Jane's Merchant Ships

Jane's Merchant Ships is first and foremost a recognition guide for those either at sea or in occupations where there is a need to identify merchant shipping. Line drawings and photographs, plus the use of a revised version of the Talbot Booth recognition system based on ship type, sequence and hull form, will support your identification making this a core resource on the world's merchant vessels. A merchant shipping report, analysis of legislation implications and safety issues are also covered.

The depth and breadth of information covers:

• Tankers and combination carriers
• Liquefied gas carriers
• Geared and gearless container ships
• Refrigerated cargo ships
• Geared and gearless dry cargo ships
• Low-aircraft ships
• Ro-Ro/Lo-Lo
• Vehicle carriers
• Passenger ships
• Specialised cargo ships

Different sections provide in-depth detail covering:

• Abbreviations
• Alphabets
• Analysis
• Dry Cargo Ships With Deck Cranes
• Dry Cargo Ships With Derrick Posts
• Dry Cargo Ships With Mixed Cargo Gear
• Dry Cargo Ships With Travelling Cranes And Self-Unloading Gear
• Geared Container Ships
• Gearless Container Ships
• Gearless Dry Cargo Vessels (130.00 M (426 Ft) And Under)
• Gearless Dry Cargo Vessels (Over 130.00 M (426 Ft) Overall)
• Glossary
• How To Use Jane's Merchant Ships
• Liquefied Gas Carriers With Tanks On Deck
• Liquefied Gas Carriers Without Deck Tanks
• Low-Airdraught Ships (Sea/River)
• Passenger Ships (Including Ferries)
• Refrigerated Cargo Ships (Reefers)
• Ro-Ro Cargo
• Ro-Ro/Container (Gearless)
• Ro-Ro/Lo-Lo
• Small Gearless Container Ships (Ten 20 Ft Stacks Or Less)
• Specialised Cargo Ships
• Tankers And Combination Carriers With Cranes
• Tankers And Combination Carriers With Derrick Posts
• The Recognition System
• Vehicle Carriers

Sections

• Abbreviations
• Alphabets
• Analysis
• Dry cargo ships with deck cranes
• Dry cargo ships with derrick posts
• Dry cargo ships with mixed cargo gear
• Dry cargo ships with travelling cranes and self-unloading gear
• Geared container ships
• Gearless container ships
• Gearless dry cargo vessels (130.00 m (426 ft) and under)
• Gearless dry cargo vessels (over 130.00 m (426 ft) overall)
• Glossary
• How to use jane's merchant ships
• Liquefied gas carriers with tanks on deck
• Liquefied gas carriers without deck tanks
• Low-airdraught ships (sea/river)
• Passenger ships (including ferries)
• Refrigerated cargo ships (reefers)
• Ro-ro cargo
• Ro-ro/container (gearless)
• Ro-ro/lo-lo
• Small gearless container ships (ten 20 ft stacks or less)
• Specialised cargo ships
• Tankers and combination carriers with cranes
• Tankers and combination carriers with derrick posts
• The recognition system
• Vehicle carriers

