Research and Analysis of Options for Ferry Freight Fares
Glossary
Break Bulk: Shipping term for freight that is loaded as individual pieces and not rolled on in unitised trailers or in containers. Break bulk is usually either loaded by forklift truck or other handling equipment. It is also common that this freight is loaded onto a rolling unit like a mafi trailer at the portside, and is shipped on these units on RoRo type vessels, efficiently loaded to and from the vessel as a trailer.
Bundling: the practice of including more than one route in a tender for a Public Service Contract.
Bunkering: Bunkering is the process of supplying fuels to ships for their own use
Bunkering Adjustment Factor (BAF): This is designed to reflect the variable nature of fuel costs. Customers are charged based on a fixed assumption on marine fuel costs. The BAF is a supplemental % premium calculated on a periodic basis and usually published by the shipping line that reflects the actual cost of fuel as published daily on international fuel trading markets (i.e, Rotterdam spot market for IFO marine fuel). This protects the Shipping line from fuel price risk.
Cabotage Regulations: the directive which regulates the carriage of passengers at sea between two points within member states of the European Union.
Clyde and Hebridean Ferry Services (CHFS): The contract for the operation of ferry services in Firth of Clyde and the Hebrides.
Commencing Metre: Commencing metre is the process of rounding down a vehicle length to metre from which it 'commences'. So for example, the commencing metre for a 10.2 metre vehicle would be 10 metres.
Commercial Vehicles: For the purpose of this study, we have defined a commercial vehicle as any self-propelled freight vehicle.
Drop-Trailer: Drop trailers are commercial vehicle trailers carried on a ferry which are not accompanied by a cab / tractor unit.
Footprint: Footprint refers to the area a single piece of freight takes up on the ferry deck.
Groupage: Groupage is the process of consolidating small individual shipments into larger units, such as pallets or commercial vehicles
Liner Services: Shipping companies talk in terms of lines of route. A liner services is a scheduled and regular service operated between two or more ports carrying cargoes for multiple customers. Vessels on liner services do not routinely operate to different ports than their scheduled network or get chartered for bespoke work.
Mafi Trailer: Special trailer for terminal haulage and stowage on board of Roll-on Roll-off vessels.
Out-of-Gauge: Freight which exceeds standard dimensions of a "footprint" (see above) on a ferry deck - eg wide or high loads.
Public Service Contract (PSC): PSCs are the instrument typically used to impose PSOs where a subsidy is required for providing the PSO requirements.
Public Service Obligation (PSO): Where the public sector does not wish to operate ferry services directly but, at the same time, has a desire to influence certain service characteristics, they can impose a Public Service Obligation (PSO) on a route. A PSO will help to ensure an adequate regular ferry service to and from given location(s) where community ship owners, in considering their own commercial interests, would not provide an adequate level of service.
Ro-Ro: Roll-on, Roll-Off vessels. When using the phrase Ro-Ro in this note, we are referring to vessels that carry freight only.
Ro-Pax: Ro-Ro vessels which also carry passengers
State Aid: State Aid is defined as an advantage in any form whatsoever conferred on a selective basis to undertakings by national public authorities.
Tractor Unit: The cab of a lorry which is attached to a drop trailer or other unit.
Vivier Trailer: Specialist trailers for the conveyance of live fish.
Weatherdeck: the open sections of a freight deck.
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