Demurrage On Voyage Charter

In the international sale of goods, it is almost certain that the question of carriage of goods has tobe involved in. It is carriage of goods by sea that is most widely used, bears the biggest volume andcosts less compared with other ways. Contracts of carriage of goods by sea consist of liner and a voyagecharter party. In spite of the fact that carriage of container has been developing rapidly, a voyage charteris still most frequently used with regard to bulk commodity. Because of the characteristics in itself, avoyage charter brings problems very different from other ways of carriage of goods. Among all theproblems, demurrage is the most important. As for demurrage, autonomy of will is the principle ofinternational convention and maritime law of the P.R.C. The paper takes demurrage as the study target,does specific research on the characteristics and features of demurrage and puts forward myselfopinions on how to protect the buyer’s and seller’s benefits and make them to a maximum.The chapter one of this paper elaborates on the concept and characteristics of both the voyagecharter party and demurrage and makes an analysis on the cause of demurrage.The chapter two makes an analysis of laytime which is most closely associated with demurrageand gives an established case. And the writer introduces the theory of arrived ship and readiness whichdecides when to begin laytime. What time is to be counted in laytime and relevant cases is to be foundin this chapter.The chapter three is about the writer’s opinion on how to avoid demurrage in a voyage charterparty. The writer’s opinion is as follows:1. fix laytime;2. an indemnity code in a sale contract to fixlaytime and settle demurrage;3. an independent code in a sale contract to fix laytime and settledemurrage;4. to include in a sale contract a favorable provision about notice of readiness;5. to avoidlaytime terms in GENCON as possible as you can.The chapter four mainly focuses on the warranty and settlement of demurrage. The writer analysesthis in two aspects. One is the warranty and settlement of demurrage at a loading port in an f.o.b.contract, the other is the warranty and settlement of demurrage at unloading port in a c.i.f. contract.The chapter five gives suggestions to the charterers on how to avoid demurrage.