Tunnel2Funnel

CHARTER PARTY :-        It is a written, or partly written partly printed contract between a ship owner and a charterer, by which a ship is let or hired for the conveyance of goods on a specified voyage or for a definite period.It defines the obligations, rights and liabilities of ship owner and charterer. It usually comprises a set of standard clause on a printed form with additional typed Rider clauses appended if the standard clauses fail to cover all aspect of parties agreement. It  may have many amendments, c alled  Side clauses   to the standard clauses, as agreed by parties. It may have sensitive clauses in an addendum and/ or side letter. Side letters are not so important as addenda. Addenda is not written in printed charter party. Charter parties are often drawn up by brokers acting for charterer and are based on an evolved, standardized form. LAY TIME:-                  It is defined in voy...

OFF HIRE CLAUSE:-        It appears most in time charter. There is generally a printed clause applying to special circumstances. The purpose of Off Hire clause is to relieve the charterer of having to pay hire in circumstances where use of the ship is compromised and without any need to prove breach of charter by the owner. However not all off hire clause are equal and sometime it is the circumstances of the charterer rather than the ship that decide if such apply. A classic off hire clause is clause 15 of 1946 NYPE time charter. This provides that " .... in the event of loss of time from deficiency of men or store, fire, breakdown or damage to hull. machinery or equipment, grounding, detention by average accidents to ship or cargo, dry docking for the purpose of examination or painting bottom, or by any other cause preventing the full working of vessel, the payment of hire shall cease for the time thereby lost, and if upon the voyage the speed be reduced by defec...

Four step process for capital acquisition like ship acquisition are:- 1) PLANNING:- Planning is the most important thing to do for any project. It is thinking, about the future and the action laid down in advance. Planning is the design of a desired future and of effective ways of bringing it about. Planning -- a) Set a mission and goal                   b) assess the environment                   c) Appraise company's capability                   d) Craft the strategies                   e) Implement the strategies                   f) Evaluate and control the strategies 2) DESIGN:- The second major phase in ship acquisition is design. The design has various meaning but with reference to the ship acquisition it basically means, preparing engineering dra...

 If a ship is operating in heavy seas following are the course of actions which should be taken:- 1) FREQUENTLY SOUND ALL HOLD BILGES:-                If a ship is operating in heavy seas, there is more likelihood of structural damage to the hull, hatch covers, ventilators, etc. due to green seas. This could allow water ingress into the hold and there will be an increase in mean draft. In addition, if the center of buoyancy of the intact volume after bilging does not lie in the same transverse plane as the center of gravity, there will a change in trim. And if the bilge space is asymmetrical with respect to center line of the ship, the ship will heel till the center of buoyancy of the intact waterline volume lies in the same fore and aft plane as the center of gravity. If the metacentric height GM in the flooded condition becomes negative, the resulting moment will cause the vessel to heel to the angle of loll, even though the bilged ...

BACKGROUND:- The ILO was established as an agency of the league of nations following the treaty of Versailles which ended world war 1. It was established in 1919. In 1919 a pioneering generation of scholar, social policy experts and politicians designed an unprecedented international organizational framework for labor politics. The core members all knew one another from earlier private, professional and ideological network, in which they exchanged knowledge, experiences and ideas as social policy. Prewar, International association for labor legislation (IALL) and political networks such as The socialist Second International were a decisive factor in the institutionalization of international labor politics. In the post world war 1 euphoria, the idea of make able society was an important catalyst behind the social engineering of the ILO architects. GOVERNANCE:- The international labor office in Geneva is the permanent secretariat of ILO. Administration...

NEW INSPECTION REGIME NIR of Paris MOU has entered into force on 1st January 2011. with introduction of NIR, Paris MOU  will change its target of inspecting 25% of individual ships calling at each member state to a shared commitment for full coverage of inspecting all ships visiting ports and anchorages in the region. Information collection was started from 17 june 2009. Features of NIR :- 1) SHIP RISK PROFILE :- SRP is based on following factors using details of ship inspection in Paris MOU in last 36 months.   GENERIC FACTOR                                                                           HISTORICAL FACTOR --- Type of ship                                           ...

