ISO 3828:2008 establishes the vocabulary for the various terms in use relative to ship's deck machinery. It defines, in English, general terms used in connection with this subject, and includes specific terms associated with anchoring and mooring, cargo handling, towing, ancillary deck equipment and special deck machinery of working and oceanographic research ships.

In the preparation of this vocabulary, care has been taken to standardize only suitable terms and definitions and not to perpetuate unsuitable terms because of their use in the past. The illustration given against the respective terms are purely diagrammatic and have been developed to provide for any series of combination of symbols, to represent the respective type of deck machinery.