Better Than Google Translate: Common Shipping Terms Authentically Translated into 10 Languages

Shipping is a global industry that requires us to interact with vendors, clients, and agencies all over the world.

Although English is the primary language of choice when liaising with international associates, there can be times when we may encounter other languages – and the need to understand those languages. As effective as Google Translate is in helping us decipher the hieroglyphics we see when faced with languages foreign to our own, it is not always the best tool when it comes to shipping terms. For example, if you use a search engine to translate the English word “Breakbulk” into Italian, you could end up with the misleading result alla rinfusa which means “randomly.”

To avoid confusion, and maybe give you a chance to impress your overseas colleagues with your knowledge of the assicurazione that will be required for specific shipments, here is a compilation of authentic translations gathered from friends and colleagues around the world who have firsthand experience with these terms in English and in their own native tongue.

Translation of Common Shipping Terms by Language

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English	Spanish	Italian	Portuguese
Bill of Lading	Conocimiento de embarque	Polizza	Conhecimento de Embarque
Container	Contenedor	Contenitore	Contêineres (pl)
Demurrage	Estadia	Soste	Sobrestadia
Letter of Credit	Carta de credito	Lettera di Credito	Carta de Crédito
Rate	Precios	Rata	Preço
Cargo	Carga	Merce	Mercadoria
Release Type	Tipo de liberacion	Tipo di Rilascio	Tipo de liberação
Agent	Agente	Agente	Agente
Import	Importacion	Importazione	Importação
Export	Exportacion	Esportazione	Exportação
Insurance	Seguro	Assicurazione	Seguro
Reefer	Refrigerado	Refrigerato	Conteiner refrigerado
Tare	Tara	Tara	Tara
Departure	Salida	Partenza (Salpare)	Saída
Transshipment	Transbordo	Trasbordo	Transbordo
Arrival	Llegada	Arrivo	Chegada
Breakbulk	Carga a granel	Merci Sfuse	Carga solta
Transit Time	Tiempo de transito	Tempo di Transito	Tempo de trânsito

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English	German	French	Turkish
Bill of Lading	Frachtbrief	Connaissement maritime	Konsimento
Container	Container	Conteneur	Konteynir
Demurrage	Liegegebühr	Surestaries	Ardiye
Letter of Credit	Kreditbrief	Lettre de crédit	Kredi onayli
Rate	Rate	Taux de fret	Fiyat
Cargo	Fracht	Fret / Marchandise	Kargo
Release Type	Freigabeart	Type de relâche	Konsimentonun duzenlenis sekli
Agent	Agent	Agent	Acenta
Import	Einfuhr	Import	Ithalat
Export	Ausfuhr	Export	Ihracat
Insurance	Versicherung	Assurance	Sigota
Reefer	Kühlraum	Conteneur réfrigéré	Soguk Hava Konteyneri
Tare	Lehrgewicht	Tare	Dara
Departure	Abfahrt	Départ	Ayrilis
Transshipment	Umschlagen	Transbordement	Aktarma
Arrival	Ankunft	Arrivée	Varis
Breakbulk	konsolidierte Stückgüter	Marchandises en vrac	Dokme yuk
Transit Time	Laufzeit	Temps de transit	Yolculuk suresi

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English	Arabic	Cantonese	Mandarin
Bill of Lading	بوليصة شحن	提單	提单
Container	حاوية	集裝箱	集装箱
Demurrage	مصا يف تخزين	滯期費	滞期费
Letter of Credit	خطاب ضمان	信用證	信用证
Rate	نولون	率	率
Cargo	حاوية	貨物	货物
Release Type		發布類型	发布类型
Agent	وكيل	代理人	代理人
Import	وارد	進口	进口
Export	صادر	出口	出口
Insurance	تامين	保險	保险
Reefer	ثلاجة	冷藏箱	冷藏箱
Tare	وزن الحاوية فارغة	皮重	皮重
Departure	مغادرة	出發	出发
Transshipment	ترانزيت	轉運	转运
Arrival	وصول	到達	到达
Breakbulk
Transit Time	وقت السفر

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If you do not see your language on this list or you have additional terms that you would like to add please share your translations in the comments below.

A special thank you to Dana Finch, Matheus Fernandes, Federico Recchia, Y. Can Sekman, Jenny Cepeda, Virginie Tonti, Matthieu Marchione, Richard Rojas, and Wassim Rafla for your translation contributions.