Accommodation ladder - Ladder attached to the platform at vessel's side with flat steps and handrails enabling persons to embark/disembark from water or shore
Adrift - Uncontrolled movement at sea under the influence of current, tide, or wind
Air draft - The height from the waterline to the highest point of the vessel
Assembly station - Place on deck, in mess rooms, etc., assigned to crew and passengers where they have to meet according to the muster list when the corresponding alarm is released, or announcement made
Backing (of wind) - Shift of wind direction in an anticlockwise manner, for example, from north to west (opposite of veering)
Beach (to) - To run a vessel up on a beach to prevent its sinking in deep water.
Berth .1 - A sea room to be kept for safety around a vessel, rock, platform, etc.
Berth .2 - The place assigned to a vessel when anchored or lying alongside a pier, etc.
Blast - A whistle signal made by the vessel
Blind sector - An area that the ship’s radar cannot scan because it is shielded by parts of the superstructure, masts, etc.
Boarding arrangements - All equipment, such as a pilot ladder, accommodation ladder, hoist, etc., necessary for a safe transfer of the pilot
Boarding speed - The speed of a vessel adjusted to that of a pilot boat at which the pilot can safely embark/disembark
Bob-cat - A mini-caterpillar with a push-blade used for the careful distribution of loose goods in cargo holds of bulk carrier
Briefing - Concise explanatory information to crew and/or passengers
Cable .1 - Chain connecting a vessel to the anchor(s)
Cable .2 - Wire or rope primarily used for mooring a ship
Cable .3 - (Measurement) one hundred fathoms or one-tenth of a nautical mile
Capsize (to) - To turn over
Cardinal buoy - A seamark, e.g., a buoy, indicating the north, east, south, or west, e.g., the cardinal points from a fixed point such as a wreck, shallow water, banks, etc.
Cardinal points - The four main points of the compass: north, east, south, and west
Casualty Here - case of death in an accident or shipping disaster
Check (to) .1 - To make sure that equipment etc. is in the proper condition or that everything is correct and safe
Check (to) .2 - To regulate the motion of a cable, rope, or wire when it is running out too fast
Close-coupled towing - A method of towing vessels through polar ice using icebreaking tugs with a special stern notch suited to receive and hold the bow of the vessel to be towed
Close up (to) - To decrease the distance to the vessel ahead by increasing one’s speed
Compatibility (of goods) - Indicates whether different goods can be safely stowed together in one cargo space or an adjacent hold.
A vessel constrained - A vessel severely restricted by her draught in her ability to deviate from her draft the course followed about the available depth and width of navigable water.
Convoy - A group of vessels that sail together, e.g., through a canal or ice
Course - The intended direction of movement of a vessel through the water
The course made good - That course which a vessel makes good over the ground, after allowing for the effect of currents, tidal streams, and leeway caused by wind and sea
COW - Crude Oil Washing: a system of cleaning the cargo tanks by washing them with the cargo of crude oil during discharge
CPA/TCPA - Closest Point of Approach/Time to Closest Point of Approach: limit as defined by the observer to give a warning when a tracked target or targets will close to within these limits
Crash-stop - An emergency reversal operation of the main engine(s) to avoid a collision