Lloyd's Register of Ships and how it developed
What Lloyd`s Register of Ships aims to do
Lloyd`s Register of Ships was originally a guide for
merchants and insurers on the condition of ships they employed or
insured. But the publishers realised that others in the shipping
industry needed to know about ships. For instance, port authorities
needed to know a ship`s tonnage to charge it harbour dues, and
lawyers might want to know its owners because of a legal dispute.
So Lloyd`s Register of Ships grew in coverage until
it became best and most respected single source of information on
ships of the world. The parent body, Lloyd`s Register, has grown
too. As well as publishing the Register, it sets rules and
regulations for building and maintaining ships and surveys them to
ensure they meet these standards. The annual editions
of Lloyd`s Register of Ships have been kept updated
in several ways. For many years subscribers in London could have
their copies `posted` each week, with alterations being made by
stickers or printing over entries. Details of new or renamed ships
were added to pages left blank for the purpose. `Posting` also
indicated if a vessel had been lost or scrapped.
Printed supplements to Lloyd`s Register of Ships
were sent out weekly or monthly. They included entries for new
vessels or for ones whose details have changed, and list other
changes alphabetically by vessel. As well as the main register,
there are additional volumes, which have had various names and
contents over the years. List of Shipowners
First published in 1876, the List of Shipowners was originally
bound in with one of the other volumes. Since 1955 it has been
published as a separate volume.
Appendix
First published in 1890, it includes:
- former names of ships (very useful for tracing ships which had
changed names)
- index to names composed of two or more words (compound
names)
- shipbuilders and a list of existing ships they had built (from
1895 yard numbers were listed)
- marine engineering companies
- alphabetical list of vessel`s signal letters
- details of harbour and port facilities around the
world
DirectoryPublished from 1958/9 to 1965/6, it contained details of
shipbuilders, marine engine builders and boilermakers. It also
listed docks, telegraphic addresses and marine insurance
firms. Lloyd`s Register of Ships Subsidiary SectionsPublished from 1978/9 to 1983/4, it contained details of
ship-borne barges, docking installations, liquefied gas carriers,
refrigerated cargo installations and containers and refrigerated
stores and container terminals classed with Lloyd`s Register. Maritime Guide
First published in 1984, includes other material previously in the
Appendix, including:
- lists of harbour and port installations (with maps)
- signal letters
- details of ship and engine builders (with existing ships listed
by shipbuilder)
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