Container ships: the English of the ship
Container ships carry standard boxes stacked in cells and on deck, on fixed schedules between terminals. Their English is the English of the bay plan, the lashing, the reefer round and the port that never sleeps.
A container ship is a timetable with a hull. Boxes are loaded by gantry cranes in bays and rows and tiers, the plan comes from ashore, and the ship's job is to make sure the stack is lashed, the weights are right, the dangerous goods are where they may be and the reefers keep their temperature. Port stays are short and busy, and most of the talking is with the terminal and the planners.
The crew's vocabulary is precise and numeric: bay 14, row 02, tier 84; twist locks, lashing rods, turnbuckles; VGM; IMDG class 3; set point minus 18. Deck ratings live on the lashing bridges; officers live in the cargo computer and the reefer monitoring system.
The dangers are specific too: falls from height on the stacks, containers lost overboard when a ship rolls too far (parametric rolling), fires in boxes nobody can reach, and crush injuries in the cell guides. Tests for container ship positions ask about all of them.
Words you will use every day (26)
- TEU
- Twenty-foot equivalent unit: the standard measure of container capacity. A forty-foot box is 2 TEU (one FEU).
- Bay, row, tier
- The three numbers that give a container its position: along the ship, across the ship, and up. Rows are even to port and odd to starboard; tiers on deck start at 82.
- Cell guide
- The vertical steel rails in the hold that guide the container into place. Nobody stands between them during loading.
- Twist lock
- The fitting that locks a container to the one below or to the deck; semi-automatic types unlock with a rod from deck.
- Lashing rod and turnbuckle
- The steel rod hooked into the container corner and the screw that tightens it; the standard deck lashing.
- Lashing bridge
- The raised platform between bays from which the crew reaches the lashings of the second and third tier.
- Hatch cover (pontoon)
- The lift-off steel cover over each hold that the crane removes before working the hold; containers are stacked on top of it.
- Reefer container
- A refrigerated container plugged into the ship's power, with a set point and a temperature log; checked on the reefer round.
- Bay plan (stowage plan)
- The diagram showing which container is in which slot, with weights, ports and dangerous goods marked.
- VGM
- Verified gross mass: the certified weight of a packed container required by SOLAS before it may be loaded.
- Cargo Securing Manual (CSM)
- The approved ship-specific book that says how many tiers may be stacked, which lashings are used and what forces they take.
- Stack weight
- The total weight of the containers in one stack; limited by the deck or hatch cover strength and the lashing forces.
- GM and a stiff ship
- A large metacentric height gives a quick, violent roll that breaks lashings; planners balance stability against comfort and securing.
- Parametric rolling
- Sudden, very large rolling in head or following seas when the wave period matches the ship's; a known cause of container loss.
- IMDG Code
- The rules for packaged dangerous goods: classes, marking, documents and where on the ship each class may be stowed.
- Segregation
- Keeping incompatible dangerous goods apart: "away from", "separated from", "separated by a complete compartment".
- Gantry crane
- The terminal crane on rails that lifts containers on and off with a spreader.
- Spreader
- The frame under the crane that locks into the four corner castings of a container.
- Port rotation
- The sequence of ports on the service, which decides where each container is stowed so it can be discharged without moving others.
- Restow (shifting)
- Moving a container to reach another one; costs time and money and is avoided by good planning.
- Transhipment
- Moving containers from one ship to another via a hub port.
- Feeder
- A smaller container ship that carries boxes between a hub and regional ports.
- Out-of-gauge (OOG)
- Cargo that sticks out of the container dimensions, needing empty slots around it.
- Reefer monitoring
- The regular round (or remote system) that checks each reefer's temperature, alarms and power.
- Cargo hold fire
- A fire in a container in the hold, fought with the fixed CO2 system because the box cannot be reached.
- Lashing check
- The inspection of all lashings before departure and during the voyage, especially after heavy weather.
Ten things you will hear
Bay fourteen, rows two to six, tiers eighty-two to eighty-six to be lashed before departure.
Chief Officer to the Bosun after the plan is final.Check the twist locks on bay twenty, starboard side, the terminal reported two open.
Chief Officer to the deck crew during loading.Reefer round every four hours, log the temperatures and any alarms.
Standing order for the engine or deck watch.Container tango uniform five five zero two one nine four, high temperature alarm, set point minus one eight.
Reefer monitoring report to the engineer on duty.We are too stiff, the roll period is eight seconds; take ballast out of the double bottom.
Master to the Chief Officer during departure planning.VGM is missing for three units; they stay on the quay.
Chief Officer to the planner: no verified weight, no loading.Lashings slack after last night's weather, re-tighten all bays forward of the bridge.
Chief Officer to the Bosun in the morning.IMDG class three in bay eight, no hot work within the segregation distance.
Chief Officer to the engine department before maintenance.Gantry number four is on our bay; stand clear of the cell guides.
Bosun to the deck crew during hold work.Hatch cover on bay ten comes off at zero two hundred; lashing bridge cleared.
Deck watch to the terminal foreman.
Numbers are said digit by digit on board: "one decimal five", "channel one six", "zero seven three zero". Train your ear in listening practice.
Safety on container ships
- Working on the stacks: harness and lifeline on the top tier, never walk on a hatch cover while the crane is over it, never stand between cell guides.
- Lashing rods and turnbuckles are heavy and fall; helmet, gloves and safety shoes always, and nobody below when rods are passed up.
- Reefers are electrical: plugs, cables and water do not mix; report damaged cables and never work on a live plug.
- Dangerous goods: check the class, the segregation and the emergency schedule (EmS) for every DG box; a fire in a container is fought with CO2 into the hold, not with hoses in the stack.
- Stability and parametric rolling: a stiff ship breaks lashings, a tender ship rolls slowly and far; in heavy head or following seas alter course or speed before the roll builds.
- Terminals move fast: gangway watch, ISPS control of the many people boarding, and no crew on the quay under crane movements.
- After heavy weather, walk every bay: bent rods, sheared twist locks and shifted boxes are found on deck, not on the screen.
What recruitment tests ask
- TEU and FEU, and how bay, row and tier numbers work.
- VGM and why a container without it is not loaded.
- Twist locks, lashing rods, the Cargo Securing Manual and stack weight.
- IMDG segregation terms and what to do about a fire in a container.
- Parametric rolling and the effect of GM on the securing.
Sit the container ship knowledge test: 30 questions for your rank
The full test mixes up to eight questions on container ships with the STCW areas for your rank group, under a 30-minute clock. The names of commercial tests are used on this site only to describe what our training prepares you for.
Quiz: 10 questions on container ships
One question at a time, feedback after every answer, score at the end. Keys 1 to 4 answer, Enter goes on.
Sources: SOLAS VI and VII (VGM, dangerous goods), IMDG Code, CSS Code and the ship's Cargo Securing Manual, IMO guidance on parametric rolling (MSC.1/Circ.1228).