Differentiate between Voyage Charter and Time Charter of a vessel.

Underline the changes in responsibilities and the scope of activities for a Chief Engineer in each case. Ans. A charter is a contract for the hire of a vessel for carriage of goods/cargo for a specific voyage or series of voyages(voyage charter) or for specified period of time)time charter)
Nature of a voyage charter:A voyage charter is a contract for the carriage of a specified quantity of cargo by a named vessel between named ports or certain range of ports. Under the voyage charter, the ship owner agrees to present the named vessel for loading at agreed place or port within an agreed period of time, & following loading will carry the cargo and deliver it to the agreed place. The charterer on the other hand agrees to provide specified quantity of agreed cargo & to pay the agreed freight. In effect the charterer hires the cargo capacity of the vessel and not the entire vessel. Nature of a time charter:A time charter is a contract for the hire of a named ship for a specified period of time. The hire period may be the duration of one voyage(trip time charter) or anything up to several years(period time charter). Under the time charter, the ship owner is responsible for vessels running expenses such as manning, repairs, maintenance, stores, spares, crews wages, hull & machinery insurance etc. In short, the ship owner operates the vessel technically but not commercially. The charterers on the other hand, remain responsible for commercial employment of the vessel, bunker fuel purchase & insurance, port and canal dues, pilotage and all cargo handling arrangements and costs. The time charterers normally provide the master with all instructions and sailing directions. Charter Party clauses specific to voyage charter:Freight:- This clause specifies the freight rate, how the freight will be calculated, when it must be paid etc. Freight is the remuneration payable by the charterers to the owners for the performance of the contract. In voyage charter , freight is paid on the cargo carried & is directly proportional to the volume of the cargo carried. At times dead-freight may be payable to the owners by the charterers. It is not a genuine freight, but owners compensation for lost freight payable by the charterers on a quantity of cargo short-shipped, i.e. a quantity which charterer agreed but failed to supply. Loading & Discharging costs clause:- This clause allocates the responsibility for the costs of cargo handling. The responsibility for cargo handling can be of the charterers which is termed as FIO, or it can be the owners responsibility.

Provisions regulating the rate of loading & discharging:- This clause covers demurrage & despatch claims. Demurrage is an agreed amount payable to the owner in respect to the delay beyond the laytime, for which owners are not responsible. Despatch:- if the cargo operations are completed before expiry of laytime, a monetary reward is normally payable by the owners to the charterer. Despatch is defined as an agreed amount payable by the owners if the vessel completes loading or discharging before the laytime has expired. Preamble:- This clause identifies parties to the contract, specifies the identity of the vessel(name, flag, cargo capacity, class etc.) Charter Party clauses specific to time charter:Hire:- This clause specifies the charterers obligation to pay hire at the specified rate, until redelivery. In case of time charter, the hire paid is dependent on the period of hire. The volume of the cargo carried has no relation to the charter hire & is directly proportional to the period of the charter. Cargo handling:- In time charters, the responsibility of cargo handling lies on the charterers. The time charterers normally appoint stevedores for cargo handling Charterers to provide:- This clause specifies the obligation of the charterer to pay for port charges, pilotage, canal dues, tug assistance etc. Bunkers:- Under time charter, the charterers provide the bunkers to the vessel. This clause obliges the charterer to buy the bunkers r.o.b. at the time of delivery, obliges the owners to buy back the bunkers r.o.b. at the time of re-delivery. It specifies the minimum quantity of bunkers to remain on board at re-delivery. Owners to provide:- Obliges the owners to pay for running expenses like wages, provisions, stores, insurance, repairs and surveys, etc. Preamble:- This clause identifies the parties to the contract. Identifies the vessel(name, flag, ownership, class, tonnages, horsepower etc.) Speed and fuel consumption are given in the charter party in function of determined weather conditions.(e.g. in good weather and smooth waters.) and are always (about) allowing a certain margin. Speed and fuel consumption are vitally important for determining whether the vessel is performing the contract efficiently. Charterers provide the master with all voyage instructions & sailing directions. Vessels deck and engine room log books are to be kept available for charterers inspection. Off-hire clause:- This clause provides that no hire will be paid for any time in excess of the stated no. of hours, if the vessel goes out of service due to machinery breakdown, shortage of stores, dry docking etc. The scope of activities of a Chief Engineer & his responsibilities on a ship under voyage charter:o Initially when the ship has to be presented to the charterers, i.e. in an on-hire survey the C/E should pay attention to the general condition of vessels machinery & machinery spaces. Cargo gear should be working satisfactorily

o During the ship under voyage charter, the C/E should always make sure that the vessel is seaworthy at all times in respect of the vessels machinery. o A reasonable & careful inspection of all the machineries on board should be done by the C/E before commencement of a voyage. o If cargo handling responsibility lies with the ship owner, than C/E should ensure that vessels cargo gears are properly maintained & in working condition. The cargo gears include deck cranes for a bulk carrier & COPs in case of a tanker The scope of activities of a chief engineer & his responsibilities on a time chartered vessel: At the time of on-hire survey, the C/E should accurately calculate the bunkers r.o.b. so that there is not any discrepancy in the bunker quantity. Since the charterers provide bunkers to the vessel, C/E should always calculate the quantity of bunkers at all times. The vessels speed & fuel oil consumption are dictated by the charterers, the C/E should make every effort to oblige the charterers demands in respect to the speed of the vessel and fuel oil consumption; e.g. charterers may want the vessel to proceed with economical speed or stipulated full speed etc. Such things should be clearly taken in to account. A particular attention is to be paid to main propulsion machinery & any equipment which is important for full operation of the vessel, so as to minimize/reduce the breakdown, so that the vessel is kept operational for the charterers use, reducing the downtime required for maintenance, during which the vessel remains off-hire. The C/E should keep engine room log books available and accessible for charterers or their agents.