Voyage Charters
Page 979
Chapter 41
Pumping In and Out
| 10. PUMPING IN AND OUT. The cargo shall be pumped into the Vessel at the expense, risk and peril of the Charterer, and shall be pumped out of the Vessel at the expense of the Vessel, but at the risk and peril of the Vessel only so far as the Vessel’s permanent hose connections, where delivery of the cargo shall be taken by the Charterer or its consignee. If required by Charterer, Vessel after discharging is to clear shore pipe lines of cargo by pumping water through them and time consumed for this purpose shall apply against allowed laytime. The Vessel shall supply her pumps and the necessary power for discharging in all ports, as well as necessary hands. However, should the Vessel be prevented from supplying such power by reason of regulations prohibiting fires on board, the Charterer or consignee shall supply, at its expense, all power necessary for discharging as well as loading, but the Owner shall pay for power supplied to the Vessel for other purposes. If cargo is loaded from lighters, the Vessel shall furnish steam at Charterer’s expense for pumping cargo into its Vessel, if requested by the Charterer, providing the Vessel has facilities for generating steam and is permitted to have fires on board. All overtime of officers and crew incurred in loading and/or discharging shall be for account of the Vessel. |
Pumping in
41.1 Although clause 10 provides that pumping in is entirely at the risk and expense of the charterer (contrast the slightly different provisions with regard to pumping out) this does not absolve the owner from liability for loss or contamination of cargo on board caused by defects in the ship or her equipment or by faulty operation of the ship’s equipment during loading, for which the owner would otherwise be responsible, nor does it absolve the owner from responsibility for proper distribution of the cargo in the ship’s tanks.1 41.2 The charterer is responsible for the speed at which the cargo is loaded and the Asbatankvoy charter, unlike the STB Voy, contains no provisions relating to the rate at which the vessel is capable of loading cargo, or the number of grades which can be loaded simultaneously. In view of the speed at which many terminals can load vessels, and the fact that it is usual to allow only 72 hours for loading and discharging, additional clauses specifying a minimum loading rate are sometimes inserted.Pumping out
41.3 Except where prevented by port regulations, the ship must supply power for the entire discharging operation, but risk passes at the vessel’s permanent hose connections.2 The AsbatankvoyPage 980
A ship was chartered to carry 7,000 tons of fuel oil, to be loaded and discharged in 168 running hours. The charter provided that owners would heat the cargo on the passage in accordance with shipper’s instructions, which were to the effect that the cargo was to be at 130/140°F on arrival at the discharge port. About 11 days were occupied in discharging, the cause of slow discharge being (1) that the cargo was cooler than 130°F on arrival, (2) that a minimum temperature of 130°F was not maintained during discharge and (3) that the vessel’s pipes were not of sufficient diameter. The owners claimed demurrage.