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES:- Three fundamental requirements of BMP are:- 1) Register at MSCHOA( Maritime security centre – Horn of Africa).----- It is a planning and co-ordination centre for EU naval forces. It encourages companies to register their vessel movement prior to entering high risk area including IRTC (International recommended transit corridor). This may be done directly online by Ship’s operator by fax or by e-mail. 2) Report to UKMTO ( UK maritime trade operation). ----- It’s office is in Dubai and it is the first point of contact for ships in the region. The day to day interface between masters and naval forces is provided by UKMTO. It talks with merchant ships and liaises directly with MSCHOA and naval commanders at sea and ashore. Vessel are strongly encouraged to report daily to the UKMTO by e-mail at 0800 hrs GMT whilst operating within high risk area. Vessel position reporting form – Daily position report should be used. 3) Implement SPMs (Ship protection...

OFFICIAL LOG BOOK:-             Section 212 of MS act 1958 as amended, states an official log book shall be kept in the prescribed form in every Indian ship except a home trade ship of less than 200 GT.                 Section 214 of the above act states that the entries to be made in the official log book are as follows:- 1) Every conviction by a legal tribunal of a member of his crew for which it is intended to prosecute. 2) Every offence committed by a member of his crew for which it is intended to prosecute. 3) Every offence for which punishment is inflicted on board and the punishment inflicted. 4) A report on the quality of work of each member of his crew, or a statement that the master declines to give an opinion there on with a statement of his reasons for so declining. 5) Every case of illness, hurt or injury happening to a member of the crew with the nature there of and the medical treatment. 6...

ARTICLE OF AGREEMENT:- Article of agreement is the legal document agreed and signed between owner and or master or its agent  and the seaman who is being employed by the owner.               As per MS act 1958, The master of every Indian ship except a home trade ship of less than 200 GT, shall enter into a agreement with every seaman whom he engages, in, and carries to sea as one of his crew. An agreement with the crew shall be in the prescribed form and shall be signed by the owner or agent and the master before any seaman signs the same.                                 The agreement with the crew shall contain the following particulars:- 1) The name, of the ship on board which the seaman undertakes to serve. 2) Either the nature and, as far as practicable, the duration of the intended voyage, and the places or parts of the world, if any, to which the voyage or ...

FLAG OF CONVENIENCE:-             It is also known as "flag of necessity", "open registers" and "free flags". FOCs are designated by the ITF's 'fair practice committee' which decides which flags are FOCs and which are not. The criteria which makes a FOC are -- 1) Whether the country allows non citizens to own and control vessels. 2) Whether access to and transfer from the registry is easy. 3) Whether taxes on shipping income are low r non existent. 4) Whether the country of registration does not need the shipping tonnage for its own purposes but is keen to                earn the tonnage fees. 5) Whether manning by non-nationals is freely permitted. 6) Whether country lacks the power (or the willingness) to impose national or international regulations on the       ship owner using its flag.         In defining an FOC register, the ITF takes as the most important factor whe...

ANNUAL SURVEY:-               It is carried out 3 months before or after each anniversary date of completion, commissioning or special survey. Purpose of annual survey is to do the general inspection of items in relation to particular certificate. General inspections of items are done to determine if they are maintained in good condition so that they can fulfill the functional requirements for which they are installed on the vessel. INTERMEDIATE SURVEY:-               It is held halfway approximately between special surveys. The window period for intermediate survey is plus or minus 6 months. So, they are carried out on all ships, instead of either second or third annual survey. Ultrasonic thickness gauging is done to find out whether plates are within limit, where necessary surveyor attends gauging. The survey consists of general examination of hull,machinery equipment ,fire fighting equipment etc. and deta...

REGIONAL CO-OPERATION/AGREEMENT:-                    While national port state control alone will enhance the safety of ships and protection of marine environment, only a regional approach will ensure that substandard ships and operators have fewer places left to hide.         Unless a regional approach is adopted, operator will just divert the vessel to ports where less stringent inspections are conducted causing economical disadvantage to countries who conduct proper inspection. To remedy this and to generally improve the effectiveness of inspection, many regions of the world have already or are beginning to enter into regional agreements on PSC. Countries of same region come on common agreements called memorandum of understanding(MOU). It ensures proper exchange of information about ship,their record and the result of inspection carried out. This enables to  target only ships that have not been recently ins...

