Vessel particulars for a time charter party agreements

Vessel particulars for a time charter party agreements

A time charter - is a contract for the hire of a named vessel for a specified period of time. - may be thought of as equivalent to the hire of a chauffeur-driven car (the ship’s crew being “the chauffeur”).

Time charter parties normally include a statement of general particulars about the vessel including classification, dimensions, tonnages (gt, NT, dwt), constant weight, draughts, grain/bale cubic capacity of holds/tanks, dimensions, speeds (laden/in ballast), consumptions of FO and DO (laden/in ballast/in port working/idle), type of engines, fuel used, call sign, etc. For special ship types other specialist information will be required, e.g. lane and ramp details of a ro/ro ship. General arrangement and capacity plans may also be required by the charterer. Tanker time charter parties require technical details such as drawings of the cargo manifold, pumping arrangement and ventilation system, pump characteristic curves, etc. to be submitted for approval of the charterer.

Speed and fuel consumption are vitally important to the charterers for determining whether the vessel is performing the contract efficiently and whether he is entitled to claim for any alleged under-performance. (This is a frequent subject of dispute, since modern bunker prices fluctuate greatly.)

The declared constant weight (a fixed tonnage allowed for water, stores, provisions, spares, etc.) is important to the charterers in their cargo planning.

At common law, the vessel provided by the owners must be seaworthy for the purposes of the contract at the time of the contract’s making. Thereafter, the owners usually agree only to exercise due diligence to make the vessel seaworthy for each voyage during the charter period.

A time charter party usually contains an undertaking by the owners to maintain the vessel in good condition throughout the charter period, and the owners may be required to keep the vessel in the condition she was stated to be in when the contract was made, e.g. to “LR class 100A1 or equivalent”. Some time charter parties require the owners to “exercise due diligence to make the vessel tight, staunch, strong, in good order and condition, and in every way fit for the service, both before, at and throughout the time charter period, taking whatever steps are necessary to so maintain the vessel, even if the cause of repairs and/or additional maintenance result from a cause for which owners are not directly responsible”.

A Suspension of Hire Clause will provide for hire payments to be suspended if the vessel is out of service for more than a specified minimum period due to drydocking, maintenance, machinery breakdown, lack of crew, damage, etc. A Cleaning Boilers Clause will also limit the time out of service before hire is suspended.

A Cargo Space Clause provides that the whole “reach and burthen” of the vessel, including lawful deck capacity, is to be at the charterer’s disposal, excluding crew accommodation and space for equipment, provisions and stores.

Related articles

Various chaterparty freight clauses- How they are calculated

Vessel particulars for a time charter party agreements

Machinery system main info pages