Firm Offer(of a cargo or of a ship). A charterparty is a contract. An enforceable contract is formed when there is a definite or "firm' offer incorporating terms, and the offer is unconditionally accepted by the person to whom it is made. There are other requirements but for chartering purposes, for now, an offer and acceptance are analytical "tools" by which agreement is seen to exist or not. During the negotiations for a fixture offers are part of the negotiation process; an offer by one party, or his shipbroker, can be met by a counter-offer by the other side. A counter-offer is not an acceptance.

Fully cellular container vessel. This is a vessel designed to carry a full load of containers in fixed cell guides.

Frustration. Frustration of a contract occurs when, through circumstances entirely beyond the parties' control, the commercial object of the contract is entirely frustrated.

Fridays and Holidays excluded or Fridays and holidays included (FHEX or FHINC).

Fraud and bills of lading. A modern case may help to introduce the problems that can arise and identify some of the important issues.

Fixture. To "fix" a ship is to determine or settle a contract (the Charterparty) for its employment. "Fixture" is the word that indicates the contract has been made and the negotiations to charter the ship have been concluded.

FILO (Free in liner out). If a charterparty states that the cargo will be loaded free of expense to the shipowner or other carrier but that he will pay for the discharging, the discharging is on liner terms (or "gross terms"), hence the use of this abbreviation.

Note that for financial accounting, the abbreviation can also refer to the manner in which stock is valued, "first in, last out". This has no relevance to chartering.

FAF (Fuel adjustment factor)or BAF (Bunker adjustment factor). Shipping is an energy-intensive industry just as liner shipping is a capital-intensive industry with the development of containerisation and expensive container ships.

FEU. Forty foot equivalent unit. This is a unit used to measure the space available for containers. One standard size relates to the external length of the box being forty feet or 12.2m. The carriers in the United States emphasise the FEU whereas in other parts of the world the TEU, “twenty foot equivalent unit” is more accepted.

FBL. FIATA Bill of Lading.

FIATA Bill of Lading. FIATA is the acronym for the International Federation of Forwarding Agents Associations and is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

FAS (free alongside ship)

FAS FREE ALONGSIDE SHIP
(... named port of shipment)

Firm Order. This term can be used after a charterer (or charterer's agent) has entered the market with an order indicating that he requires a ship usually for a cargo (voyage charter) or for a period.

Full and complete cargo. This expression relates to a full cargo within the ship's cargo capacity, which will bring- the vessel down to its permissible draught, depending on the applicable loadlines or which fills the cargo spaces. The quantity of cargo, which can be loaded, may be qualified by adding for example, "10 per cent more or less in owner's option”. For instance:

FIOSPT (Free in and out and spout trimmed)

Free time. This expression is used in relation to a voyage charter and laytime and refers to the time used by the charterer to load or discharge the cargo before laytime has commenced according to the terms of the charterparty: