Voyage Charterparty
Laytime. Duty to procure the berth ‘reachable on arrival’ - The Delian Spirit [1971] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 506
The Angelos Lusis [1964] 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 28
The President Brand [1967] 2 Lloyd’s Rep 338
The Laura Prima [1982] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 1
The Delian Spirit [1971] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 506
Asbatankvoy
6. NOTICE OF READINESS.
Upon arrival at customary anchorage at each port of loading or discharge, the Master or his agent shall give the Charterer or his agent notice by letter, telegraph, wireless or telephone that the Vessel is ready to load or discharge cargo, berth or no berth, and laytime, as hereinafter provided, shall commence upon the expiration of six (6) hours after receipt of such notice, or upon the Vessel’s arrival in berth (i.e., finished mooring when at a sealoading or discharging terminal and all fast when loading or discharging alongside a wharf), whichever first occurs. However, where delay is caused to vessel getting into berth after giving notice of readiness for any reason over which Charterer has no control, such delay shall not count as used laytime.
The next startling attempt to exploit ‘reachable on arrival’ provision to the shipowner’s full advantage was made several years later in The Delian Spirit case. The Delian Spirit arrived at loading port of Tuapse and tendered NOR but was to anchor 1,5 miles away from the breakwater and wait there for 4.5 days due to congestion at the berth. The loading, however, was so fast that vessel used up only few hours in excess of 120 hours of laytime provided in the charterparty.
The shipowner’s original claim, therefore, was for several hours of demurrage. But inspired by the decision in The Angelos Lusis the shipowner reconsidered their position and instead of few hours of demurrage they claimed 4.5 days of detention, contending inter alia, that since sanitary free pratique was granted only at the berth, then NOR served from the roads was not valid and the vessel cannot be deemed as ‘arrived’ in the technical sense.
Such unusual efforts from shipowner’s side to invalidate a valid NOR, Sir Gordon Willmer, delivering his judgment in the Court of Appeal, called ‘the curious spectacle’. At first instance, Donaldson J held in the shipowners’ favour but fortunately for the charterers the Court of Appeal distinguished The Aello case and preferred to follow decision in Leonis Steamship Co Ltd v Rank Ltd [1908] 1 KB 499. Applying the classic test of Kennedy LJ , the court decided that The Delian Spirit met all requirements needed to become an ‘arrived ship’ when she anchored at roads of Tuapse, which position was the only place, apart from the loading berth, where the master could effectively place his ship at the disposal of the charterers. Therefore commencement of laytime prevented the owners from claiming additional damages for detention.
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