SHIPTALK: A GLOSSRAY OF SHIPPING AND MARITIME TERMS

COGSA – Carriage of Goods by Sea
COLLIER – Vessel used for transporting coal.
COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM – Electronic system commonly used to prevent collisions in inland navigable waterways.
COMPLEMENT – The number of officers and crew employed upon a vessel for its safe navigation and operation.

COGSA – Carriage of Goods by Sea
COLLIER – Vessel used for transporting coal.
COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM – Electronic system commonly used to prevent collisions in inland navigable waterways.
COMPLEMENT – The number of officers and crew employed upon a vessel for its safe navigation and operation.
CONFERENCE and CONFERENCE LINES – An affiliation of shipowners operating over the same route(s) who agree to charge uniform rates and other terms of carriage. A conference is "closed" if one can enter only by the consent of existing members of the conference. It is "open" if anyone can enter by meeting certain technical and financial standards.
CONSIGNEE – The person to whom cargo is consigned as stated on the bills of lading.
CONSIGNOR – The person named in the bill of lading as the one from whom the goods have been received for shipment.
CONTAINER – A steel box of a given measurement used for the carriage of goods, often referred to as a TEU (20ft equivalent). Can be a standard container, usually either 6m or 12m in length (20ft or 40ft), a reefer container for refrigerated cargo, a flatrack standard or collapsible container, or an open top container type.
CONTAINER SHIP – a ship designed to handle containerised cargo. A fully cellular container ship is one that carries no cranes and is reliant on shorebased cranes for loading and discharging. Container ships' hulls are divided into cells accessible through large hatches into which the containers fit. Specialized types of container ships are the LASH and SeaBee, which carry floating containers (or "lighters,") and RoRo ships, which may carry containers on truck trailers.
COREBIS – Contract Registration and Billing System, instituted by SA Port Operations from April 2002 – a single electronic billing system in place of paper.
COSMOS – A Belgian electronic computer logistic system used at the SA container terminals.
C/P – Charter Party
CPI – Consumer Price Index.
CREW – The personnel engaged on board ship, excluding the master and officers and the passengers on passenger ships.
CREW LIST – List prepared by the master of a ship showing the full names, nationality, passport or discharge book number, rank and age of every officer and crew member engaged on board that ship and is one of the essential ship's documents presented to the customs and immigration authorities on arrival at a new port.
CUBIC CAPACITY – The most important commercial measurement when the intrinsic weight of the cargo is so low that the ship becomes full without being loaded to the cargo line. Is expressed in cubic metres or cubic feet.