Introduction

4.1 The date at which the vessel will arrive at the loading port or place1 and be ready to load is a matter of considerable importance to the charterer or shipper, who needs to know as soon and as accurately as possible when he must have the cargo ready to load, and who may well suffer loss if shipment is delayed. The owner, on the other hand, is usually unable to predict precisely when the vessel’s existing engagements will be completed or what conditions will be encountered on any intervening voyage, and it is in his interests to reserve as much latitude as possible to himself regarding the date when the vessel must be ready to load. It is, therefore, almost unknown for a charter to contain a contractual promise on the owner’s part, for breach of which he would be liable in damages, that the vessel will be ready to load by or on a specified date. Instead, voyage charters customarily seek to regulate the competing interests of owner and charterer by a combination of some of all of the following provisions: