Chartering
The hiring out of a ship by its owner to a charterer, in three forms that shift custody, liability and the duty to insure in different ways.
Wakashio, grounded off Mauritius on July 25, 2020: the bulk carrier was owned by Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines, and it was the owner who answered for the pollution under the limitation convention. Who pays depends on the form of the contract, and maritime law knows three that share little but the name. Under a time charter, the owner provides a manned ship for an agreed period, keeps nautical management and the crew, and the charterer directs commercial employment: navigational casualties stay with the first, trading losses go to the second. Under a bareboat charter, the ship goes out without crew or outfit, and the charterer becomes the operator, to the point of buying hull and liability cover itself. A temporary owner, in practice. Under a voyage charter, the owner sells a movement and stays master of everything; the argument then turns on laytime and demurrage. The arrangement separates ownership of a capital heavy asset from access to freight, which lets operators without shipping capital run services.
The bulk carrier Wakashio, grounded off Mauritius on July 25, 2020, was owned by the Japanese operator Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines: it was the owner, not the charterer, who answered for the pollution under the limitation convention, although the charterer announced about one billion yen in voluntary contributions to Mauritian restoration programs.
charter party, chartering, time charter, voyage charter
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