2025 Maritime Digest of Arbitration Awards and Court Rulings
ASBATANKVOY -- DELAY -- FAILURE TO PROSECUTE -- DISMISSAL -- Partial Owner Award
The Charterer began arbitration to recover damages resulting from an Owner breach of contract and demanded for an immediate partial reward. However, the Charterer delayed to prosecute the manner beyond the claim’s submission and after eight years of delayed prosecution, the Owner moved to dismiss the case.
Replacing their “Equiva Trading Company Marine Provisions for Tankers, Tows and Barges Effective December 1, 1998”, Shell Trading (US) Company, STUSCO, recently introduced new General Terms and Conditions (GT&Cs). Intended to be equitable whether selling FOB, CFR, CIF or Delivered, STUSCO’s new GT&C’s is entitled “Shell Trading (US) Company General Terms and Conditions for the Sale and Purchase of Refined Products August 1st 2007”.
ASBATANKVOY -- SHORTLOADED -- DRAFT -- BAD WEATHER -- SILTING -- DEADFREIGHT -- SAFE PORT WARRANTY -- Partial Owner Award
At loadport, the Vessel could only safely load to a less-than-contracted draft level due to bad weather conditions and excess silting. The Owner demanded that the Charterer pay deadfreight for the voyage due to negligence in declaring a safe vessel berth. The Charterer, however, believed that it was the Owner’s responsibility to validate the port’s safety and that the contractual term "safe port" was not a warranty but a mutual agreement that the port was safe.
GENCON -- CARGO -- CONTAMINATION -- BILL OF LADING -- LOADPORT -- STATEMENT OF FACTS -- LETTER OF INDEMNITY -- Owner Award
After loading a clearly contaminated cargo, the Charterer and Owner disputed over whether the contamination should be mentioned in the Bill of Lading, which resulted in vessel delays at loadport. The Charterer believed that the contamination could be logged in the statement of facts and withheld the Letter of Indemnity until a clean B/L was issued. The Owner therefore blamed the delay on the Charterer.
WHETHER REPAIR WORK CARRIED OUT AT ANCHORAGE CONSTITUTES OFF HIRE -- LIGHTERAGE COSTS INCURRED WHEN MASTER FAILED TO COMPLY WITH LOAD DRAFT INSTRUCTIONS -- DELAY INCURRED BY FAILURE TO PAY DISBURSEMENT ACCOUNT -- Owner Award
The Charterer began arbitration proceedings to recover losses from four issues that arose under a time charter contract; three are recapped. At arbitration, the Charterer argues that the repair work undertaken at anchorage constitutes an off-hire, that the lighterage charges resulting from an incorrect sailing draft should be due Owner, and that the detention time at disport was avoidable and faulted by the Owner.
SHELLTIME 3 -- TIME CHARTER -- SPEED WARRANTY -- CONSUMPTION WARRANTY -- PERFORMANCE -- TIME-BAR -- Partial Charterer Award
This arbitration award resolves three separate disputes which center upon the speed and consumption warranties provided within the time-charter contract. Without receiving substantiating performance reviews, the Charterer withheld varying freight amounts from voyages basis estimated values. The Owner, however, argued that they should be reimbursed for disputed claims raised by them before time-bar, for voyage over-performance, and because of unrepresentative assessment of vessel performance during short voyages.
ASBATANKVOY -- CARGO -- COA -- FAIRLY EVENLY SPREAD -- SPOT MARKET RATE -- CARGO NOMINATION REJECTED -- FAIRLY EVENLY SPREAD -- Charterer Award
The Owner refused to nominate a vessel to lift the final COA cargo tonnage on the grounds that a third voyage in one month violated the contracted "fairly evenly spread" nomination requirement. The Charter subsequently had to load the remaining cargo at the substantially higher spot market rate and began arbitration to recover the resulting losses.
ASBATANKVOY -- SHORTLOADING -- WITHHELD FREIGHT -- TWO BOTTOMS -- DAMAGES -- Partial Owner Award
In light of Owner violations to the voyage charter by splitting the cargo onto two vessels,, the Charterer made an unauthorized deduction from Owner’s freight payment to compensate for damages incurred during voyage. At arbitration, the Owner believed that the withheld freight payment and the Charterer’s damages should be treated as separate issues.
ASBATANKVOY -- PUMP WARRANTY -- INTEREST ON UNDISPUTED DEMURRAGE -- ASDEM PUMPING PERFORMANCE EQUATION -- Charterer Award
Because the Vessel did not meet the pump warranty at disport, the Charterer rejected any excess pumping time billed to them by the Owner. The Owner argued that the terminal was incapable of receiving the cargo at the contracted rate and therefore made a reduced claim for pumping time basis the ASDEM Pumping Performance equation.
Demurrage, as a means to compensate the shipowner for delays to his or her Vessel, is clearly defined within the majority of voyage charters. Not so clearly defined is the payment of detention or how long a Charterer is able to leave a Vessel on demurrage prior to incurring detention. In the below, we will examine the payment of detention while reviewing a couple of examples of the historical precedent (there are many) which work to form the industry’s current perception of detention. Finally, we will review contemporary boilerplates, which, in reacting to the historical precedent attempt to protect the Charterer (and hinder the Shipowner) by defining detention in terms of demurrage.
