Glossary
Terms & Glossaries of Shipping and Trading
Bitt
A bitt is a post mounted on the ship's bow, for fastening ropes or cables.
Bitt is a paired vertical wooden or metal post mounted either aboard a ship or on a wharf, pier or quay. The posts are used to secure mooring lines, ropes, hawsers, or cables. Bitts aboard wooden sailing ships (sometime called cable-bitts) were large vertical timbers mortised into the keel and used as the anchor cable attachment point. Bitts are carefully manufactured and maintained to avoid any sharp edges which might chafe and weaken the mooring lines.
