Cabotage is the privilege to use a certain territory's air, sea, or other transport services to operate and carry commodities. In order to increase road freight efficiency by lowering empty trips, the temporary national carriage of cargoes by non-resident carriers is restricted in every European nation. Every carrier is permitted to convey three loads within seven days, starting at the point of unloading international shipment, per Article 8 (published by the European Commission).

In shipping, most nations with coastlines have cabotage rules that apply to merchant ships in order to safeguard domestic shipping infrastructure against foreign competition, maintain domestically held maritime infrastructure for national security concerns, and guarantee safety in crowded territorial waters. Furthermore, cabotage rights in the European Union were restricted in recently admitted member states (in particular, Greece, Spain, and Portugal); however, this initial condition was dropped in the wake of the Paros ferry disaster amid criticism.

About the term

According to Wikipedia, the term "cabotage" is a French borrowing. It comes from the Latin word caboter, which means "to journey along the coast". Caboter's etymology is hazy; it could be related to the word "cape" or "cabo," or it could be a boat-related origin. There is no evidence to back up claims that the name is related to the Italian adventurer Cabot.