Glossary of shipping terms

This Glossary of Shipping Terms explains common maritime and shipwreck terminology used in coastal records and historical reports. It covers key nautical words and phrases such as vessel conditions, navigation terms, and shipwreck classifications. The aim is to make shipwreck listings and maritime history easier to understand, especially when reading older records or technical descriptions.

• Allision 

 When a moving vessel collides with a stationary object, such as a pier or another ship at anchor.

• Anchorage: A location in a harbour or other body of water where a ship can anchor safely.
• Ballast: Weight placed low in ships to lower their centre of gravity, which increases stability. also to travel empty or partially empty to collect cargo,

• Beached: A vessel driven or placed onto a shoreline, either intentionally or by accident.
• Berth: A designated space at a port where a ship can dock, or a bed/space for crew members to sleep on the ship.

• Capsized: A vessel that has overturned in the water

• Draft: The vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the ship’s hull (keel)

• Dry Dock: A narrow basin or vessel where ships are repaired or maintained, with the ability to be drained of water.

•  Fathom: A unit of length equal to six feet, used to measure the depth of water.
  : Fathoms are traditionally used in maritime navigation to measure water depth

• Floating Dock: A type of dock that can be submerged to allow ships to be floated in and then raised to lift the ship out of the water for maintenance or repairs

• Fouling: The accumulation of marine organisms, such as algae or barnacles, on the hull of a ship, which increases drag

• Foundered:  A vessel that sinks after filling with water, usually due to weather or structural failure. When a ship “founders” at sea, it is because it becomes heavier with the inlet of seawater. Eventually, the buoyancy is lost, and the ship sinks.

• Gangway: A movable bridge or ramp used to board or disembark from a ship.

• Grounded (Run aground): A vessel that has made contact with the seabed or shore and is stuck.

• Knot (Speed): A unit of speed used in maritime and aviation, equal to one nautical mile per hour.

• Manifest: A manifest is a detailed list of cargo on a ship
• Marooned:  Stranded in an isolated place, usually after a shipwreck or abandonment, with no easy way to leave or be rescued
• Moored:  A vessel secured in place using ropes, chains, or anchors, usually in a harbour, river, or sheltered area. It is not tied directly to a dock.

• Nautical Mile: A unit of distance used in maritime and aviation, equal to approximately 1.15 land miles (1.85 kilometres)

• Packet boat:   a medium-sized boat designed mainly for domestic mail and freight transport

• Pilot: A maritime professional who boards a vessel to navigate it through difficult or congested waters

• Rigging: The system of masts, spars, ropes, cables, and fittings used to support a sailing ship and control its sails. On modern vessels, the term can also extend to related mechanical and control systems used for navigation and operation.

• Salvage: The act of rescuing a ship, its cargo, or property from peril at sea, often in exchange for a reward.

• Scuttled: A ship is deliberately sunk, usually by its crew.

• Stevedore: A person or company responsible for loading and unloading cargo from ships in port.

• Wrecked: A general term for a ship that is destroyed, damaged beyond repair, or lo

 

• Bow: Front of the ship.
• Stern: Rear of the ship.
• Port: Left side when facing forward.
• Starboard: Right side when facing forward.
• Keel: The main structural spine running along the bottom of the ship.
• Hull: A hull is the watertight body of a ship, boat, submarine, or flying boat. The hull may open at the top, or it may be fully or partially covered with a deck.

See the chronological list of shipwrecks around the Western Cape and the alphabetical list to assist in your search for a specific wreck.