I have written couple of articles regarding charter party bills of lading so far on my website such as What is a charter party bill of lading?, Is it possible to submit a charter party bill of lading instead of a marine bill of lading under a letter of credit payment? and Who can sign a charter party bill of lading as per UCP 600?.
Today I would like to explain time charter party contracts.
Time charter party is a type of charter party contract, which is used in maritime industry when chartering bulk cargo vessels for a specific period of time.
Other charter party contract types are known as bareboat charter and voyage charter.
What is a time charter party?
A time charter party can be defined as a legal contract, which is signed between the shipowner and charterer, that defines the roles and responsibilities of the parties of the time charter.
What are the key concepts of time charter party contracts?
Under time charter party agreements, charterers are hiring of vessels for a specific period of time from the shipowners.
Shipowner can be the registered or legal owner of the vessel or a disponent owner who is a bareboat charterer or a time charterer.
For the period of the time charter, shipowner remains responsible for Technical Operation of the vessel, whereas the charterer is benefited from Commercial Management and Operation of the vessel.
In order to get the commercial management of the ship, the time charterer pays for all fuel the vessel consumes, port charges, and a daily hire to the shipowner of the vessel during the time charter period.
The shipowner will be responsible of the cost associated with crewing, maintenance of the vessel and insurance.
What are the rights of charterers under time charter party contracts?
What are the rights of charterers under time charter party contracts?
Under time charter party contracts, shipowners promise to operate the vessel within specified trading limits and excluding specified cargoes as ordered by the charterer, for a defined period in exchange for the payment of time charter hire (a specified amount, usually per day and payable monthly or semi-monthly in advance) and for bunkers used by the ship.
What are the standard contracts that can be used in time charter parties
- Baltime 1939 (revised 2001)
- Bimchemtime 2005
- Boxtime 2004
- BPTime 3
- Gastime
- Gentime
- NYPE 93
- Supplytime 2005
- WINDTIME
