by Basil M. Karatzas, CEO, Karatzas Marine Advisors & Co.
Only if I had a penny every time I had to spell out these terms to a financier dealing with commercial terms for the delivery of a vessel. It sounds almost like gibberish, but for those in the knowing, these are very clear terms and have saved many a shipowner or charterer from undue legal headaches. (For more shipping abbreviations, please see our S&P blog here!)These abbreviations are standard language and stand for All Going Well / Weather Permitting / Unforeseen Circumstances All Exempted / With Out Guarantee. They are the remnant of past reality, when Telex was the primary way of communicating commercial information in a time sensitive manner, and, text transmitted was charged by the number of the charterers consisting it. Really.
This was a time when people had to economize with their words due to technical and accordingly economic considerations. Had to be succinct since additional characters cost money; then, the telefax replaced the telex and transmitting was charged by the page, and eventually email has become the prominent way of transmitting information, which effective is free (besides a nominal monthly fixed cost for the connection). For those nostalgic of telex, Twitter had set a limit of 140 characters (now 280), but this was for other than economical considerations. And, the 280-character limit, Twitter does not stop someone for blabbing all they want; again for free.
