1. Freight

   1. Deadfreight

2. Payment of Freight

2. Hire

1. Payment of Hire

2. Deductions from Hire

1.3The Off-Hire Clause

Lecture I. Shipping law. Charterparties: an introduction

1. Definition of the maritime law

2. Charterparty, types of charterparties

3. Standard forms of time charterparties

4. Definition of a ship

5. Ships crew

6. Ship registration

7. Ship document

8. Description of a vessel

1. Maritime law (also referred to as admiralty law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offences. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate the vessels in oceans. It deals with matters including marine commerce, marine navigation, marine salvaging, shipping, sailors and the transportation of passengers and goods by sea. Admiralty law also covers many commercial activities, although land based or occurring wholly on land, that are maritime in character.

Admiralty law is distinguished from the Law of the Sea, which is a body of public international law dealing with navigational rights, mineral rights, jurisdiction over coastal waters and international law governing relationships between nations.

Shipping Law is a area of maritime law that is concerned with ships and the individuals employed in or around them, as well as the shipment of goods by merchant vessels.

Shipping law is a complex body of customs, legislation, international treaties and court decisions dealing with the rights and responsibilities of ownership and operation of vessels that travel on the high seas. Most of the Commercial Law surrounding transportation of goods by ship involves contractual agreements between the shipowner and the party wishing to ship the goods. However, these agreements generally are based on long-standing customs and business practices peculiar to the shipping industry.

2. Charterparty, types of charterparties. The great majority of contracts governing the transportation of goods by ships made either by bills of lading or charterparties. The term charterparty is a corruption of the Latin carta partita, or "divided charter." It is used to describe three types of contracts dealing with the use of ships owned or controlled by others.

We can define a charterparty as an agreement between two parties regarding lease of a cargo or a vessel. One party offers to lease its vessel or cargo to another party at stipulated rate or under decided conditions. It is a legal contract, made under the laws governing the shipping world between a cargo vessel owner and a charterer.

Clauses for a different charterparties vary. It is these clauses that make different types of charterparties.

Depending on these clauses, the charterparties are:

Bareboat charterparty or demise charterparty

This is a typical agreement where there is no maintenance liability or any kind of claim on the vessel by the owner for the period of lease of the vessel. The owner agrees to lease the vessel without any administration, financial or technical responsibility for it. The charterer acts as the sole owner of the ship and is responsible for all the maintenance and functioning costs of the vessel including fuel, crew maintenance, repair, custom duties, port expenses etc. for that time. It is the most suitable for tankers and bulk carriers.