Commercial and Operational Shipping
Ports, terminals and coastal/marine civil engineering glossary
The fixed infrastructure where ships berth and cargo transfers, and the engineering that builds it: port master planning, berth and channel design under PIANC and ROM guidance, quay walls under BS 6349, fenders and berthing energy, mooring under OCIMF MEG4, dredging and hydrographic survey, terminal automation (STS cranes, ASC, RTG, AGV), VTS and aids to navigation under IALA, port governance models, and individual port profiles.
202 defined terms.
A
- Abrasion zone
- Quay wall zone subject to mooring line and fender wear.
- Approach channel
- Navigable channel between sea and port basin.
- Approach channel design
- Per PIANC WG121 and WG49 guidelines.
- Apron
- Quayside area between ship and stacking yard.
- Articulated tug barge
- ATB unit common in US coastal trade.
- ASC
- Automated stacking crane.
- Automated guided vehicle
- AGV used in terminal yards.
- Automated mooring system
- Vacuum or magnetic mooring system.
B
- Backreach
- Quay side reach behind the STS crane backreach.
- Barge berth
- Berth dedicated to inland barge calls.
- Basin
- Enclosed water area in a port.
- Beach nourishment
- Coastal protection technique.
- Bollard
- Mooring fitting on quay or dolphin.
- Bollard pull
- Tug pulling force in tonnes.
- Bonded port area
- Port area under customs control.
- Brake horsepower for tugs
- Power rating for tug propulsion.
- Breakwater
- Coastal structure providing wave shelter.
- Breasting dolphin
- Isolated structure absorbing berthing impact.
- BS 6349
- British Standard for maritime works.
- Bulk berth
- Berth equipped for bulk loading or discharging.
- Bulk loader
- Grab, conveyor, or ship loader.
- Buoy mooring
- Mooring at single or multi-buoy moorings.
C
- Caisson
- Large concrete box used in quay walls and dry docks.
- Cantilever quay
- Quay supported by cantilever piles.
- Carriage breakers
- Coastal breakwaters protecting beach areas.
- Cathodic protection of quay
- ICCP or sacrificial systems on steel structures.
- CEMT class
- European inland waterway class system from Class I to Class VII.
- Channel maintenance dredging
- Routine dredging to maintain depth.
- Channel marker
- IALA buoy or beacon.
- Chart datum
- Lowest astronomical tide reference for hydrographic charts.
- Coastal current
- Long shore current affecting port operations.
- Coastal management plan
- Plan for coastal zone management.
- Cofferdam
- Temporary watertight enclosure for construction.
- Concession agreement
- Landlord port concession of terminal operations.
- Concrete quay
- Reinforced or prestressed concrete quay.
- Container terminal
- Terminal for handling intermodal containers.
- Cruise terminal
- Terminal handling passenger cruise vessels.
- Cut and cover
- Construction technique for tunnels and culverts.
D
- Deepening project
- Capital dredging to increase channel depth.
- Deepwater port
- Port capable of receiving large draft vessels.
- Detached breakwater
- Offshore breakwater for coastal protection.
- DGNSS
- General term covering DGPS and similar augmentation.
- DGPS
- Differential GPS using IALA radio beacons.
- Disposal site
- Dredged material disposal location.
- Diversion channel
- Engineered channel diverting flow.
- Dock master
- Officer responsible for dock operations.
- Dolphin
- Isolated marine structure.
- Draft survey
- Cargo weight determination by hydrostatic calculation.
- Drag head
- Drag head of a trailing suction hopper dredger.
- Dredged material
- Material removed by dredging.
- Dry bulk terminal
- Terminal handling dry bulk commodities.
- DUKC system
- Dynamic under-keel clearance system, used at deepwater ports.
E
- Echo sounder
- Acoustic depth sensor.
- Embayment
- Bay or curved coastal indentation.
- Energy transition for ports
- Port decarbonisation initiatives and shore power.
- Environmental impact assessment
- EIA, statutory assessment for port works.
- EPC contract
- Engineering procurement and construction contract.
- Escarpment quay
- Quay on steep underwater slope.
- Excavation in the dry
- Dry dock construction technique.
F
- Fender
- Energy absorbing system at berth, designed per PIANC WG211 (formerly WG33).
- Fender berthing energy
- Kinetic energy absorbed by the fender system.
- Filling and discharging system
- Lock culvert system.
