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CHARTER PARTIES

Standard Forms

A distinction must be made between the standard forms of charter parties which are recognized officially by national or international organizations such as the BIMCO and the Chamber of Shipping, London, and other forms, which are not recognized officially but are nevertheless regularly used.

The official charter parties have come into being because in former days, the different provisions in the charter parties, have frequently given rise for a lot of arguments. Several international groups of Ship Owners have tried to get round these difficulties by issuing uniform charter parties for specific types of goods and routes. These groups such as BIMCO have examined a number of existing charter parties and after approval, recommended them to their members (or as a worldwide service). In certain cases they have drawn up and issued charter parties themselves.

Recommended charter parties offer numerous advantages:

- they are used commonly;
- they are suited for several traffics and are everywhere available;
- their wording is nearly watertight and they are generally accepted by the courts;
- they are without any doubt fair to both parties.

The different types of recommendations, which are printed in the heading of each charter party are: Agreed - Adopted - Recommended and Approved, and can be defined as follows:
(These different form of recommendations have been taken over from: Forms of Approved Document published by BIMCO.)

"Agreed". The charter has been agreed between BIMCO (or the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom) or Comité Central des Armateurs de France or other associa­tions of Ship Owners) with one or more groups of charterers or other institutions (for instance, the Polish Coal Charter Committee, the Timber Trade Federation of the United Kingdom, the Syndicat National du Commerce Exterieur de Céréales, Paris or CMEA, Moscow).

The printed conditions of an "Agreed" charter must not be altered or deleted without the express approval of all the organizations who have agreed the charter. An "Agreed" document is compulsory for the trade for which it is intended.

Examples of “Agreed” charter parties:

1. The Baltic and International Maritime Council Coal Voyage Charter 1971 (Revised May 1997. Code name: POLCOALVOY
2. The Baltic and International Maritime Council Scandinavian Voyage Charter 1956. (To be used for fixtures with Scandinavian Charterers for trades for which no other approved form specially drafted for the trade in question is in force). Code name: SCANCON.
3. The Baltic an International Maritime Conference Standard Ore Charter Party. Agreed with Malmexport AB, Stockholm and Rohstoffhandel G.m.b.H. Düsseldorf. Code Name: OREVOY.
4. The Baltic and International Maritime Council Baltic Wood Charter Party 1973 (Revised 1997). Baltic and North Sea –with the exception of Russian ports – to the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Agreed with: The Swedish Wood Exporters Association; The Finish Forest Industries Federation; The Timber Trade Federation. Code name: NUBALTWOOD.

"Adopted". If a charter "Agreed" in that way following negotiations between, for instance, BIMCO and one or more groups representing charterers is officially sup­ported by another association of Ship Owners, for instance, the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom, it is stated that the Chamber of Shipping of the U.K. has "Adopted the charter; or on the other hand, if BIMCO wants to support one or the other charter negotiated and "Agreed" between the Chamber of Shipping of the U.K. and one or more groups of charterers, then it is stated that the charter has been "Adopted" by BIMCO.
Moreover, a document issued by an organization of Ship Owners, for instance, INTERTAN­KO, for use in a special trade without having actually been "Agreed" with any particular group of charterers, may be "Adopted" by BIMCO.

An "Adopted" document is compulsory for the members of the organization who have adopted it if it is an "Agreed" document.

Examples of “Adopted” charter parties:

1. The Documentary Committee of the Japan Shipping Exchange, Inc. Coal Charter Party. Adopted by the Documentary Council of the Baltic and International Maritime Conference (BIMCO), Copenhagen. Code name: NIPPONCOAL.
2. Gas Voyage Charter Party to be used for Liquid Gas except LNG. Adopted by the Documentary Committee of the Chamber of Shipping of the United Kingdom. Code name: GASVOY (Box Layout).
3. The Baltic and International Maritime Conference Standard Ore Charter Party. Adopted by the Documentary Committee of the General Council of British Shipping, London and The Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA), London. Code name: OREVOY.
4. The Baltic and International Maritime Conference Uniform Time Charter Party for Vessels Carrying Chemicals in Bulk. Adopted by the Documentary Committee of INTERTANKO, Oslo and the Documentary Committee of the General Council of British Shipping, London. Code name: BIMCHEMTIME
5. Uniform Time Charter Party for Offshore Service Vessels. Adopted by International Support Vessel Owner’s Association (ISOA), London. Code name: SUPPLYTIME 89.
6. BIMCO Time Charter Party for Offshore Service Vessels. Adopted by International Support Vessel Owner’s Association (ISOA), London. Code name: SUPPLYTIME 2005.
7. Continent Grain Charterparty. Adopted Paris1957 du Syndicat National du Commerce Extérieur des Céréales. Amended 1960, 1974, 1990 and 2000in agreement with Comité Central des Armateurs de France, in corporation with the Chambre Arbitrale Maritime de Paris and the French Chartering and S. & P. Brokers’ Association. Code name: SYNACOMEX 2000.

