![]() ![]() The canceling date is the final layday and the date beyond which, if the chartered vessel has not been presented for loading, the charterers may not accept the ship and may cancel the charter. If the owner adopts the second of these choices it will then be open to the charterer to remedy his breach by exercising his contractual right by loading cargo or, if the vessel arrives after the cancelling date, to cancel the contract. ![]() However, it should be noted that if it can be shown that the vessel is unlikely or would not have reached the loading port by the cancelling date then, whilst technically in breach by cancelling prematurely, the charterer’s damages are likely to be nominal. It therefore follows that, if the charterer gives notice of cancellation before the cancelling date, the owner has a choice he may terminate the contract and, provided that he can show that the vessel would have reached the load port before the cancelling date, claim damages or he can continue on the voyage and tender the vessel for loading, in effect gambling that she will arrive before the cancelling date. If the charterer cancels the charter before the cancelling date, that is, he recognises that the vessel is unlikely to arrive before the cancelling date or suspects this to be the case, and therefore cancels prematurely, then the owner may terminate the contract, treating the charterer as in breach, and claim damages. This is the case even if the cancelling date has long passed. The shipowner cannot, where the cancelling date has passed, call upon the charterer to declare whether or not he will load the vessel. Unless the charterparty makes some special provision to deal with the situation, the charterer does not have to exercise his option to cancel until the ship has actually arrived. On the other hand, if the vessel arrives late for some reason for which the owners are not protected by one of the charterparty exception clauses then the charterer will be entitled to cancel the charterparty and also claim damages. Therefore, if the vessel arrives late through no fault of the owner, that is, she has suffered a breakdown whilst on the approach voyage which is excepted by the terms of the charter then the charterer will still be entitled to terminate the charterparty for late arrival of the vessel but will not be entitled to claim damages for the vessel’s late arrival. It is important that the owner knows how long the intended voyage will take, as the calculations are based on income per day, hence a delay may make the difference between a profitable or a loss-making voyage.Ĭharterparties contain a clause giving the charterer the right to cancel the charterparty if the ship does not arrive at the loading port in a ready to load condition by a stated time and date. This option arises whether or not the late arrival is due to breach by the owner. Shipowner calculates the cost of the proposed voyage by means of the voyage estimate and compares it to the anticipated freight to decide whether the voyage will be profitable. This would prove to be a useful option if the freight rates had fallen since the charter was fixed and if the charterer were therefore able to obtain a cheaper ship however, the converse is not necessarily the case: if a ship is late arriving and rates have risen in the interim and if the charterer confirms that the ship is still wanted, then the owner must proceed with the charter. If the ship arrives after the cancelling date (or often after 16:00 on the cancelling date), the charterer is at liberty to cancel the ship and find another vessel to carry his cargo. The charterer can refuse to load if the ship arrives before the first date, in fact the cargo may not be available. This means that the ship must arrive on or after 25th April and before 30th April. When dates are fixed the charterparty will state, for example, “lay/can 25/30th April”. The abbreviation ‘lay/can’ means that the ‘laydays start 25th April, cancelling date 30th April’. ![]()
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