- Finger pier
- Pier with berthing on two sides.
- Flag of the port
- Designation under port state legal framework.
- Floating breakwater
- Pontoon based wave attenuator.
- Floating Crane
- Heavy-lift crane vessel.
- Floating dock
- U-shaped or L-shaped floating dry dock.
- Free trade zone
- FTZ under WCO and national laws.
- Front of house
- Apron side of a STS crane.
G
- Gantry container crane
- STS quay crane.
- Gantry crane
- Rail-mounted gantry such as STS, RMG, or RTG.
- Gravity quay wall
- Wall relying on self-weight, often blockwork or caisson.
- Green port programme
- Port sustainability programme such as EcoPorts.
H
- Harbour basin
- Sheltered water area for berthing.
- Harbour master
- Statutory authority for port operations.
- Harbour resonance
- Long wave oscillation within a basin.
- Harbour tug
- Conventional or ASD tug serving port.
- High tide refuge
- Sheltered area for small craft at high tide.
- Hopper barge
- Self propelled or towed dredger spoil barge.
- Horizontal alignment
- Plan alignment of a navigation channel.
- Hydrographic survey
- IHO S-44 compliant bathymetric survey.
I
- IALA
- International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities.
- IALA Buoyage System A
- Used in most of the world, port hand red.
- IALA Buoyage System B
- Used in the Americas, Japan, Korea, Philippines, port hand green.
- IALA Maritime Buoyage System
- Combined IALA A and IALA B regions.
- Inland port
- Port on inland waterway.
- Inland waterway
- Navigable river, canal, or lake under CEMT classification.
- International Hydrographic Organization
- IHO, sets bathymetric and chart standards.
- ISGINTT
- International Safety Guide for Inland Navigation Tank Barges and Terminals.
- ISO 6707
- ISO standard for buildings and civil engineering vocabulary.
J
- Jetty
- Marine structure projecting from shore for berthing.
- JIT arrival
- Just in Time arrival for ships entering ports.
- JNPT type breakwater
- Composite breakwater design used at Jawaharlal Nehru Port.
K
- Keel block
- Block on which a vessel sits in a dry dock.
- Knock out drum
- Liquid separator vessel at LNG and chemical terminals.
L
- Landlord port
- Governance model where port authority owns land, leases to private operators.
- Lay-by berth
- Berth used for waiting and minor operations.
- Liquid bulk terminal
- Terminal for oil, chemicals, or gas.
- Live load on quay
- Operational variable load on quay surface.
- LNG terminal
- Onshore or offshore LNG receiving or export terminal.
- Load on quay deck
- Design load including stacks, vehicles, and equipment.
- Lock
- Navigation lock raising or lowering vessels.
- Long swell
- Long period waves affecting moored ships.
M
- Marina
- Recreational craft basin.
- Maritime cluster
- Geographical concentration of maritime industries.
- Master plan
- Port master plan for long term development.
- MEG4
- OCIMF Mooring Equipment Guidelines, referenced for SOLAS II-1/3-8.
- Mole
- Massive coastal structure projecting into the sea.
- Mooring analysis
- Static and dynamic mooring analysis per OCIMF and PIANC.
- Mooring bollard load
- Design load on quay mooring fittings.
- Mooring dolphin
- Isolated structure for mooring lines.
- Multipurpose terminal
- Terminal for mixed cargo types.
N
- National port master plan
- Government port system plan.
- NIPPONSALE 1999
- Sale and purchase form of the Japan Shipping Exchange.
- Notice to mariners
- NM, updates to nautical charts and publications.
O
- OCIMF MEG4
- Standard reference on mooring of tankers and gas carriers.
- Offshore terminal
- SPM, CALM, or SBM offshore loading terminal.
- Open jetty
- Jetty allowing wave transmission below.
- Operational area
- Area planned for terminal handling operations.
- Outer harbour
- Harbour outside breakwater.
P
- Pavement design for terminals
- Per PIANC WG165 and BS 7533 family.
- PIANC
- World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure.
- PIANC WG121
- Harbour Approach Channels Design Guidelines.
- PIANC WG145
- Berthing velocities and fender design report.
- PIANC WG165
- Design and maintenance of container terminal pavements.
- PIANC WG211
- Guidelines for the design of fender systems.
- Pier
- Berthing structure projecting from shore.
- Pilotage
- Conduct of vessel by a licensed pilot.
- Port authority
- Statutory body managing port.
