| Term | Definition |
| bill of lading |
document issued by carrier to a shipper of goods when received on board; it serves as a receipt for the goods, document of title of the goods and evidence of the contract of carriage; B/L for short |
| brokering |
acting as intermediary between two parties such as shipowner and shipper or underwriter, e.g. securing transactions connected with shipping agreements |
| carrier |
owner or operator of ships who enter into a contract with shipper for the transportation of goods; also refers to the ship carrying cargo |
| consignor |
the person or firm named in the bill of lading as the shipper |
| consolidation |
of shipment, a shipping method whereby a freight forwarder or consolidator brings together individual consignments from various shippers into a single shipment to obtain preferential rates; at the destination, the consolidation is then sorted into its original component consignments and forwarded to their consignees; also known as groupage |
| deadfreight |
a form of compensation payable by the charterer or shipper to the shipowner when the charterer is unable to load the cargo quantity agreed in the charterparty; the amount payable is the loss of freight equivalent to the cargo unavailable |
| Fixed Freight Agreement |
option contract on freight rates traded on Baltic Exchange, through which shippers and shipowners hedge against the volatility of the ocean freight market. It is a principal-to-principal contract used by two parties to bet on the price of a particular freight-route on a particular date. FFA for short |
| notice of readiness |
notice presented to shipper or his agent by masters or ships' agent stating the readiness of the arrived ship to load; it determines when the time starts to count; NOR for short |
| NVOCC |
stand for Non-Vessel-Operating Common Carrier; it is defined in the United States Shipping Act 1984 as a "...common carrier that does not operate the vessels by which the ocean transportation is provided, and is a shipper in its relationship with an ocean common carrier." |
| shipbroker |
1. one whose business is selling and buying of ships, i.e. sale and purchase broker;
2. one who serves as an intermediary between a shipowner and a shipper or charterer; commission upon successful fixture or fixing of voyage charters comes from the shipowner and not from the charterer |
| waybill |
document which serves as a receipt for the goods shipped and as evidence of the contract of carriage; it is issued by shipping line or shipowner to shipper or charterer |
