Carriage of Goods by Sea
There are two main types of contract which are in wide use when we speak about transportation of goods by sea: a charterparty contract and a bill of lading contract. Speaking of bill of lading contract, however, one shall bear in mind that in some cases the bill of lading can be no more than a receipt for goods loaded on board, in some it may serve as an evidence to the charterparty contract and, finally, it imposes contractual obligations for safe custody of the cargo on the carrier before the person taking delivery of the goods. For more information on bills of lading follow this link.
Charterparty, in its turn, is a contract concluded between the shipowner and the charterer with the purpose to employ an entire vessel or some principal part of her for a voyage or series of voyages or for a period of time (see Caffin v Aldridge [1895] 2 QB 366; [1895] 2 QB 648 for discussion on hiring of entire capacity of ship) . Bill of lading contract, in its turn, is a contract for the carriage of goods.
Moreover, unlike the bills of lading, the charterparties are not subject to both mandatory application of the Hague and the Hague-Visby Rules and to statutory obligations contained in the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992. Thus a charterparty is a contract which is negotiated in a free market where bargaining strength of the parties is highly dependent on the factor of supply and demand and governed by the ordinary law of contract. There are three main categories of charterparty:
1. a voyage charterparty whereby the vessel is chartered for a specified voyage;
2. a time charterparty whereby the vessel is chartered for a specified period of time;
3. a charterparty by demise whereby the vessel is leased to the charterer.
Every contract of affreightment whether charterparty or bill of lading is negotiated against a background of custom and commercial usage and in addition to the express clauses agreed by the parties also consist of implied obligations, i.e. obligations which are automatically incorporated into the contract in the absence of agreement to the contrary.
There are several main implied obligations imposed by law on the owner:
1. Undertaking to provide seaworthy ship
2. Obligation to perform the voyage with reasonable dispatch
3. Obligation not to deviate from agreed route
And on the charterer:
1. Obligation to nominated safe port
2. Obligation not to ship dangerous goods
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