Content Structure

Commonly Used Terms:
Abaft - Behind an object, ABS - American Bureau of Shipping, Aframax - An oil tanker designed with the cargo capacity optimised to suit the scales of AFRA (American FReight Association). They have a maximum deadweight of approximately 100,000 tonnes, Aft - Towards the stern, Aftercastle - Raised portion or island at aft end of a vessel. Also termed the poop, Ahead - Directly in advance, Amidships - Midway between stem and stern, AMVER - Automated Merchant VEssel Reporting, Angled ramp - See Quarter ramp, ASEAN - Association of SouthEast Asian Nations. Treaty organisation comprising Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, Astern - Directly to the rear or behind a vessel, Athwartships - Across a vessel: at right angles to centre line, Azipod - Azimuthing Electric Propulsion drive. Azipod is a podded propulsion drive azimuthing through 360º. An electric motor is located inside the pod and it directly drives a fixed-pitch propeller. (Azipod is a registered trade mark of Kvaerner Masa-Azipod.), Ballast - Water, sand, and so on to give stability when ship is `light' or empty of cargo, Beam - Greatest width of vessel, BIBO - Bulk-In, Bag-Out (ship type), BIMCO - Baltic International Maritime COuncil, Boom - Same as derrick, Boot-topping - Colour of paint along the waterline, between topsides and underwater surface, Bow wave - Wave formed under or near the bows when under way, Bows - Adjacent to the stem: either side near front, Breakbulk - A term which has appeared since the advent of container ships to describe a general cargo ship. The cargo is loaded into and broken out of the hold piece by piece, Bridge - Navigating platform running athwartships high up on forward part of superstructure, Bridge deck - Mid-castle or Island approximately amidships, Broadside - Complete view of a ship from stem to stern - not foreshortened, Bulk cargo - Heavy dry cargo such as ore or coal or bulky like grain or timber, Bulkhead - Watertight walls which subdivide the hull. Usually transverse, Bulwark - Plating on deck at side to give shelter or protection in place of railings, Bunkers - Fuel capacity or space in which fuel is carried, Cabotage - The French term for the coasting trade. These days, it is used to describe the practice of a country allowing only ships owned by its own nationals to trade between ports in its territorial waters. It is largely disappearing, Capesize - Vessels which are too large for the Panama Canal and are, therefore, routed via the Cape of Good Hope. Particularly applies to bulk carriers, Castle - Raised portion or island above upper deck, Catwalk - Raised gangway connecting castles, above the upper deck, especially in tankers, Cellular - Describes a container ship with guides in the holds for container storage, Centre line - Imaginary line drawn on deck from stem to stern, CEU - Car Equivalent Units. Used to express the capacity of a car carrier, Classification Society - Organisation which surveys merchant ships for seaworthiness and classifies them accordingly (for example: Lloyd's Register of Shipping, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Bureau Veritas), CMPC - Container/MultiPurpose Carrier, CNIS - Channel Navigation Information Service (Dover Strait), COB - Container/Ore/Bulk carrier, CODAG - COmbined Diesel And Gas turbine, Combination carrier - A large vessel suitable for the carriage of either bulk or liquid cargoes, but not simultaneously (for example OBO - Ore/Bulk/Oil and OO - Ore/Oil), Counter - Extreme stern of a ship. Sloping portion of a cutaway stern, COW - Crude Oil Washing (oil tankers), Cross trading - The practice of operating a ship between countries other than the country in which the vessel is owned, Crosstrees - Platform on top of lower mast or kingpost to which lifting gear is rigged. Also known as table tops, Davits - Curved fittings for supporting and handling boats, Derrick - Long spar attached to foot of mast or kingpost for cargo handling, Derrick post - Vertical post to which derricks are fixed but shorter than a mast. Also known as kingpost, Draught - Depth from waterline to keel. Marked in feet or metres at stem or stern, DWAT - DeadWeight All Total, DWT - DeadWeight Tonnes, Ensign - Flag denoting nationality but not always the same as national flag, Ensign Staff - Flagstaff right aft from which ensign may be worn, FEU - Forty-foot Equivalent Units. See TEU, Flag Of Convenience (FOC) - A flag under which a ship is registered but is not the country of ownership. `Flagging out', as it is often called, is usually practised to gain financial or legal advantages, Flare - Slope outwards of a ship's hull from waterline to upper deck, particularly at bows and stern, Flush deck - Uninterrupted top line without islands, Flying bridge - Another name for a catwalk, Fore-and-aft - Along the length of a vessel, Forecastle - Raised portion or island at forward end, Forward - Towards the fore part - towards the stem, Focsle - See forecastle, FPC - Forest Products Carrier, FPSO - Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (oil industry), Freeboard - Depth of hull from waterline to upper deck, Freeing ports - Openings in ship's side or bulwarks to allow water to run off. Also known as scuppers, FSO - Floating Storage and Offloading facility, FSU - Floating Storage Unit. Usually a converted tanker (North Sea), Gaff - Light fore and aft spar sometimes fitted to aft mast from which ensigns are worn at sea, GCBS - General Council of British Shipping. Merger in 1974 of Chamber of Shipping of the UK and the British Shipping Federation, Geared - A description of a cargo vessel with cargo-handling gear (cranes, derricks and so on), Gearless - Describes a vessel with no cargo-handling gear, GmbH - Gesellschaft mit beschraünkter Haftung (German limited liability company), GMDSS - Global Maritime Distress and Safety System, Hance - Curved or sloping portion of side plating at breaks of castles or islands, Handymax - Describes a bulk carrier of the maximum capacity for Handysize vessels (46,000-48,000|dwt), Handy size - Commercial term to describe bulk carriers in the 25,000-48,000 dwt range, Hatch - Opening in deck to give access to cargo holds, Hatch covers - Steel coverings to hatch, Hatch gear - Short vertical posts between hatches for working covers. If very prominent should be coded as kingposts, Heavy derrick - Particularly heavy derrick usually stowed against mast when at sea, Hold - Compartment for cargo stowage below deck, ICC - International Chamber of Commerce, ICS - International Chamber of Shipping, IGS - Inert Gas System (oil tankers - tank cleaning), IMB - International Maritime Bureau (a division of the ICC (qv), dealing with the