A written agreement between the master of a ship and the crew concerning their employment. It includes rates of pay and capacity of each crewman, the date of commencement of the voyage and its duration.

Line attached to the bottom of the boom used to flatten the sail by pulling the boom down, and thus tightening the luff of the sail. (2) A line used for hauling down a jib or staysail.

Small line used for whipping other light duties.

Articles which are taken apart to reduce the cubic footage displaced or to make a better shipping unit and are to be re-assembled.

An ocean carrier company operating vessels not on regular runs or schedules. They call at any port where cargo may be available.

An area of low barometric pressure. The wind circulates clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. Generally these are bad weather systems.(2)A severe recession over a lengthy.

An arc of a circle in which certain types of navigational lights known as sector lights are visible.

See standard air.

(1) The points of the jaws of a boom or gaff where they embrace the mast. (2) The outer ends of the crosstrees.

Material passed into the effluent stream composed of foreign materials incorporated into the filter medium.

Wind-bound. When a vessel is kept in port by a head wind.

Used in meteorology to describe boundaries between hot and cold air masses. This is typically where bad weather is found.

A pattern or template. Also a shape of metal or wood over or in which an object may be hammered or pressed to fit.

Seaman who was born aboard a warship. As this was once considered to be one of the essentials of the perfect seaman, it has long been a complimentary term.

all material and energy present in and around an operating system, such as dust, air moisture, chemicals, and thermal energy.

Long-range navigation system that uses radio signals transmitted at specific times. An onboard receiver computes position by measuring the difference in time of signal reception. This system is being phased out in favor of GPS.

Country, island or territory the vessel visits.

Reservation number used to secure equipment and act as a control number prior to completion of a B/L.

Surface resistance to relative motion, which slows down movement and causes heat.

The relative humidity of a gas (or air) vapor mixture is the ratio of the partial pressure of the vapor to the vapor saturation pressure at the dry bulb temperature of the mixture.