A charterparty https://fortiorlaw.com/news/dogovory-frahtovanija-chartery-i-ih-vidy/ is a contract in which a shipowner leases an entire vessel or parts of its cargo space (e.g., part of a deck) to a charterer to transport cargo for payment.
This article outlines the main types of charterparties.
Time Charter In a time charter, a shipowner leases a vessel along with a master and crew for a specified period, as detailed in the charterparty. The shipowner covers crew wages, provisions, insurance, and vessel maintenance, while the charterer is responsible for fuel and port charges. The charterer must pay hire for the vessel's use but is not obligated to pay for periods when the vessel is unusable due to accidents, strikes, or bad weather—these are termed off-hire periods. The charterer decides the commercial use of the vessel, such as destinations, cargo, and subletting, although there are restrictions on sailing geography and cargo type.
A specific type of time charter is a trip charter, which is for a short duration to transport a specific cargo along a predetermined route, like 10,000 mt of wheat from London to New York. Standard pro formas for time charters include BALTIME 2001, NYPE 93, 2015, and SHELLTIME 4.
Bareboat Charter Under a bareboat charter (or "demise charter"), the shipowner leases the vessel without a crew, leaving the charterer to manage all operations, such as hiring a master and crew, provisioning, maintenance, and paying operating costs. The legal liabilities differ between charter types: if a master discharges cargo without original bills of lading, the liable party is the charterer under a bareboat charter and the shipowner under a time charter, as the latter hires the master. Standard pro forma bareboat charters include BARECON 2001 and 2017.
Voyage Charter A voyage charter involves hiring a vessel or part of its cargo space to transport specific cargo along an agreed route. The charterer pays the shipowner freight for the cargo carriage, which can be a lump sum or based on the cargo amount (e.g., $50 per ton). The shipowner covers the remaining costs. Voyage charters can also be for consecutive voyages, where the same conditions apply for repeated trips.
Slot Charter Used in container shipping, a slot charter allows the charterer to lease cargo space (slots) on the vessel for carrying containers. It combines elements of voyage and time charters by leasing part of the vessel on a long-term basis.
In shipping, vessels can be sublet multiple times, raising questions about the shipowner's identity. Key terms include:
- Head Charterer: The first charterer who hires the vessel directly from the registered owner. Subsequent charterers are simply called charterers.
- Shipowners: Can be either the registered owner or the disponent owner.
- Registered Owner: The company to which the vessel is legally registered.
- Disponent Owner: The company that has control over the vessel, which can be a bareboat, time, or voyage charterer.
