Charter Party Contracts Training Course

Participants can identify the architecture and intended use of common charter party forms.

• BIMCO SUPPLYTIME 2017 structure for offshore support vessel employment
• NYPE 2015 provisions for dry cargo time chartering
• Shelltime 4 allocation of tanker employment responsibilities
• Reading printed clauses, rider clauses and typed amendments together
• Priority clauses resolving conflicts between standard wording and amendments
• Building a contract map from definitions through dispute resolution

Participants can verify contracting parties, authority and binding pre-contract communications.

• Identifying legal entities, registered owners, disponent owners and charterers
• Authority checks for brokers, agents, signatories and contract administrators
• Fixture recaps as evidence of commercially agreed charter terms
• Subject clauses and conditions precedent before contractual commitment
• Recording qualifications, assumptions and unresolved negotiation points
• Document control for recaps, emails, specifications and final execution

Participants can assess vessel capability commitments and delivery obligations.

• Vessel particulars, class, flag, certification and statutory compliance
• Describing deck capacity, crane capability, accommodation and dynamic positioning
• Delivery windows, cancelling dates and consequences of late readiness
• Condition surveys, acceptance criteria and mobilisation readiness documentation
• Performance warranties linked to speed, consumption and operational capability
• Allocating risks from inaccurate vessel descriptions and tender information

Participants can administer payment provisions and identify contractual payment risks.

• Daily hire calculations, payment periods, currencies and invoicing requirements
• Freight calculation methods under voyage charter party arrangements
• Interest provisions, payment default and contractual withdrawal rights
• Bunker advances, disbursements and reimbursable operating expenses
• Audit trails supporting invoices, deductions, credits and disputed amounts
• Preparing a payment-control schedule from charter party deadlines

Participants can allocate bunker responsibilities and manage fuel-related claims.

• Bunker supply obligations under time charter and offshore vessel forms
• Fuel specifications, sampling protocols and contamination evidence requirements
• Consumption warranties, weather allowances and performance calculation methods
• Bunker delivery notes, quantity disputes and remaining-on-board calculations
• IMO sulphur requirements and contractual compliance allocation
• Drafting bunker clauses for pricing, quality, redelivery and disputes

Participants can determine who controls vessel employment and issue valid operational instructions.

• Charterer employment orders within owner navigation and safety responsibilities
• Master's authority to refuse unsafe, unlawful or impracticable instructions
• Operational instructions for ports, cargoes, projects and standby locations
• Documenting order changes, confirmations and resulting cost consequences
• Managing conflicts between client schedules and vessel operational limitations
• Establishing an instruction log for charter party administration

Participants can assess safe-port obligations and manage associated contractual exposure.

• Safe port warranties and the test for prospective safety
• Berth, terminal and anchorage risks affecting vessel access
• Weather, tide, draft and under-keel clearance operational constraints
• Port information, notices to mariners and local agent reports
• Master's protest letters when port conditions create unacceptable risks
• Allocating consequences of delay caused by unsafe port conditions

Participants can manage contractual responsibilities for cargo and offshore service operations.

• Cargo descriptions, dangerous goods declarations and documentation requirements
• Loading, stowage, lashing and discharge responsibility allocation
• Deck cargo limits, lifting plans and offshore installation interfaces
• Supply base operations, manifests and backload documentation controls
• Indemnities for cargo damage, pollution and handling incidents
• Aligning charter terms with project procedures and marine warranties

Participants can create a structured review pack for an assigned charter party.

• Clause matrix linking obligations, risks, notices and supporting evidence
• Red-flag review of contradictory rider clauses and undefined terms
• Risk register scoring commercial, operational and legal exposures
• Notice calendar for delivery, payment, performance and termination events
• Responsibility matrix assigning owners, charterers, agents and project teams
• Initial negotiation brief identifying priorities, fallbacks and approval limits

Participants can assess maintenance and performance obligations during charter service.

