Ships

See also travel; vehicles

barratry

Law. an act of fraud by a master or crew at the expense of the owners of a ship or the owners of its cargo. Also spelled barretry. —barratrous, adj.

bottomry

the pledging of a ship as security for a loan; if the ship is lost the debt is canceled.

cabotage

the act of navigating or trading along a coast.

demurrage

1. the delay of a ship at mooring beyond the time stipulated for unloading or other purposes.

2. the charge levied for such delay.

flotsam

material floating on the sea, especially debris or goods from ship-wrecks. Cf. jetsam.

jetsam

1. part of a ship’s cargo thrown overboard, as to lighten the load in the event of danger.

2. such cargo when it is washed ashore.

3. anything which is discarded. Cf. flotsam.

lodemanage

Obsolete, the skill or art of the pilot; pilotage.

lodesman

Obsolete, a ship’s pilot.

loxodrome

a rhumb line or curve on the surface of a sphere intersecting all meridians at the same angle; hence, the course of a ship or aircraft following a constant compass direction. —loxodromic, adj.

loxodromics, loxodromy

the art, science, or practice of sailing obliquely across lines of longitude at a constant bearing to them. —loxodromic, adj.

naumachia, naumachy

1. a mock sea fight, as in ancient Rome.

2. the place where such fights were conducted.

naupathia

seasickness.

nauropometer

Rare. an apparatus for measuring the inclination of a heeling or listing ship.

nauscopy

the art, sometimes pretended, of being able to sight ships or land at great distances.

pallograph

an instrument for recording the vibrations of a steamship. —pallographic, adj.

pharology

the technique or practice of guiding ships by means of signal lights, as in lighthouses.

pilotage

1. the act of piloting.

2. the skill or expertise of a pilot. See also dues and payment.

plunderage

1. the embezzling of goods on board ship.

2. the goods embezzled.

pratique

permission given to a ship to do business with a port once quarantine and other regulations have been complied with.

prisage

1. the former privilege of the English monarch to receive two tuns of wine from every ship importing twenty tuns or more.

2. Also called butlerage. a duty of two shillings on every tun imported by foreign merchants.

3. (in England) the Crown’s share of merchandise seized lawfully as a prize at sea.

salvage

1. the recovery of a ship or its contents or cargo after damage or sinking.

2. the material recovered and the compensation to those who recover it.

3. the rescue and use of any found or discarded material.

spoliation

the act of seizing neutral ships with government permission in time of war. See also church; theft.