Freight, shipping and chartering glossary

Type
Meaning
Ocean Freight
The shipping of goods by sea via shipping containers.
Ocean Waybill
A document that draws up the contract for the carriage of goods by sea.
Off-hire Clause
Terms of a time charter agreement on the suspension of payment for the use of a vessel.
Off-load
Discharge of cargo from a vessel.
Open Rates
A rate negotiated by a shipper at a shipping line (conference) for additional loading of the agreed limited consignment to one of the vessels of the line.
Open Registry
A term used in place of "flag of convenience" or "flag of necessity" to denote registry in a country that offers favorable tax, regulatory, and other incentives to ship owners from other nations.
Open Top Container
A container with an open roof and designed to carry cargo that is too large to be loaded through standard container doors, such as machinery.
Overtonnaging
A situation where there are too many ships generally or in a particular trade for the level of available cargoes.