A charge or fee paid for the use of ballast; the practice or cost of ballasting ships; ballast material collectively.
From 'ballast' (heavy material used to stabilize ships) plus the suffix '-age' (indicating a charge, practice, or collection). 'Ballast' itself comes from Old Norse 'ballast' (bad load).
Medieval and early modern ships paid ballastage fees for the privilege of loading rocks and sand into their hulls—what seems wasteful was actually the brilliant engineering that made ocean trade possible.
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