Shipping glossary

The words that turn up on a bill of lading, an arrival notice or a demurrage invoice — what each one means, and what it costs you to get it wrong.

By theme

1-MCP also: 1-methylcyclopropene and SmartFresh: 1-MCP blocks the receptors fruit uses to sense ethylene, which pauses ripening. It is applied before the container moves and it cannot be undone later.

AIS also: Automatic Identification System: The transponder feed that puts a ship on a tracking map. It reports the vessel, never the box — and half its fields are typed in by the crew.

Bill of lading also: B/L, BL, and Ocean bill of lading: The contract, receipt and document of title in one — and the piece of paper most likely to leave your fruit sitting in a terminal waiting for a courier.
Bunker fuel also: Bunkers, VLSFO, Green methanol, and Marine biofuel: The fuel a ship burns, the surcharges it puts on your invoice, and what a carrier is actually selling when it offers you a low-emission alternative.

Controlled atmosphere also: CA, Controlled atmosphere shipping, and Modified atmosphere: CA holds the oxygen and carbon dioxide inside a reefer at levels that slow the fruit down. It buys days of shelf life, and it is booked before loading.
CSRD also: Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: The EU sustainability reporting rule that reaches importers through their retailers rather than directly — and which now caps what a retailer may demand from a small supplier.

Demurrage and detention also: Demurrage, Detention, and Port storage: Two daily charges from the same line, divided by the terminal gate — and why perishables run out of free days faster than dry cargo does.

ETA vs ETD also: ETA, ETD, ATA, and ATD: What each one actually predicts, how much to trust it, and why planning a cold store slot against a six-week-old ETA is how produce importers lose days.

Free time also: Free days and Laytime: The days after discharge a container costs you nothing to hold. Reefers get 2 to 4 where dry gets 5 to 7 — the shortest clock on the most perishable cargo.

IMO number, MMSI and call sign also: IMO number, MMSI, and Call sign: Ships change name, flag and owner. Only one identifier survives that, which matters when you are confirming the vessel carrying your fruit.

Notify party also: Notify address: Who the line tells when the vessel arrives. Get it wrong and the arrival notice reaches nobody while free time runs out on cargo with a shelf life.

Packing list also: Packing declaration and Lista de empaque: The document that says what is on each pallet — variety, calibre, box count, weight. In produce it is not paperwork, it is what you sell from.
Programme also: Supply programme and Standing programme: A standing commitment to supply the same volume every week of a season. The cadence is the promise, and it is what a rolled container actually breaks.

Quality life also: Postharvest quality life: Quality life is how long produce stays genuinely good, not how long it stays sellable. It is the number a long sea programme has to be planned against.

Reefer container also: Reefer, Refrigerated container, and Temperature-controlled container: A refrigerated container is a machine that makes cold, not a box that keeps it. It carries its own temperature log, short free time and high daily charges.
Rollover also: Rolled cargo and Shut out: When your container does not sail on the vessel it was booked on. On a weekly service that is seven days of shelf life, and usually nobody tells you.

Scope 3 also: Scope 3 emissions and Value chain emissions: Scope 3 is everything a company emits through others — including your shipments, which are its supplier's problem to measure and its retailer's number to report.
Setpoint vs pulp temperature also: Setpoint, Set point, and Pulp temperature: The setpoint is what you asked the container to hold. The pulp temperature is what the fruit is actually doing, and it decides what arrives.
Shipping line vs freight forwarder also: Carrier vs forwarder and NVOCC: One owns the ships, the other arranges the shipment. Which you booked through decides who to chase, and whether your reference is even trackable.

Tonne-kilometre also: Tonne-km, tkm, and Freight tonne-kilometre: A tonne-kilometre is one tonne of cargo moved one kilometre. It is the unit every freight emissions standard is built on, and the one your buyer's questionnaire will ask for.
Transshipment also: Transhipment and T/S: Changing vessel at a hub port is where a shipment most often loses a week without its ETA moving — and a week is a large share of a reefer's shelf life.