20 Important Ship Prefixes
A Ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship that has historically served numerous purposes, such as identifying the vessel’s mode of propulsion, purpose, or ownership/nationality.
Today the common practice is to use a single prefix for all warships of a nation’s navy, and other prefixes for auxiliaries and ships of allied services, such as coast guards.
These days, general civilian prefixes are used inconsistently, and frequently not at all. In terms of abbreviations that may reflect a vessel’s purpose or function, technology has introduced a broad variety of differently named vessels onto the world’s oceans, such as “LPGC” (liquified petroleum gas carrier), or “TB” (tug-boat), or “DB” (derrick barge). In many cases though, these abbreviations are used for purely formal, legal identification and are not used colloquially or in the daily working environment. Prefixes indicating a vessel’s purpose (e.g., “RMS” (Royal Mail ship) or “RV” (Research vessel)) are also used.
List of Important Ship Prefixes
| Important Ship Prefixes – Full forms |
|---|
| MT – Motor Tanker |
| MV/MS – Motor vessel/Motor Ship |
| LB – Lifeboat |
| NS – Nuclear Ship |
| RV – Research Vessel |
| LPG/C – Liquefied Petroleum Gas Carrier |
| LNG/C – Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier |
| NS – Nuclear Ship |
| PSV – Platform Supply Vessel |
| MY – Motor Yacht |
| AHT – Anchor Handling Tug |
| CS – Cable Ship |
| DSV – Diving Support Vessel/ Deep Submerge Vessel |
| FV – Fishing Vessel |
| GTS – Gas Turbine Ship |
| RMS – Royal Mail Ship |
| SS – Steam Ship |
| PSV – Platform Support Vessel |
| TS– Training Ship |
| SV – Sailing Vessel |
Ship Prefix for retired ships
When a particular ship is declared out of active service, a prefix of “ex-” is attached to its name. This is done to separate the stricken vessel from any other ship bearing the same name and in service at that time. For instance, the USS Constellation vessel (CV-64) came to be known as the “ex-Constellation” vessel after it accepted retirement in 2003.
Each country has a different method for naming both naval and merchant vessels using ship prefixes. However, some ship prefixes are most commonly used and accepted worldwide.
These prefixes are generally used for merchant vessels of any nationality.
| Prefix | Meaning |
|---|---|
| AE | Ammunition ship |
| AFS | Combat stores ship |
| AHT | Anchor handling tug |
| AHTS | Anchor handling tug supply vessel |
| AO | United States Navy oiler |
| AOG | Gasoline tanker |
| AOR | Auxiliary replenishment oiler |
| AOT | Transport oiler |
| ASDS | Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship |
| ATB | Articulated Tug Barge |
| CRV | Coastal Research Vessel |
| C/F | Car ferry |
| CS | Container ship or Cable ship |
| DB | Derrick barge |
| DEPV | Diesel Electric Paddle Vessel |
| DLB | Derrick Lay Barge |
| DCV | Deepwater Construction Vessel |
| DSV | Diving support vessel or deep-submergence vehicle |
| DV | Dead vessel |
| ERRV | Emergency Response Rescue Vessel |
| EV | Exploration Vessel |
| FPSO | Floating production storage and offloading vessel |
| FPV | Free Piston Vessel |
| FPV | Fishery Protection Vessel |
| FT | Factory Stern Trawler |
| FV | Fishing Vessel |
| GTS | Gas Turbine Ship |
| HLV | Heavy lift vessel |
| HMT | Hired military transport |
| HMHS | His(/Her) Majesty’s Hospital Ship |
| HSC | High Speed Craft |
| HSF | High Speed Ferry |
| HTV | Heavy transport vessel |
| IRV | International Research Vessel |
| ITB | Integrated Tug barge |
| LB | Liftboat |
| LNG/C | Liquefied natural gas carrier |
| LPG/C | Liquefied petroleum gas carrier |
| MF | Motor ferry |
| MFV | Motor fishing vessel (mainly UK Royal Naval Reserve) |
| MS (M/S) | Motor ship (interchangeable with MV) |
| MSV | Multipurpose support/supply vessel |
| MSY | Motor Sailing Yacht |
| MT | Motor Tanker |
| MTS | Marine towage and salvage/tugboat |
| MV (M/V) | Motor Vessel (interchangeable with MS) |
| MY (M/Y) | Motor Yacht |
| NB | Narrowboat |
| NRV | NATO Research Vessel |
| NS | Nuclear ship |
| OSV | Offshore supply vessel |
| PS | Paddle steamer |
| PSV | Platform supply vessel |
| QSMV | Quadruple screw motor vessel |
| QTEV | Quadruple turbo electric vessel |
| RMS | Royal Mail Ship or Royal Mail Steamer |
| RNLB | Royal National Lifeboat |
| RRS | Royal Research Ship |
| RV / RSV | Research vessel/Research Survey Vessel |
| SB | Sailing Barge |
| SL | Steam Launch |
| SS (S/S) | Single-screw steamship (also used as generic term for any steam-powered ship) |
| SSCV | Semi-submersible crane vessel |
| SSS | Sea Scout Ship |
| SSV | Sailing School Vessel or Submarine and Special Warfare Support Vessel |
| ST | Steam tug or Steam trawler |
| STS | Sail training ship |
| STV | Sail Training Vessel or Steam Turbine Vessel |
| SV (S/V) | Sailing Vessel |
| SY (S/Y) | sailing yacht or steam yacht |
| TB | Tug boat |
| TIV | Turbine Installation Vessel |
| TEV | Turbine electric vessel |
| TrSS | Triple-screw steamship or steamer |
| TS | Training Ship or turbine steamship or turbine steam ship |
| Tr.SMV | Triple-Screw Motor Vessel |
| TSMV | Twin-Screw Motor Vessel |
| TSS | Twin-screw steamship or steamer |
| TST | Twin-screw tug |
| TT (T/T) | “Tender to” …, the prefix is placed on the tender followed by the name of the mother ship; or Turbine Tanker |
| TV | Training vessel |
| ULCC | Ultra Large Crude Carrier |
| VLCC | Very Large Crude Carrier |
| YD | Yard derrick |
| YT | Yard Tug |
| YMT | Yard Motor Tug |
| YTB | Yard Tug Big |
| YTL | Yard Tug Little |
| YTM | Yard Tug Medium |
| YW | Water barge, self-propelled |
| YWN | Water barge, non-propelled |
| YOS | Concrete vessel |
References: Wikipedia