M.V.

Motor Vessel.

MAFI Trailer

German brand name of a roll trailer used for RoRo purposes.

Maiden Trip

First voyage of a vessel or aircraft after delivery to its owner(s).

Main-Line Operator

Abbreviation: MLO. Carrier employing vessel(s) in the main or principal routes in a trade but not participating within a consortium.

Maintenance Chain

Sequence of events in a goods flow which preserves and/or restores the value of a specific good. E.g. repair.

Manifest

Document which lists the specifications of goods loaded in a means of transport or equipment for transportation purposes. As a rule cargo manifests are drawn up by the agents in the place of loading. Note: For shipping, a manifest represents an accumulation of Bills of Lading for official and administrative purposes.

Marine Insurance Policy

Insurance policy protecting the insured against loss or damage to goods which occurred during transportation.

Marking (or Marks)

Letters, numbers, and other symbols placed on cargo packages to facilitate identification.

Marks

Shipping Marks

Master Air Waybill

Abbreviation: MAWB. Air Waybill issued by the originating airline when more than one airline is involved with a shipment, or when a freight forwarder issues a House Air Waybill.
Air Waybill House Air Waybill

Mate’s Receipt

Document signed by the chief officer of a vessel acknowledging the receipt of a certain consignment on board of that vessel. On this document, remarks can be made as to the order and condition of the consignment.

Material Circumstance

Any circumstances which would influence the judgment of a prudent underwriter in determining whether to accept a risk and the amount of premium to charge.

Material Representation

Statement made to the underwriter before acceptance of risk which is material to the decision in accepting and rating the risk.

Materials Handling

Activities of loading, unloading, placing and manipulating material and of in-process movement.

Means of Transport

Type of vehicle used for the transport of goods (e.g. aircraft, barge, truck, ship or train).

Measurement Ton

Ton of one cubic meter water.

Mechanics Lien

Legal enforceable claim that a person who has performed work or provided materials is permitted to make against title to the property or as a preferential person in the event the estate or business is liquidated.

Medical First Aid Guide

Abbreviation: MFAG. Instructions to be consulted in case of accidents involving dangerous goods.
Dangerous Goods

Merchant

For cargo carried under the terms and conditions of the carrier’s Bill of Lading and of a tariff, it means any trader or persons (e.g. shipper, consignee) and including anyone acting on their behalf, owning or entitled to possession of the goods.

Merchant Haulage

Inland transport of cargo in shipping containers arranged by the merchant. It includes empty container-moves to and from hand-over points with respect to containers released by the carrier to merchants. Note: Carrier’s responsibility under the Bill of Lading does not include the inland transport stretch under merchant haulage.

Merchant Inspired Carrier Haulage

Carrier haulage by a carrier, which is nominated by the shipper or receiver of the goods, but paid by the carrier.

Meta-Centric Height

Distance between the center of gravity of a vessel and a fictitious point. If the meta-centric height is zero or negative, the vessel will heel or capsize.

MFAG

Medical First Aid Guide

MFN

Most Favored Nation Status

MGO

Marine Gas Oil. Fuel used for operating the vessel.

Midships

At or in the middle of a vessel.

Minimum Charge

Lowest amount which applies to the transport of a consignment, irrespective of weight or volume (air cargo, shipping).

Minimum Connection Time

Shortest amount of time needed to move transshipments successfully from an arriving flight to the next departing flight.

Minimum Inventory

Planned minimum allowable inventory for an independent demand item.

Mixed Consignment

Consignment of different commodities, articles or goods, packed or tied together or contained in separate packages.

Mode of Transport

Method of transport used for the conveyance of goods (e.g. by rail, by road, by sea).

Most Favored Nation Status

Abbreviation: MFN. Provision of certain international agreements, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which affords countries the right to have their goods treated no less favorably than the goods of any other country. For example, the GATT MFN clause gives each member the right to have customs duties levied upon its products at the lowest rate offered to any other member nation.

MPC Multi Purpose Carrier

Multi-Purpose Vessel

MTO/Carrier

Multi-Transport Operator/Carrier

Multi-Purpose Carrier

Multi-Purpose Vessel

Multi-Purpose Vessel

Vessel designed for the carriage of different types of cargo: general, bulk, heavy and/or containerized cargo.
Synonym: Multi-Purpose Carrier (MPC)

Multimodal Transport

Carriage of goods (containers) by at least two different modes of transport.

Multimodal Transport Document

Combined Transport Document

Multimodal Transport Operator/Carrier

Abbreviation: MTO/Carrier. Entity on whose behalf the transport document or any document evidencing a contract of multimodal carriage of goods is issued and which is responsible for the carriage of goods pursuant to the contract of carriage.

Multiple Sourcing

Selecting of and working with more than two equivalent suppliers for a certain product.