The traditional agent employed to move a ship is a propeller. The necessary propeller thrust, T, required to move the ship at speed V, is normally greater than the pertaining resistance Rt. The thrust of a propeller depends on its size, the angle of attack of its blades and the speed at which it spins. By convention, propellers are described by diameter and pitch in that order. The diameter of propeller is governed by its speed of rotation and the power of the engine rotating it. For example a 20 H.P. engine would drive a 14 inch propeller at about 1500 rpm. If the propeller had too  small surface area for the power provided it would over speed and cavitate at high revolution, providing little or no thrust. Pitch is dictated by the propeller’s speed of rotation, its percentage of slippage, and the speed required from ship.                                The diagram power vs shaft speed, the so cal...

CHARTERER'S LIABILITY TO DAMAGE OF HULL( CLH) :-              It is not a standard a P&I cover but can be obtained by charterer from their P&I or from their fixed premium underwriters. For example damage caused to the hull while loading, main engine breakdown due to bad quality fuel supplied by charterer etc. In these cases CLH cover will address the owner's claim for the damage to the vessel, hull, machinery and dry docking if required. CHARTERER'S LIABILITY TOWARDS CARGO CLAIM:-     As per NYPE agreement 1996, cargo claims are to be settled between owner and charterer, in accordance with inter club agreement. Depending upon what has caused the claim to rise, claims may be allocated 100% to either owner or charterer or a 50%-50% allocation. Example 1) Unseaworthiness of vessel -- 100% owner 2) Claims due to loading, stowage, lashing, discharge -- 100% charterer unless the word responsibility is added and master is responsible ...

If a ship is a tanker carrying a cargo of more than 2000 tons of persistent oil in bulk, then one has to make sure that they have a CLC ( International civil liability convention for oil pollution) certificate on board. The certificate is commonly known as oil pollution insurance or 'OPIC'. The certificate is issued by flag state. It is valid for a maximum period of 12 months. The period of validity is usually concurrent with the period of the insurance cover. If the insurer is P&I club, this will be normally from noon GMT on 20th february in one year to the same time and date in following year.         But US federal law requires vessels entering US navigable waters to carry a certificate of financial responsibility (COFR) as evidence of financial responsibility for oil pollution. It should be carried out by all ships of 300 GT and above. Under CLC 1992 all these liabilities are insured by the clubs, although with a limit in respect of oil pollution claims wh...

1) ENTITLEMENT  a) Ordering general average act:-             The general average act was usually ordered by the master or other crew member in authority of vessel. Now a days in USA and in UK even a third party like local port authority, provided that it is necessary for the common safety. It is usual practice today that the shipowners order the act, directly or through agents. b) Carrier's actionable fault precludes entitlement:-             A claimant is not entitled to obtain contribution from the other parties to the common venture simply because his sacrifice or expenditure falls within the terms of Rule A of the York-antwerp rules. Something more is required, the carrier must not have been at fault in law. In other words a carrier in not entitled to obtain contribution in general average from cargo, if the peril which necessitates the extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure arises as a result of his actionable f...

The principle of general average has been the subject of considerable dissatisfaction in recent years for six main reasons:- 1) Exoneration of carriers for faults of the crew--          Hague rules, Hague/Visby rules, York-antwerp rules say that carrier should be exempted from liability for their own negligence. However same rules say cargo owners/shippers are responsible for their faults and fault of their employees. This causes considerable ill feeling. 2) The interpretation rule--        The second complaint regarding general average arises from interpretation rule, which gives the numbered rules precedence over the lettered rules. 3) Emergence of marine insurance--        The third complain regarding general average has arisen because of the emergence of insurance and marine insurance, which has made general average redundant. In fact, because of the risk involved in general average, all parties now insure again...

P&I clubs are properly called 'protection and indemnity association'. These are the association of members shipowners and charterers owned and controlled by the insured shipowner or charterer member, for the purpose, basically, of mutual insurance against third party liabilities which arise in connection with the operation of ship. There are 13 members of the international group of P&I clubs ( and their 4 associate clubs) and a number of small independent clubs. P&I clubs are controlled by board of directors representing the shipowner members. Large claims are examined and approved by directors. Clubs are managed by firms of insurance experts, maritime lawyers and mariners operate on a non profit making basis. P&I club fund is contributed by its member shipowners. Each shipowner contribution is decided on the basis of 1) Tonnage 2) Types of ship 3) Experience of claim with the particular shipowner      The premiums paid by shipowners are also ref...