• Seaworthiness duties, due diligence standards and continuing maintenance obligations
• Class maintenance, certification lapses and statutory operational restrictions
• Speed and consumption warranties under specified weather conditions
• Performance claims using noon reports, weather data and routing evidence
• Technical breakdowns, planned maintenance and substitute vessel arrangements
• Preserving evidence before alleging deficient vessel performance

Participants can determine off-hire entitlement and calculate service interruption consequences.

• Off-hire triggers arising from deficiency, breakdown, detention and damage
• Causation tests connecting qualifying events with loss of service
• Concurrent causes, partial performance and disputed off-hire periods
• Calculating off-hire using contractual periods, deductions and supporting records
• Notice requirements for breakdowns, repairs and return-to-service confirmation
• Comparing SUPPLYTIME off-hire wording with negotiated rider provisions

Participants can assess delay events, weather exposure and force majeure claims.

• Weather downtime clauses and agreed definitions of adverse conditions
• Force majeure elements: event, prevention, notice and mitigation
• Distinguishing weather risk from vessel deficiency and operational delay
• Port congestion, strikes and governmental restraint allocation
• Contemporaneous records supporting delay analysis and time-bar compliance
• Drafting force majeure notices with reservations of contractual rights

Participants can analyse liability allocation and insurance requirements under charter parties.

• Knock-for-knock indemnity regimes in offshore support vessel contracts
• Consequential loss exclusions and exceptions for payment obligations
• Pollution liabilities, wreck removal and environmental response responsibilities
• P&I, hull, war risk and charterers' liability insurance
• Additional insured provisions, waivers of subrogation and contractual indemnities
• Checking insurance certificates against charter party risk allocation

Participants can control contract changes, extensions and vessel redelivery obligations.

• Variation mechanisms for scope, rates, mobilisation and vessel substitutions
• Written amendment requirements and authority to approve commercial changes
• Extension options, notice periods and revised rate negotiations
• Redelivery ranges, location requirements and condition obligations
• Bunker reconciliation and final account procedures at redelivery
• Closing documentation for demobilisation, releases and outstanding claims

Participants can manage default events and select proportionate contractual remedies.

• Owner and charterer default events under standard charter party forms
• Withdrawal rights for non-payment of hire and cure notices
• Suspension rights, repudiatory breach and election of remedies
• Termination notices stating contractual grounds and effective dates
• Mitigation duties following early termination or vessel withdrawal
• Preserving claims while maintaining essential operational continuity

Participants can prepare claim files supported by timely notices and operational evidence.

• Notice validity: recipient, timing, delivery method and required content
• Reservation-of-rights letters protecting unresolved contractual positions
• Claim chronologies connecting events, clauses, notices and financial impact
• Evidence bundles using logs, reports, emails, invoices and photographs
• Quantum calculations for hire deductions, delay and repair costs
• Without-prejudice correspondence and settlement communication boundaries

Participants can negotiate rider clauses while protecting critical commercial positions.

• Clause-by-clause negotiation planning using risk, value and fallback positions
• Identifying hidden amendments within definitions, exceptions and cross-references
• Drafting clear operational clauses without conflicting standard-form provisions
• Trading rate concessions against risk allocation and service commitments
• Escalation protocols for legal, insurance, technical and commercial approvals
• Negotiation records capturing agreed wording, rejected positions and assumptions

Participants can select and prepare appropriate routes for resolving charter party disputes.

• Early dispute triage using contractual position, evidence and commercial value
• Commercial negotiation strategies for preserving operational relationships
• Mediation preparation, authority limits and settlement term documentation
• Arbitration clauses covering seat, rules, appointment and governing law
• London Maritime Arbitrators Association procedures and written submissions
• Lessons-learned reviews converting disputes into contract-control improvements

Participants can build, review and present a complete charter party contract-management and claims administration pack.

• Reviewing a complete charter party, recap, riders and vessel specification
• Producing a clause matrix with obligations, risks and ownership
• Completing notice calendars, evidence plans and operational control registers
• Assessing hire, off-hire, delay and indemnity claim scenarios
• Presenting negotiation recommendations, amendment wording and escalation decisions
• Peer review against contractual facts, records and commercial priorities