[Dict] Laytime issues with your vsl in the Baltic Sea

[Yavor Doganov]

Oleg / Yavor

I feel rather disappointed after our last conversation.  When I'm giving
you my advice or opinion I believe that I'm doing the right thing, to
the best of my knowledge.  This time it's in your favour, but not
because I consider you a friend, just because this is a fact.  I would
immediately tell you when you're wrong and I have done so many times in
the past (in fact I can hardly recall another time when you, as
Charterers, were right).  Consider the last words in the brackets as a
joke, but a joke that is extremely close to reality.

Perhaps it's a good idea to explain your Owners that the shipping
business is not purely a "way of making money" -- that's secondary and
if this is the only purpose of that Shipping Company, then I sincerely
take pity on them.  It would be very nice if they educate themselves
about the ethical commitments in our business and about certain rules
and principles that have been adopted centuries ago.  The mere fact that
they have a large fleet of Handymaxes does NOT mean that they're always
right, not at all.  Their negotiating skills are also under question; if
they believe they're right let them prove it instead of endlessly
repeating their opinion without a single argument.  Losing money usually
hurts, I understand this, but such disputes are not solved on the
principle "The party who can bear the loss with less pain is guilty".

What follows is an attempt to prove my point, feel free to forward part
or all of it to them, if you find it suitable.

Extract from "A Handy Book for Shipowners and Masters" by H.Holman,
Sixteenth Edition, 1979:

,------- Chapter "LAYTIME":  "Weather Working Day" ----
|        A "weather working day" is "a working day that is not 
| unavailable to work because of weather" (Reardon Smith Line v.
| Ministry of Agriculture, etc., 1963).
|
|        Whether or not a day is a "weather working day" depends on the
| character of the day and not on whether work was actually interfered
| with (Compania Naviera Azuero v. British Oil and Cake Mills Ltd., 
| 1957). If the weather was not suitable for loading (or discharging) 
| the particular cargo in question, it does not count even though no 
| cargo would have been loaded had the weather been fine, e.g. because 
| no cargo was available for shipment or the vessel was still waiting 
| for a berth. This is because "weather working day" are not words of 
| exception but words that define the only kind of time that may count.
| On the other hand the provision "any time lost through work being 
| impossible owing to bad weather is not to count as laytime" is an 
| exception, so the charterer must prove not only that the weather was 
| unsuitable but also that, if it had been suitable, loading would have
| taken place (Burnett S.S. Co. v. Danube & Black Sea Shipping Agencies,
| 1933).
`------------------------------------------------------

* * * 

Please pay attention to the first few sentences of the second paragraph.
If the vessel is chartered on the condition "Loading rate 4,000 mts PWWD
SHINC" this is not an exception but words that define the only time that
may count.  In this case, as I told you by phone, bad weather that
results in no loading (or no berthing in your case) clearly does *not*
count, regardless of the fact that if the weather had been suitable no
berthing would occur because of the pier being occupied.  I believe this
is the case under question so my advice is valid.  [Certainly if the
vessel is already on demurrage when this event occurs, the time lost
counts as time on demurrage, but this is because of the "Once on
demurrage, always on demurrage" presumption as per English Law.]

If the vessel is chartered on the condition "Loading rate 4,000 mts
SHINC" (without "PWWD") and in the Laytime clause there is an exception
"any time lost due to bad weather not to count as laytime", then the
Owners have the right to claim and the time lost should count as laytime
(provided that you cannot prove that you would berth the vessel if
pilotage/berthing was allowed by the Port Authorities).

Hope that helps and you'll manage to clear out all groundless
accusations.

-- 
Best regards / SSC Varna | E-mail: office at southway-varna.com
Yavor Doganov            | Mobile: +359 88 7517748 
Southway Shipping Consultancy Ltd.-Gibraltar, Varna Branch
Ph: +359 52 600129, 600130, 603643 | Fax: +359 52 603612