- displacement (mass or volume) is defined by the mass or volume of water displaced by the floating vessel;
- tonnage – the carrying capacity of a given vessel;
- deadweight (or total tonnage) – quantity of cargo the vessel is capable of taking up to the draught by the summer load mark on the waterline;
- Cargo tonnage – a vessel’s ability to contain cargo of a certain volume (separately for tare, piece and bulk cargo).
A distinction is made between single cargo tonnage, when all cargo spaces are used simultaneously, and double, when cargo spaces are used one by one for even loading of the vessel.
