Lighterage: Meaning in Shipping
Lighterage is the carriage of cargo between a ship and the shore by a smaller vessel, called a lighter or a barge, when the ship cannot go alongside a berth.
What it is
A lighter is a flat-bottomed barge, usually towed or pushed. In lighterage the ship stays at anchor and the cargo is carried to or from the shore by lighters. The ship loads or discharges over the side, with its own cranes or with floating cranes.
When it is used
It is used where the water is too shallow for the ship, where there is no deep berth, or where the berth is busy and the ship would wait. Some coal, grain, sand and ore ports work mostly in this way, and so do river ports where a large ship cannot go all the way up. Part of the cargo can also be lightened into barges so that the ship can enter a port with a draft limit.
Effect on time and cost
Lighterage is slower than loading at a berth, because the work depends on the supply of barges, the tide and the weather. It adds cost for the barges and the floating equipment. The charter party says who pays for them: in a voyage charter this is usually for the charterer's account, as part of loading and discharging, see FIO and FIOS.
What to agree
Say in the charter that the cargo is loaded or discharged by lighters at a named place, how the notice of readiness is given when the ship is at an anchorage, and when the laytime starts and stops. Also agree the loading rate you can expect and who carries the risk of bad weather and barge delays.
Example
In a coal trade from the rivers of south-east Asia, a Supramax ship anchors in the roads and takes coal from barges for several days. The charterer and the ship operator write the loading rate and the weather rules into the contract so that both know what to expect. See also Indonesia coal shipping.
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Related guides
More in glossary
- Time Charter
- Trip Time Charter
- Contract of Affreightment (COA)
- Time Charter vs Voyage Charter
- Laycan
- Demurrage and Despatch
- Charterer
- Shipowner, ship operator, disponent owner
- Ship broker
- Ship fixing and fixture
- Bulk carrier
- Deadweight tonnage (DWT)
- Bill of lading
- Freight
- Baltic Dry Index
- Lien
- Off-hire
- Bunkers
- Cancelling date
- Ton-mile
- Statement of facts
- Letter of indemnity
- Ballast voyage
- Dead freight
- Stem
- Subjects
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