Glossary

Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”)
Gross ProfitDerived directly from the income statement by deducting cost of sales (vessel voyage expenditures, ship management fees, vessel operating expenditures and commissions) from the operating revenues.
EBITDAEarnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. Derived directly from the income statement by adding back depreciation to the operating result (“EBIT”).
Equity RatioTotal book equity divided by total assets.
Leverage RatioTotal interest-bearing debt divided by total assets.
OPEX per dayOperating expenses divided by the number of ownership days of consolidated vessels during the reporting period.
TCETime charter equivalent, represents time charter revenue and pool revenue divided by the number of trading days for the consolidated vessels during the reporting period. Trading days are ownership days minus days without revenue, including commercial, uninsured technical and dry-dock related off-hire days.
UtilizationTotal trading days including off-hire days related to dry-docks divided by the total number of ownership days during the period.
Industry Terms
TEU‘Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit’. The industry standard to measure containers. A 20-foot container’s dimensions are twenty feet long (6.09 meters), 8 feet wide (2.4 meters) and 8 feet six inches high (2.6 meters). These dimensions have been set by the ISO.
BIMCOThe Baltic and International Maritime Council. The world’s largest international shipping association for shipowners, operators, managers, brokers and agents.
CarrierAn individual, company or corporation engaged in transporting goods. Container shipping lines are sometimes referred to as ocean carriers.
Charter rateA rate for shipping freight agreed upon between the owner of a vessel and the person wanting to use the vessel (the ‘charterer’).
CO­2 emissionsAbbreviation for carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 results from the burning of fossil fuels such as petroleum, and is broadly considered to be a factor contributing to global warming.
ContainerA reusable steel rectangular box for carrying cargo. The sizes of containers are standardized so that they can easily be moved between specially adapted containers ships, trains and trucks.
Container terminalA docking, unloading and loading area within a port designed to suit the sizes and needs of container ships.
Feeder container vesselA container vessel with a carrying capacity of between 1,001 and 3,000 TEU that are mainly deployed in intra-regional services. About half of these vessels are equipped with cranes in order to serve small ports in less-developed regions.
FEU‘Forty-foot Equivalent Unit’. A container that is the same height and width as a TEU but twice the length/capacity.
Freight rateThe charge made by a shipping line for the transportation of freight aboard one of its ships from one place to another.
IntermodalismA system whereby standard-sized cargo containers can be moved seamlessly between different modes of transport, typically specially adapted ships known as containerships, barges, trucks and trains. Regarded as an efficient transporation system due to the cargo not needing to be unloaded from the container every time it is moved from one mode to the other.
IMOThe International Maritime Organization. A specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for measures to improve the safety and security of international shipping and to prevent marine pollution from ships. It is also involved in legal matters, including liability and compensation issues and the facilitation of international maritime traffic.
ISOAn international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. It was the ISO that prescribed the standard size of shipping containers to make global container trade more efficient.
ISPS CodeInternational Ship and Port Facility Security Code. Agreed between the signatories SOLAS Convention on minimum security arrangements for ships, ports and Coast Guard agencies. The ISPS Code was introduced by the IMO, the overseer of the original SOLAS agreement, in the wake of fears of terrorist attacks on ships and ports after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001.
KnotA nautical measurement of speed equal to 1.15 miles or 1.85 kilometers per hour on land. The speed of ships is measured in knots.
MARPOLInternational Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships. The main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes.
ReeferIndustry term for a temperature-controlled container built to control e.g. temperature, humidity, ventilation and gas levels so as to prevent the deterioration of fresh food or other sensitive goods over long distances and periods of time.
ScrubberAir pollution control devices that can be used to remove some particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams. Fitted/retrofitted on ocean-going vessels to clean exhaust gas emissions.
SOLAS ConventionInternational Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. Prescribes a set of safety measures in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships, e.g. the numbers of lifeboats and other emergency equipment that ships must have.

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