Loading and discharging operations from ship to shore are in many ways a joint operation between the owner/manager of a vessel and those who charter it. Whilst the crew notionally oversee the operations, the Local stevedores appointed by charterers/shippers agents conduct the operations in line with local custom.

Many charterparty forms seek to define in very rigid terms which of the parties i.e. owners or charterers are ultimately responsible for the overall loading and discharge operations and any problems which arise from it.

A recent London arbitration decision, LMLN 12/08 has examined the extent to which a charterer (or more specifically a charterer's local agents) can or cannot make a difference to the terms dealing with overall responsibility. In time charterparties, it is usually the case that the full responsibility for loading and discharging operations fall on the charterers. The master/crew are given a supervisory role.

The facts of the recent decision were as follows:

  1. The vessel was chartered for a trip between various ports in South America for the carriage of cargo onto the Far East.
  2. A consignment of steel pipes had been loaded in tweendeck No.1 in South America
  3. After the steel pipes were loaded, the master signed two certificates given to him by the shipper's agents. The certificates certified that the cargo had been loaded/secured in accordance with the stowage plan.
  4. In addition, it stated that loading has been under the master's "approval/supervision" and that no damage to the cargo or the vessel had been caused during loading.
  5. After loading, the shipper's surveyor then produced a report stating that the cargo had been adequately secured, as per "the custom of the trade".
  6. He gave the master a loss prevention letter, which basically recommended daily inspections of the cargo (in the tweendeck) with a request to adjust any slack on the lashings.

The vessel sailed to China, but the pipes in tweendeck no.1 started shifting. The vessel was then forced to stop and re-stow the pipes. The owners claimed the lost time from the charterer as a result of this incident. The charterers indicated that they thought the time lost had been caused by the master not following the recommendations in the loss prevention letter.

In this particular case, the charterparty had included a standard clause. Which required the Master to be under the orders and directions of the charterers, who are to load, tally, stow, lash, secure, dunnage the cargo at their expense under the supervision of the Master. The off-hire clauses in the charter provided that in the event of any loss of time as a result of default of crew members, the payment of hire was to cease.

The owners said that there was clear breach of the clause by the charterers, who had failed to load and lash the pipes securely but the charterers disagreed. They claimed that the master's signature on the two load port certificates basically prevented the owners relying upon the standard wording. As an alternative agreement, the charterers said that the owner's had failed to prevent a failure of the stow, because they should have adjusted the lashings on the tweendeck, in line with the loss prevention letter.

The London arbitrators concluded that the charterers were in fact in breach of the standard clause and the load port documentation which they had issued made no difference to that underlying position. They concluded that the actual cause of the collapse of the stow was because of the gaps in it and the lack of wedges. The loss prevention letter did not add to the obligations owed by the owners. Essentially this is because it would have been an unusual step for the crew to have opened the hatches at tweendeck No.1 at sea to secure the lashings.

On the facts of this particular case, the arbitrators decision was made easier by the fact that the collapse of the stow was the lack of wedges. If the wedges had been in place but the stow had still moved, their decision might have been a more difficult one.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.