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From 2008 to 2011, we created Navigocorpus, an online data-base on shipping. While conceiving the data-base structure, we aimed at preserving data as close as possible to the way they appear in the sources – spelling and languages included – but also at developing a series of tools to handle the mass of data stored in the database. This paper deals with the way we processed cargoes and explains the three possibilities we offer to users. First, they can query a field containing a standardized English translation of cargo items. Secondly, they can create their own categories of classification in a on-the-way coding field, according to the specific needs of their research. Finally, they can query a permanent coding which provides, though a codified string of characters, information on the raw material, elaboration process and use of the product. A few concrete examples illustrate these features.