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Defining arrived ship in a charter party agreement for cargo ships employment

Arrived ship

To determine whether the vessel has become an “arrived ship” within the charter party terms the master will need to know whether the charter party is a “port charter party” or a “berth charter party”. Which of the parties bears the risk of delay following arrival of the vessel will depend on which of the two types the charter party is.

The agreed voyage is defined by the places named in the charter party for loading and discharging. These will either be ports (e.g. “…..shall proceed to Rotterdam, and there load….”) or berths (e.g. “…..shall proceed to one safe berth Rotterdam (Vaalhaven), and there load…..”).

If a port is defined as the place for loading (e.g. “Rotterdam”), without stipulating a particular berth, the charter party is a port charter party.

The characteristics of a port charter party are:

• the contractual destination is a named port (as opposed to a named berth within a port);
• in order to qualify as having arrived at the named port and therefore be entitled to give notice of readiness to load (or discharge) the following two conditions must be satisfied:

1. if the vessel cannot immediately proceed to a berth, she has reached a position within the port where waiting ships usually lie; and
2. she is at the immediate and effective disposal of the charterer.

It is not necessary for the vessel to be on her loading berth to be an “arrived ship” under a port charter party. All delays in berthing will be for the charterer’s account, and this is the more favourable charter party for owners.






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