Claims Letter - Time charters duration of the C/P period

Each Time C/P will specify the date of delivery, which is the beginning of the C/P period. The charterer must redeliver the vessel when the specified C/P ...   WehavemadechangestoourWarCoverundertheCharteramaPolicyWording,readmorehere. ×  0031107410741  [email protected] Orwecancallyouback! Pleaseleavethisfieldempty. Δ Togglenavigation Contactus Ourservices Ourservices Cover Claims AboutCharterama AboutCharterama Keycontacts Publications Contact Contact Correspondents Vacancies ClaimsLetter–TimechartersdurationoftheC/Pperiod TimechartersdurationoftheC/Pperiod InrespectofaTimeCharterthedurationandaccordinglythepaymentofhireareessential.InthiscontextTimeCharterscanbedividedinPeriodChartersandTripCharters.Acombinationofbothisalsopossible. EachTimeC/Pwillspecifythedateofdelivery,whichisthebeginningoftheC/Pperiod.ThecharterermustredeliverthevesselwhenthespecifiedC/Pperiodhascometoanend,notearlierandnotlater.OtherwisecharterersareinbreachoftheC/P. Asitisdifficulttopredicthowlongoneormorevoyage(s)willtake,charterersneedtobuildinsomeflexibilitywithregardtotheC/Pperiodandagreeuponamargin. Forexamplethiscanbeachievedasfollows: •About4months •4months15daysmoreorless (incharterers’option) •Minimum3monthsmaximum 5months •About4monthstoamaximumof 5months •About4monthswithoutguarantee AlternativelyunderaTripC/PthevoyagewillbeindicativefortheC/Pduration.ThevoyagehasbeendefinedandtheC/Pperiodwilllastaslongasthisvoyagewilltake.AcombinationofaPeriodC/PandTripC/Pwillforexamplespecifythevoyageandtheperiodwithinwhichthevoyagehastoperformed.AlsoherechartererswillneedadegreeoftolerancewithregardtotheC/Pperiodasillustratedhereabove. PeriodCharters IncasetheC/PdoesnotallowforanexpressmarginoftheC/Pperiod(seeabove)areasonabletolerancewillbeimpliedbecauseitisnotpossibletocalculatetheexactdateonwhichthevesselwillberedelivered. Whatis“reasonable”willdependonthecircumstancesofthecaseandinparticularthelengthoftheC/Pperiod.ForexampleitwasheldthatinrelationtoaC/Pof6monthsand20daysamarginof8,4daysshouldbeallowed.Thesameappliedtoamarginof11daysinrelationtoaC/Pof30months. “About” ForexampleintheNewYorkProduceExchange1946formtheT/Cperiodhasbeenqualifiedby“about”.TheeffectisthesameasthemarginwhichmightbeimpliediftheC/Pdoesnotprovideforanexpressmargin.(Seethepreviousparagraphshereabove.) Asaguideline,amarginof5dayswasallowedinrespectofaC/Pperiodof“about4to6months”andinrespectofaC/Pperiodof“about6months”,12daysbeyondtheC/Pperiodwasheldtobenotanacceptabletolerance. “Withoutguarantee” IftheC/Pperiodhasbeenqualifiedassuch,theobligationonthechartererisrestrictedtoprovideanestimateofthedurationoftheC/Pperiodingoodfaith.So,whatcharterersgenuinelybelievetobecorrectatthetimeoffixing.ChartererswillstillbeinbreachoftheC/Piftheyknowinglyprovidedwronginformation. Earlyredelivery Ifcharterersredeliverthevesselpriortotheearliestalloweddate,thecharterersareinbreachoftheC/Pandliablefordamages.AnearlyredeliverywillbetreatedasarepudiatorybreachoftheC/PasaconsequenceofwhichtheownersmaychoosetoterminatetheC/P. ThemeasureofdamageswillusuallybethedifferencebetweentheC/Phire-rateandthemarket-ratefromthedateofterminationuntiltheearliestdatethechartererscouldhaveredeliveredthevessel.ThismeansthattheremustbeanavailablemarketforsubstituteemploymentonbasisofC/PtermscomparablewiththeoriginalC/P.(Regardlessofwhetherownerswillactuallyfixthevesselonsimilarterms.) Ifthereisnoavailablemarkettheownersareentitledtoclaimdamageswhichshouldputtheminthesamepositionasifthevesselhadnotbeenredeliveredearly. Lateredelivery/legitimatevoyageorders Charterershaveanobligationtogivesuch(final)voyageorderswhichwillallowthevesseltoberedeliveredattheendoftheC/Pperiod.Sotheendofthe(final)voyageshouldcoincidewiththeendoftheC/Pperiod,takingintoaccountanyexpressorimpliedmargin. IfcharterersgiveinstructionsforavoyagewhichcannotreasonablybeexpectedtobecompletedbytheendoftheC/Pperiod,thiscouldbeabreachoftheC/Pandtheownersmayaskforfreshandvalidorders.Ownersmaydosotillthecommencementofthisvoyage. Incasecharterersdonotgiveaneworderwhichislegitimate,thisisarepudiatorybreachoftheC/PandownersmaychoosetoterminatetheC/P.ThereforeanillegitimateorderisnotarepudiatorybreachoftheC/P.Thiswillonlybethecaseifcharterersfailtoreplaceitwithavalidorderaftertheownershaveaskedforit. Damages IrrespectiveofwhetherthevoyageorderislegitimateornottheownerswillbeentitledtoclaimdamagesifthevesselisredeliveredbeyondtheendofthecontractualC/Pperiod. Furthermore,owners’compliancewithanorderwhichisillegitimatedoesnotmeanthatownershavewaivedtheirrighttoclaimdamagesasaconsequenceoftheillegitimateorder. IfownershaveterminatedtheC/Pbecausecharterersdidnotgiveavalidorderafterownersaskedtoreplaceanillegitimateorder,ownerswillbeentitledtoclaimdamagesasaconsequenceofcharterers’repudiatorybreachoftheC/P. Calculationofdamages IfthevesselisredeliveredaftertheendoftheC/Pperiodthefollowingdamagescanbeclaimed: •DifferencebetweentheC/Phire-rateandtherelevantmarket-ratefortheperiodoftheoverlap. •Lossessufferedunderthenextfixtureaconsequenceofthelateredelivery. Withregardtothefirstkindofdamage,theoverlaprunsfromthelatestdatethevesselcouldhavebeenlawfullyredelivereduntilsheactuallywasredelivered. Further,ifthereisnomarket,ownersshouldbeputinthesamefinancialpositionasiftherewasnobreachoftheC/P. Withregardtothesecondkindofdamage,althoughtheHouseofLordsheldin2008thatalossofaboutUsd.1.4million (whichtheownersclaimedtohavesufferedunderanextfixtureasaconsequenceofalateredelivery)couldnotberecoveredfromcharterers(TheAchilleas),itcannotbesaidthatineachcasedamageswillbelimitedtothefirstkindofdamageasmentionedhereabove. Underdifferentcircumstances,f.e.wherebycharterersarewellawareoftheconsequenceswhichalateredeliverywillhaveforownerswithregardtothenextfixture,aTribunalorCourtmayreachadifferentconclusion. Imaginable,charterersmayhaveassumedtheriskofthecancellationofafollow-upfixtureasaconsequenceofalateredeliveryiff.e.theyaremadefullyawareofthisriskatthetimeoffixingoratthetimetheyinsistonthecomplianceofanillegitimate(final)voyage-order. Off-HirePeriods Ifavesselhasbeenoff-hireduringtheC/Pperiod,theoff-hireperiodwillnotbeaddedtotheC/Pperiod,unlessthepartieshaveexpresslyagreedonthis. Considerations Inordertoavoiddisputesconcerningearlyredelivery,illegitimateorders,lateredeliveryandconsequentialclaimsfordamages,itfollowsfromtheabovethatchartererscanprotecttheirpositioniftheytakethefollowingintoaccountwhentheynegotiateafixture: •TheC/Pperiodshouldbevariable.Sufficientmarginshouldbeapplied.Inparticularthequalification“Withoutguarantee”mayavoidunpleasantsurpriseswhenthedateofredeliverywillbesubjecttochangeswhichcouldnothavebeenforeseen. •Charterersmaytrytoagreeupona“lastvoyage”clauseintotheC/P.SomestandardC/P’salreadycontainsuchaclauseofwhichthescopecanbetwofold: 1)OritallowschartererstocompletethefinalvoyagewhichoverrunstheC/Pperiod,providedthatthevoyageorderwaslegitimate. 2)Oritallowschartererstogiveordersforalastvoyagewhichwouldotherwisehavebeenillegitimateforcausingalateredelivery. Clausesofthefirstkindaremoreinuse.Clausesofthesecondkindgivechartererswidelibertiesandthereforedifficulttoacceptforowners.Veryclearwordingwillberequiredtoturnanillegitimateorderintoalegitimateorder. ExamplesofClauseswhichfallincategory1)canbefoundinf.e.theBaltimeformandtheShelltime4form.TherelevantwordingoftheBaltimeclause7readsasfollows: “ShouldthevesselbeorderedonavoyagebywhichtheC/PperiodwillbeexceededtheCharterersshallhavetheuseofthevesseltoenablethemtocompletethevoyage,provideditcouldbereasonablycalculatedthatthevoyagewouldallowredeliveryaboutthetimefixedfortheterminationoftheCharter,butforanytimeexceedingtheterminationdatetheCharterersshallpaythemarket-rateifhigherthantheratestipulatedherein.” Simplifiedandsomewhatmorecharterers’friendlysucha“finalvoyageclause”couldread: “Shouldthevesselbeorderedona(final)voyagewhichmayreasonablybeexpectedtoresultinredeliverybythefinalterminaldatebutifneverthelesstheC/Pperiodwillbeexceededcharterersshallhavetheuseofthevesseltoenablethemtocompletethisvoyageagainstpaymentofthehire-ratestatedinthisC/P.” Otherrelatedissuessuchasdeliveryandredeliveryofthevesselwillbediscussedinasubsequentservice-letter. 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