Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
LEGAL NOTES
CHARTER-PARTIES FACE LANGUAGE BARRIER
The “Norgrain” Charter-Party had shown the way to minimise disputes leading to litigation, particularly on the question of “arrived ships.”
Mr John Besman, vice-president of FONASBA, told about 140 delegates attending the Charter-Party Disputes Seminar organised in London at the beginning of April by Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., that lack of clear language in charter-parties was the root cause of disputes.
“One should not,” he said, “seek relief by expecting Court cases to be definitive, but start with the language of the charter-party itself’.
The particular case under discussion was that of The Johanna Oldendorff, the subject of a recent decision by the House of Lords.
An earlier speaker, Mr Donald Davies, had submitted that this decision did not go far enough in clarifying the divergence of judgments on this question and defining in legal terms the point of arrival.
Mr Michael Mustill, Q.C., had analysed the whole problem of “arrived ships”, describing the difficulties which could be associated with various types of port as they affect the “arrived ship” concept. Referring to a number of actual ports and a hypothetical oil port, he illustrated how the legal principles would be applied in relation to each port.
The speed and consumption warranties in time charter-parties were also examined. Mr Cedric Barclay looked at the various structural and mechanical factors which can cause ships to fail to maintain their warranted speed, while Mr Anthony Evans, Q.C., discussed the legal aspects of the warranties.
In this connection, Mr M. W. Slavin, of Ocean Routes, suggested that modern computerised methods of routeing ships to avoid heavy weather should be taken into account in rewording time charters.
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