"Recommended". When there has been no proper group or groups of charterers with whom to negotiate a particular charter, for instance, the "Gencon" Charter, it is issued as a "Recommended" charter.
The same is the case if the parties with whom a certain charter has been negotiated will not be able to bind their members to use the charter as a clean document. This is the position, for instance for the "Norgrain" Charter and the "Nuvoy" Charter.
Whereas BIMCO naturally wishes the printed text of a "Recommended" charter to be followed by charterers and Ship Owners, there is no compulsion in this respect.

The charter party is recommended without any obligation of the members. With a "Recommended" charter party the printed text may be altered or deleted.
Examples of Recommended charter parties:

1. The Americanized Welsh Coal Charter. Recommended by The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), The Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA). Code name: AMWELSH 93.
2. North American Fertilizer Charter Party 1978/88. Recommended by The Documentary Council of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Copenhagen. Code name: FERTIVOY 88.
3. Recommended. The Baltic and International Maritime Council Uniform General Charter (as revised 1922,1976 and 1994) – (To be used for trades for which no specially approved form is in force). Code name: GENCON.
4. Universal Voyage Charter Party 1984. (Revised Voyage  Charter Party 1964). Recommended by the Documentary Council of the Baltic and International Maritime Conference, Copenhagen and the Documentary Committee of the General Council of British Shipping, London. Code name: NUVOY-84.
5. Australian Wheat Charter 1990. Recommended by The Documentary Committee of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Copenhagen. Code name: AUSTWHEAT 1990 (amended 1991).
6. North American Grain Charterparty 1973. Recommended by The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and The Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA). Code name: NORGRAIN 89 (Amended May 1989.
7. Time Charter. New York Produce Exchange Form. Recommended by The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) and The Federation of National Associations of Ship Brokers and Agents (FONASBA). Code name: NYPE 83.
8. Hydrocharter Voyage Charter Party (amended 1975 and 1997). Recommended by The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Copenhagen. Code name: HYDROCHARTER.

"Approved". This is the expression used for charters - whether "Agreed", "Adopted" or "Recommended".

Examples of  Approved charter parties:

1. United Nations World Food Programme Voyage Charter Party. Approved by The Documentary Committee of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), Copenhagen. Code name:WORLDFOOD 99.
2. Continent Grain Charterparty. Approved by The Documentary Committee of the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO). Code name: SYNACOMEX 2000.

"Issued". A form of charterparty for the establishment of which it might be said that BIMCO is responsible, is referred to as "issued" by BIMCO.

"Copyright". In several charterparties printed during recent years it has been shown that the copyright is held by "X", usually the party which has issued the document. This has been done in order to discourage sundry parties from printing copies without having proper authority and possibly in such copies deviating from the "official" wording.
* (From 1975: the General Council of British Shipping).

So-called private charter parties are used in traffics for which the volume of transport is relatively limited. It is desirable that the wording of charter parties, which do not belong to the standard charter parties are closely examined before proceeding to their acceptance, so that no misunderstanding would arise with respect to the correct interpretation of less clearly drawn up clauses.

The use of standard charter parties is usually made compulsory by the P&I Associations to restrict the chance of disagreements, resulting from different interpretations of unclear clauses to minimum.

Below, the list of the main recommended charter parties is given, with their code name and the organization which publishes them.

VOYAGE FORMS

GENERAL PURPOSE

GRAIN

FERTILIZERS

COAL

ORE

WOOD

CRUDE OIL & PRODUCTS

GAS

CHEMICALS

TIME FORMS

DRY CARGO

TANKER

BAREBOAT