tonnage
Sign in to saveTonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume or cargo volume of a ship. Although tonnage (volume) should not be confused with displacement (the actual mass of the vessel), the long ton (or imperial ton) of 2,240 lb is derived from the fact that a "tun" of wine typically weighed that much.
Article
16 sectionsContents
- Current maritime units
- Gross tonnage
- Net tonnage
- Panama Canal/UMS
- Suez Canal Net Tonnage
- Thames measurement tonnage
- Historical maritime units
- Traditional casks
- Purpose of measuring tonnage
- Method of measuring
- Gross register tonnage
- Net register tonnage
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume or cargo volume of a ship. Although tonnage (volume) should not be confused with displacement (the actual mass of the vessel), the long ton (or imperial ton) of 2,240 lb is derived from the fact that a "tun" of wine typically weighed that much.
== Current maritime units == Tonnage measurements are governed by an IMO Convention (International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (London-Rules)), which initially applied to all ships built after July 1982, and to older ships from July 1994. A commonly defined measurement system is important, since a ship's registration fee, harbour dues, safety and manning rules, may be based on its gross tonnage (GT) or net tonnage (NT).