The Shipping Law Blog
A Useful Guide to the World of Maritime Law

GUIDE: Loadlines

Load Lines (or Plimsoll Lines) are markings on the side of ships (amidships) which show the maximum limit of cargo a ship can load. They give different limits based on temperatures of water and salinity, as per the above diagram. 
The logo on the left is the classification society marking. It indicates the ship’s classification society by two letters, LR (for Lloyd’s Register) or NV (for De Norsk Veritas) for example.
The lines can vary from the standard format on the basis of the ship’s trading area and class. The standard format is as per the above diagram but some other examples are below.
The Shipping Law Blog

For ten years the Shipping Law Blog has aimed to provide a simple, down-to-earth guide to the world of international shipping and maritime law.

If you have any questions or suggestions please get in touch at editor@theshippinglawblog.com .

Most Popular Posts

A Beginners’ Guide to Sailing

Learning to sail is one of the best ways to familiarise yourself with the basics of operating a vessel on water. Many of the terms draw across to the shipping

A Brief Guide to Liquidated Damages

We often receive queries from readers at the Shipping Law Blog, and today we received one from a non-lawyer, who had been asked to confirm whether one of their contracts

Search The Shipping Law Blog
Questions & Answers
Maritime Disasters
MARITIME STYLE GUIDE
Maritime Law Links
Visitor Loaction Map
Archives
Copyright & Legal

1. All content reserved copyright of theshippinglawblog.com 2015, unless stated otherwise. 2. Header image credit: Paul Gorbould, ‘Leader on Ice’ (Flickr). 3. This website is not intended to provide legal advice and is for interest only. The author does not guarantee the accuracy of any content and, as always, recommends that appropriate professional legal advice is sought by anyone requiring assistance with a shipping law problem. 4. If you have any ideas, recommendations or other queries in relation to the blog please e-mail me at webmaster@theshippinglawblog.com.