A document, issued by a shipping line to a shipper which serves as a receipt for the goods and evidence of the contract carriage.
Off-hire Clause
In a time charter, the owner is entitled to a limited time for his vessel to be off hire until such time as the vessel may be repaired or dry-docked.
Off-load
Discharge of cargo from a ship.
Open Rates
Pricing systems that are flexible and not subject to conference approval. Usually applied to products in which tramps are substituted for liners.
Open Registry
A term used in place of "flag of convenience" or "flag of necessity" to denote registry in a country which offers favorable tax, regulatory, and other incentives to ship owners from other nations.
Open Top Container
A container fitted with a solid removable roof, or with a tarpaulin roof so the container can be loaded or unloaded from the top.
Overtonnaging
A situation where there are too many ships generally or in a particular trade for the level of available cargoes.