P&I COVER: - Shipowners take P&I cover to mainly protect themselves from 1/4th collision liability not covered by H&M policy and liability against 3rd party. P&I cover salient liabilities are:- 1) Cargo claims ( short delivery, loss or damage to cargo) 2) Crew claims ( medical expenses, repatriation etc.) 3) Collision liability ( 1/4th not covered under H&M) 4) Fixed and floating objects ( damage to docks, wharves, bouys) 5) Third party injury and death claims ( stevedores, passengers) 6) Oil pollution liability 7) Miscellaneous claims e.g. custom fines, immigration fines due to improper documentation. Exclusion for P&I cover are:- 1) ad-valorem bills of lading 2) Deviation 3) Delivery of cargo at a port other than that specified in charter party. 4) Failure to arrive or late arrival at the port of loading 5) delivery of cargo without production of a bill of lading 6) Ante dated or post dated bills of lading 7) Clean bills of lading i...

H&M POLICY:- These are usually time bound policies with a maximum period of 12 months. The items covered will be clearly stated in the clauses of policy. Any extra part covered will raise the insurance premium. LIABILITIES OF H&M POLICY ARE AGAINST FOLLOWING:- 1) Perils of the sea 2) Fire and explosion 3) Theft from outside 4) Jettison 5) Piracy 6) Earthquake, volcanic eruption, lightening 7) Accidents during loading and discharging 8) Machinery damage 9) Latent defect in machinery and hull 10) Negligence of master, officer and crew 11) 3/4th collision liability 12) Barratry of master, officer and crew EXCLUSION TO H&M COVER ARE:- 1) Loss of damage caused by willful misconduct or willful negligence of owner 2) Loss of freight due to delays 3) Loss due to wear and tear 4) War risk clause 5) Increased value, disbursement and excess liabilities are covered in separate policies designed to provide an additional source of recovery over and above H&M val...

BILL OF LADING:-  A bill of lading --- 1) is a receipt of goods either received(before shipment) or shipped on board. 2) is a good evidence of the existence and terms of a contract between the shipper and the carrier. However, bill of lading is not a true contract, since it is usually signed by only one of the parties. 3) is a document of title, signifying that the holder has the legal right to possession of the goods it describes.            It can be said that the bill of lading is a document issued by a carrier, acknowledging that specified goods have been received on board as cargo for conveyance to a named place for delivery to the consignee, who is usually identified. The term is derived from the noun "Bill", a schedule of cost for services supplied or to be supplied and from the verb "to lade" which means to load a cargo onto a ship or other form of transport. A typical bill of lading may contain the following:- 1) reference number 2) ...

It has long been recognized that the limitation on the drought to which a ship may be loaded makes a significant contribution to her safety. These limits are  given in the form of free board, which constitutes, besides external weather tight and water tight integrity, the main objective of convention. HISTORY:- The first recommendation about cargo loading limits based on free board were introduced by Lloyd's register in 1835. The free board was assigned as a function of the height of the cargo hold. It was 3 inch/ feet of the height of cargo hold.            In 1860's after increased loss of ships due to overloading a member of the British Parliament, Samual Plimsoll advocated the creation of legislation about load line.               It was 1930 that there was international agreement for universal application load line regulations and the load line convention was adopted.         ...

GENERAL AVERAGE ACT:-      General average act is defined in Rule A of   YORK ANTWERP RULE 1994 and 2004 as follows:-              There is a general average act when, and only when, any extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure is intentionally and reasonably made or incurred for the common safety, for the purpose of preserving from the peril, the property involved in a common maritime adventure.        Essential features of a general average act:- 1) There must be an extraordinary sacrifice or expenditure--    Examples are    a) cargo jettisoned to re float a grounded vessel   b) Machinery damage sustained during re floating operation    c) Cost of salvage operation including salvors' reward.   d) Cost of entering, staying at and leaving a port of refuge. 2) Sacrifice or expenditure must be intentionally made or incurred -- Sacrifice should be intentional ...