A charterparty is a contract https://fortiorlaw.com/news/dogovory-frahtovanija-chartery-i-ih-vidy/ by which a shipowner leases a vessel or parts of its cargo space (e.g., part of a deck) to a charterer for the transportation of cargo in exchange for payment.

This article explores the main types of charterparties.

Time Charter In a time charter, a shipowner leases a vessel along with its master and crew for a specified period as defined in the charterparty. The shipowner is responsible for paying crew wages, providing provisions, securing insurance, and performing vessel maintenance. The charterer covers fuel and port charges. The charterer pays hire for the use of the vessel but is not required to pay during periods when the vessel cannot carry cargo due to accidents, strikes, or adverse weather conditions—these periods are called off-hire. The charterer determines the vessel’s commercial operations, including routes, cargo, and subletting, although these decisions are subject to geographical and cargo type restrictions.

A special type of time charter is a trip charter, which covers a short duration to transport a specific cargo along a specific route, such as 10,000 mt of wheat from London to New York. Standard time charter forms include BALTIME 2001, NYPE 93, 2015, and SHELLTIME 4.

Bareboat Charter A bareboat charter, or demise charter, involves leasing a vessel without a crew. The charterer handles all aspects of operations, such as hiring a master and crew, supplying provisions, maintaining the vessel, and covering operating costs. Legal liabilities differ based on the charter type: if a master discharges cargo without the original bills of lading, the liable party is the charterer in a bareboat charter since they hired the master, while in a time charter, the shipowner is liable as they hired the master. Standard bareboat charter forms include BARECON 2001 and 2017.

Voyage Charter A voyage charter is an agreement to hire a vessel or part of its cargo space to transport specific cargo along a predetermined route. The charterer pays the shipowner freight for the cargo transportation, which can be a fixed amount (lump sum) or based on the cargo weight (e.g., $50 per ton). The shipowner covers the remaining costs. Voyage charters can also be arranged for consecutive voyages, with the same conditions applying to repeated trips.

Slot Charter Slot charters are common in container shipping. In a slot charter, the charterer leases cargo space (slots) on a vessel to transport containers. This type of charter combines aspects of voyage and time charters by leasing part of the vessel on a long-term basis.

In practice, vessels can be sublet multiple times, leading to questions about the shipowner’s identity. Key terms include:

• Head Charterer: The initial charterer who leases the vessel directly from the registered owner. Subsequent charterers are known as charterers.
• Shipowners: Can be either the registered owner or the disponent owner.
• Registered Owner: The company to which the vessel is legally registered.
• Disponent Owner: The company that controls the vessel, which can be a bareboat, time, or voyage charterer.