- Port community system
- PCS, electronic data exchange platform.
- Port hinterland
- Inland area served by a port.
- Port master plan
- Long term port development plan.
- Port Reception Facility
- Required under MARPOL Articles 11 and within each annex.
- Port state control
- PSC inspection regime.
- Port tariff
- Schedule of port dues and service charges.
- Project cargo terminal
- Heavy lift and OOG terminal.
- Public service obligation
- PSO for ports and inland transport.
Q
- Quay wall
- Vertical retaining structure forming berth face, designed under BS 6349.
- Quayside crane
- STS or mobile harbour crane on quay.
- Quick disconnect coupling
- QCDC for LNG marine arms.
R
- Reach stacker
- Heavy duty container handling vehicle.
- Reclamation
- Creating new land from the sea.
- Reefer rack
- Stack with power supply for reefer containers.
- Riprap
- Stone armour protection for slopes.
- River training works
- Structures controlling river morphology.
- ROM 0.5-05
- Spanish maritime works recommendation for geotechnical actions.
- ROM 2.0-11
- Spanish maritime works recommendation for design of berthing and mooring areas.
- ROM 3.1-99
- Spanish maritime works recommendation for design of maritime navigation channels.
- RoRo ramp
- Stern, side, or quarter ramp for RoRo operations.
- Rotating equipment
- Pumps, compressors, and turbines at terminals.
- RTG crane
- Rubber tyred gantry crane in container yards.
- Rubble mound breakwater
- Breakwater using armour stone and underlayers.
- Run of bank
- Quay infill material.
S
- Sand bypassing
- Coastal engineering to transfer sand across an inlet.
- SBM
- Single buoy mooring offshore terminal.
- Sea wall
- Coastal protection structure.
- Sediment plume
- Plume from dredging activities.
- SEZ
- Special Economic Zone.
- Sheet pile wall
- Steel or concrete sheet pile retaining structure.
- Ship lift
- Mechanical lift transferring vessels to land.
- Shore power
- OPS or cold ironing infrastructure, IEC/IEEE 80005 series.
- Sigma quay wall
- Combined retaining and slab quay design.
- Slipway
- Inclined ramp for vessel launch and recovery.
- SPM
- Single point mooring offshore terminal.
- Spread mooring
- Multi-line mooring pattern for moored offshore units.
- Standpipe
- Vertical pipe for marine bunkering.
- STS crane
- Ship to shore container crane.
- STS outreach
- Crane outreach beyond quay edge.
- Suction dredger
- Suction or trailing suction hopper dredger.
T
- Tanker terminal
- Jetty or SBM for crude or product tankers.
- TEU yard density
- Container slots per hectare.
- Tidal range
- Difference between mean high and low tide.
- Tidal window
- Operational window based on tide for deep draft vessels.
- Tool port
- Governance model where port authority owns and operates assets, private labour.
- Towage
- Provision of tugs for harbour and ocean tow.
- Trailing suction hopper dredger
- TSHD, main type of maintenance dredger.
- Transit shed
- Cargo storage shed at port.
- Turning basin
- Basin where vessels can turn.
- TVA equation
- Wave runup empirical relationships used in coastal design.
U
- UKC
- Under keel clearance, static or dynamic.
- UNCTAD port performance indicators
- KPIs for port performance benchmarking.
- UNLOCODE
- UN location code for ports and terminals.
- Up-stand quay
- Quay with curb upstand for trafficked area separation.
V
- Variable depth channel
- Channel with stepped or graded depths.
- Vertical breakwater
- Caisson or blockwork vertical wall breakwater.
- Vessel traffic service
- VTS under IMO Resolution A.857(20).
- Voyage data system
- Coastal traffic management data system.
W
- Wave climate
- Statistical description of wave conditions.
- Wave wall
- Parapet on a breakwater to reduce overtopping.
- Wharf
- Quay alongside which vessels berth.
- Wharfinger
- Operator or manager of a wharf.
- Wildlife corridor
- Ecologically protected area within port plans.
- WMS
- Warehouse management system.
X
- X-band radar
- 9.4 GHz band marine radar.
Y
- Yard density
- Container slots per hectare in a terminal yard.
- Yard tractor pool
- Pool of terminal tractors managed under TOS.
Z
- Zero emission terminal
- Terminal targeting zero direct emissions.
- Zoning plan
- Land use zoning within the port area.