investigation of maritime crime), IMO - International Maritime Organisation. A United Nations agency principally concerned with safety and pollution., INMARSAT - INternational MARitime SATellite system, INTELSAT - INternational TELecommunications SATellite organization, INTERTANKO - INTERnational Association of Independent TANKer Owners, Island - Same as castle. A raised portion of hull above upper deck, ISO - International Standards Organization, ITOPF - International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation, Jack Staff - Small flagstaff in stem at which `Jack' is worn, KG - Kommandit-Gesellschaft (Germany), Kingpost - Same as derrick post, Laden - A vessel with full cargo. Down to her load marks, Lakemax - A deep sea vessel built to the maximum dimensions which enable it to navigate the Great Lakes in USA and Canada, LCL - Less than Container Load, Length bp - Length between perpendiculars. The distance on the summer load waterline from the fore side of the stem to the after side of the rudder post, or to the centre of the rudder stock if there is no rudder post. See overall length, Light - A vessel riding light without cargo. `In Ballast', LNG - Liquefied Natural Gas, Load line - Horizontal lines painted on hull amidships to indicate depth to which vessel may be loaded under varying conditions, Lo-Lo - Lift-on/Lift-off, LPG - Liquefied Petroleum Gas, MARPOL - The International Convention on prevention of pollution from ships (1983), Mast house - Large deck house at base of mast or kingpost, Midcastle - Raised portion or island amidships. Same as bridge deck, MPS - Maritime Prepositioning Ship. Vessel employed by the US Navy as part of the Rapid Deployment Force of the US Services, MRCC - Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre, MSC - Military Sealift Command. A US Navy Command with the responsibility of providing sealift of dry cargo and petroleum for all components of the Department of Defense, Navigating Bridge - A term covering wheel house, chart room and athwartships platform high up on forward part of superstructure, NOSAC - NOrwegian Specialised Auto Carriers (ship operator), NUMAST - National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport officers, OECD - Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OPEC - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Open Registry - A country's shipping register which is open to any shipowner, regardless of nationality, who can meet the conditions set by the Registry, Overall length - The extreme length of the ship. This will include the bulbous bow if it extends beyond the stem. See length bp, Panamax - A vessel built to the maximum dimensions which enable it to use the Panama Canal. They have a standard beam of approximately 32 m (105 ft) and a full load draught of approximately 12.4 m (40.68 ft), PCC - Pure Car Carrier. As distinct from vessels which can carry cars and other cargo, PCTC - Pure Car and Truck Carrier, Peak - Extreme outward end of Gaff, Plimsoll line - Same as Load line, Poop - Raised castle at stern; same as aftercastle, Port side - That side of the vessel which is on the left when facing forward. Indicated by RED, PROBO - PROducts/Oil/Bulk/Ore carrier, PVF - Passenger Vehicle Ferry. A general term that covers ferries that carry a mix of passengers and private and commercial freight, Quarter - Adjacent to stern at either side, Quarter ramp - A large ramp set in the quarter of a vessel's hull (usually starboard) which lowers at an angle enabling its use on a conventional quay when the vessel is alongside. Also known as an angled ramp, Rake - Slope or inclination of mast or funnel, RDR - Freight Ro-Ro ships with accommodation for between 50 and 120 drivers or other passengers, RINA - Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Ro-Ro - Roll-on/Roll-off, Ro/Lo - A vessel which has both roll-on/roll-off and lift-on/lift-off capability, Ro/Pax - Ro-Ro/Passenger ferry (see also RPX), RPX - Ro-Pax (pax = passengers) vessels with accommodation for over 120 passengers and where the freight element predominates in the traffic mix, RRF - Ready Reserve Force. A pool of dry cargo ships, tankers and so on, operated by the US Navy, that can be made available for sealift operations on five to ten days' notice. Also RRS-Ready Reserve Ship, Rubbing strake - Heavy permanent wood, metal or rubber guard along the hull to protect plating when going alongside. Prominent feature in coasters or small ships, SAR - Search And Rescue, SBT - Segregated Ballast Tanks (oil tankers), Scantlings - The dimensions of the structural items of a ship, for example, frames and girders, Scuppers - Same as freeing ports, Sheer - Slope upwards of hull at forward and after ends, Signal letters - A group of four letters of international code allocated to a vessel for identification. The same as her radio call sign, Slewing ramp - A ramp which can be swung in a horizontal plane, SOLAS - International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea (1980), Spirket plate - Raised plating or screen above the upper deck of the stem: varies in length, Starboard side - That side of a vessel which is on the right hand when facing forward. Indicated by GREEN, Stem - Extreme forward part of ship's hull. The cut-water, Stern - Extreme after part of a ship, STUFT - Ships Taken Up From Trade. Refers to merchant ships chartered by the UK Ministry of Defence in times of emergency, Suezmax - A vessel of the maximum size, by draught, able to navigate the Suez Canal, Superstructure - Upperworks, deckhouses, and so on, on upper deck, SWATH - Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull, TEU - Twenty-foot Equivalent Units. A method of expressing the container capacity of a vessel (see FEU), Trunk deck - Enclosed structure about two-thirds of the width of a ship joining the islands, particularly in coastal tankers, Tween decks - The upper cargo compartments or the space between any two adjacent decks, ULCC - Ultra Large Crude Carrier, UNCTAD - United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, Ungeared - A description of a cargo vessel which has no cargo-handling gear (such as cranes, derricks and so on), VLBC - Very Large Bulk Carrier, VLCC - Very Large Crude Carrier, Wake - Disturbed water left astern, Washports - Same as freeing ports or scuppers, Waterline - Line formed on hull by surface of water, Weather deck - A technical term for a light deck enclosed by plating. Frequently same as upper deck, Well deck - Portion of hull between castles or islands and approximately 7 to 8 ft lower, Winch house - Same as mast or deck house, Yard - A light spar rigged athwart a mast for signal purposes

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