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Maritime & Shipping vocabulary · Navigation & the Bridge

Nautical mile

Meaning in maritime & shipping, with examples

nounCore term

In maritime & shipping, nautical mile means: The unit of distance used at sea and in the air, defined as exactly 1,852 metres. It is based on one minute of latitude, which makes distances easy to measure on charts.

In Turkish: deniz mili, mil

How it is used

Distances to ports, waypoints and other ships are given in nautical miles, usually shortened to 'miles' or written NM or nm. Officers measure them on the latitude scale at the side of the chart.

Example sentences

  1. The anchorage is about five nautical miles south of the breakwater.

  2. The master's standing orders require a CPA of at least two nautical miles in open sea.

Common collocations

  • five nautical miles off
  • distance to go
  • within two nautical miles
  • nautical miles per day
  • knotThe unit of speed at sea, equal to one nautical mile per hour, or about 1.85 kilometres per hour.
  • nautical chartA map of a sea area made for navigation. It shows water depths, coastlines, dangers, buoys, lights and traffic routes.
  • CPAClosest Point of Approach: the shortest distance at which another ship or object will pass if both keep their present course and speed. TCPA is the time left until that point.
  • passage planA detailed berth-to-berth plan for a voyage, prepared before departure, showing the route, waypoints, hazards, safe speeds, reporting points and contingency actions.

More terms: Navigation & the Bridge

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