Backfreight - The owners of a ship are entitled to payment as freight for merchandise returned through the fault of either the consignees or the consignors. Such payment, which is over and above the normal freight, is called backfreight.
Category: - Maritime

Backing - A counter-clockwise change in wind direction; for example, from east to west, through north. The opposite of a veering.
Category: - Maritime

Backstay - A support wire that runs from the top of the mast to the stern
Category: - Maritime

Bagged Cargo - Various kinds of commodities usually packed in sacks or in bags, such as sugar, cement, milk powder, onion, grain, flour, etc.
Category: - Maritime

Bail - To remove water from the boat
Category: - Maritime

Ballast - Heavy substances loaded by a vessel to improve stability, trimming, sea-keeping and to increase the immersion at the propeller. Sea water ballast is commonly' loaded in most vessels in ballast tanks, positioned in compartments right at the bottom and in some cases on the sides, called wing tanks. On a tanker, ballast is seawater that is taken into the cargo tanks to submerge the vessel to a proper trim.
Category: - Maritime

Ballast Movement - A voyage or voyage leg made without any paying cargo in a vessel's tanks. To maintain proper stability, trim, or draft, sea water is usually carried during such movements.
Category: - Maritime

Ballast Tank - Compartments at the bottom of a ship or on the sides which are filled with liquids for stability and to make the ship seaworthy. Any shipboard tank or compartment on a tanker normally used for carrying salt water ballast. When these compartments or tanks are not connected with the cargo system they are called segregated ballast tanks or systems.
Category: - Maritime

Bare Boat Charter - A charter in which the bare ship is chartered without crew; the charterer, for a stipulated sum taking over the vessel for a stated period of time, with a minimum of restrictions; the charterer appoints the master and the crew and pays all running expenses. See Demise Charter.
Category: - Maritime

Barge - Flat-bottomed boat designed to carry cargo on inland waterways, usually without engines or crew accommodations. Barges can be lashed together and either pushed or pulled by tugs, carrying cargo of 60,000 tons or more. Small barges for carrying cargo between ship and shore are known as lighters.
Category: - Maritime