Glossary of Shipping Terms

O&RÂ
Ocean and Rail.Â

O.R. DET.Â
Owner's Risk of Deterioration.Â

O.R.B.Â
Owner's risk of breakage.Â

O/NÂ
Order Notify; Own Name.Â

O/OÂ
Order of.Â

O/RÂ
Owner's Risk.Â

OBOÂ
Ore/bulk/oil vesselÂ

OBO SHIPÂ
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.Â

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

ODS (OPERATING DIFFERENTIAL SUBSIDY)Â
(1) A payment to an American-flag carrier by the U.S. federal government to offset the difference in operating costs between U.S. and foreign vessels. (2) 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.Â

OFF-HIRE CLAUSEÂ
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.Â

OFFICERÂ
Any of the licensed members of the ship's complement.Â

OFF-LINEÂ
An airline that sells in a market to which it does not operate. An off-line carrier will use another operator to link with its network.Â

OFF-LOADÂ
Discharge of cargo from a ship.Â

OFFSHORE SERVICE VESSELSÂ
Special vessels employed in exploration for, development of or continuous production of, subsea oil and gas.Â

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

OIL TANKERÂ
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.Â

OILERÂ
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.Â

OPEN ACCOUNTÂ
A trade arrangement in which goods are shipped to a foreign buyer without guarantee of payment such as a note, mortgage, or other formal written evidence of indebtedness.Â

OPEN POLICYÂ
A cargo insurance policy that is an open contract; e.g., it provides protection for all of an exporter's shipments afloat or in transit within a specified geographical trade area for an unlimited period of time, until the policy is cancelled by the insured or by the insurance company. It is "open" because the goods that are shipped are also detailed at that time. This usually is shown in a document called a marine insurance certificate.Â

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

OPEN REGISTRYÂ
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.Â

ORDINARY SEAMANÂ
(1) A deck crew member who is subordinate to the Able Bodied Seamen. (2) An apprentice AB, assists AB's bosun, and officers, keeps facilities clean.Â

ORE CARRIERÂ
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.Â

ORE-BULK-OIL CARRIERÂ
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.Â

ORFÂ
Owner' Risk of Fire or Freezing.Â

ORLÂ
Owner's Risk of Leakage.Â

ORWÂ
Owner's Risk of Becoming Wet.Â

OS&DÂ
Over, Short and Damaged.Â

OUARTERMASTER/HELMSMANÂ
An able-bodied seamen entrusted with the steering of a vessel.Â

OVERHEAD SHIPMENTÂ
A railroad movement involving at least three railroad carriers at which CSXT is neither the first nor the last carrierÂ

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

Glossary of Shipping Terms

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Glossary of Shipping Terms