1. Charty party forms

defines the obligations, rights and liabilities of the shipowner and charterer. Recognised standard form (e.g. GENCON, BALTIME, NYPE)
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Nature of a time charter
The charterers agree to hire from the shipowner a named vessel, of specified technical characteristics, for an agreed period of time, for the charterer’s purposes subject to agreed restrictions.
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2. Voyage charter advantages

contract for the carriage by a named vessel of a specified quantity of cargo between named ports or places.
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3. Terms of Bareboat charter and lease arrangement

The vessel owners put the vessel (without any crew) at the complete disposal of the charterers and pay the capital costs, but (usually) no other costs.
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4. Seaworthiness of vessel

A vessel must be fit to encounter the “ordinary perils of the sea” (e.g. bad weather) and other incidental risks to which she will be exposed on the voyage..
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5. International trade terms (INCOTERMS) in sea transportation

INCOTERMS is a set of rules, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, for the uniform interpretation of the most commonly used trade terms used in international trade contracts.
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6. Money transfer procedure in sea transport

Money transfer system commonly used in overseas trade to enable sellers to obtain early payment, i.e. soon after shipment of the goods.
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7. Contract between cargo seller and buyer

The contract of sale between the seller and the buyer of the goods is separate from the contract of carriage which one party or the other, or a third party (such as a freight forwarder), will make with the carrier .
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8. Parties involved in sea transportation of goods

Forming links in the transport chain- Sea carrier, Freight forwarder, shipper, consignee,agent & banks
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9. Carriage of goods by sea act 1992 (COGSA 92)

Section 3 of COGSA 92 lays down guidelines establishing when liabilities under a bill of lading, sea waybill or ship’s delivery order will be transferred to a party who is not an original party to the contract of carriage (i.e. an endorsee or transferee). The party who takes or demands delivery of the goods to which a bill of lading, sea waybill or ship’s delivery order relate becomes subject to the same liabilities as the original shipper..
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10. Laytime interpretation rules

Rules, which were issued jointly by BIMCO, CMI, FONASBA and INTERCARGO, replace the Charter party Laytime Definitions 1980.
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11. CIF ( Cost, Insurance and Freight ) used in international trade terms (INCOTERMS)

“CIF” means Cost, Insurance and Freight (paid to a named place), e.g. CIF London.- is a contract based on the discharge port
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12. FOB ( free on board ) used in international trade terms (INCOTERMS)

“FOB” means Free On Board (named port of shipment), e.g. “FOB Newcastle NSW”. It is one of the most commonly used term (INCOTERMS) in sales contracts involving sea transportation of goods.
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13. Ships employment baltic exchange

Baltic Exchange members undertake to abide by a strict code of business practice, enshrined in the famous Baltic motto “Our Word Our Bond”.
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14. Ships charter market place

Most ships employed in the charter markets are dry bulk carriers, tankers, combination carriers (e.g. OBOs), or reefer vessels, although there is also a charter market for container ships and for vessels of various special purpose types
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15. Common Chartering abbreviations

Many terms commonly used by shipbrokers and others involved in ship chartering, mainly to save time and effort in communications. Shipmasters may come across many of the acronyms and abbreviations in documents relating to charters, e.g. in telexed voyage orders and market reports..
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16. Tanker freight worldscale

"Worldscale" is the code name for the “New Worldwide Tanker Nominal Freight Scale”, published by the Worldscale Association (London) Limited and the Worldscale Association (NYC) Inc
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• Various chaterparty freight clauses- How they are calculated

Freight may be of the following kinds: Ordinary or charter party freight ; pro-rata freight; Advance or pre-paid freight;Back freight; Ad valorem freight, Lumpsum freight; bill of lading freight; Ad valorem freight;Dead freight etc...

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• Laydays and the cancelling date in a charter party agreement & laytime clause

The cancelling date is the final layday and the date beyond which, if the chartered vessel has not been presented for loading, the charterers may reject her and cancel the charter. Will usually be found in a Cancelling Clause, which provides that the charterers will not be entitled to cancel the charter before the stated cancelling date, even when it is obvious that the vessel cannot arrive at the loading port by this date.

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• Various charter party clauses

Despatch clause : If cargo operations are completed before expiry of the laytime, a monetary reward, termed despatch or despatch money, is normally payable by the owners to the charterer. Despatch money or despatch is defined as an agreed amount payable by the owners if the vessel completes loading or discharging before the laytime has expired.

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• Specifying notice of readiness

notice to the charterer, shipper, receiver or other person as required by the charter party that the vessel has arrived at the port or berth, as the case may be, and is ready to load or discharge.

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• Charter related problems at loading ports

If charterers repeatedly reject the vessel on grounds of unclean holds or tanks most charter parties have clauses dealing with cleaning of compartments before loading.

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• Carriers lien on cargo

In common law, a carrier may exercise a possessory lien on any part of the cargo in respect of which freight is owing at the destination, and also for money which has been spent in protecting the cargo (e.g. where reefer goods have been warehoused by the shipowner while a damaged reefer vessel has been drydocked).

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