigation equipment and bunkers. It represents space available for cargo (and passengers). Canal tolls are based on net (registered) tonnage.

NON-CONFERENCE LINE - A shipping line which operates on a route served by a liner conference but which is not a member of that conference.

NONCONTIGUOUS - Domestic shipping routes serving Alaska and non-continental U. S. States and territories.

NOR - Notice of readiness

NORSKE VERITAS - Norwegian classification society.

NRT - Net registered tons. This tonnage is frequently shown on ship registration papers; it represents the volumetric area available for cargo at 100 cubic feet = 1 ton. It often is used by port and canal authorities as a basis for charges.

NVO - Non-vessel-operating common carrier, a ships agent, conducts business for the ship but does not operate the vessel.

OBO - Ore/bulk/oil vessel

OBO SHIP - A multipurpose ship that can carry ore, heavy dry bulk goods and oil. Although more expensive to build, they ultimately are more economical because they can make return journeys with cargo rather than empty as single-purpose ships often must.

OCEAN WAYBILL - A document, issued by a shipping line to a shipper which serves as a receipt for the goods and evidence of the contract carriage.

ODS - Operating Differential Subsidy: A direct subsidy paid to U. S.-flag operators to offset the high operating cost of U. S.-flag ships when compared to foreign-flag counterparts.

OECD - Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Maritime Transport Committee is part of this organization.

OFF-HIRE CLAUSE - In a time charter, the owner is entitled to a limited time for his vessel to be off hire until such time as the vessel may be repaired or dry-docked.

OFFICER - Any of the licensed members of the ship's complement.

OFF-LOAD - Discharge of cargo from a ship.

Offshore service vessels - Special vessels employed in exploration for, development of or continuous production of, subsea oil and gas.

OILER - An unlicensed member of the engine room staff who oils and greases bearings and moving parts of the main engine and auxiliaries. Most of this work is now done automatically and the oiler merely insures it operates correctly.

OIL RECORD BOOK - A book or log kept by the master of an oil tanker wherein every discharge or escape of oil is recorded.

OIL TANKER - A ship designed for the carriage of oil in bulk, her cargo space consisting of several or many tanks. Tankers load their cargo by gravity from the shore or by shore pumps and discharge using their own pumps.

OPEN RATES - Pricing systems that are flexible and not subject to conference approval. Usually applied to products in which tramps are substituted for liners.

OPEN REGISTRY - A term used in place of "flag of convenience" or "flag of necessity" to denote registry in a country which offers favorable tax, regulatory, and other incentives to ship owners from other nations.

ORE CARRIER - A large ship designed to be used for the carnage of ore. Because of the high density of ore, ore carriers have a relatively high center of gravity to prevent them being still when at sea, that is, rolling heavily with possible stress to the hull.

ORE-BULK-OIL CARRIER - A large multi-purpose ship designed to carry cargoes wither of ore or other bulk commodities or oil so as to reduce the time the ship would be in ballast if restricted to one type of commodity. This type of ship is sometimes called bulk-oil carrier.

ORE-OIL CARRIER - A ship designed to carry either ore or oil in bulk.

ORDINARY SEAMAN - A deck crew member who is subordinate to the Able Bodied Seamen.

OVERTONNAGING - A situation where there are too many ships generally or in a particular trade for the level of available cargoes.