Vapur Donatanları ve Acenteleri Derneğinden yapılan açıklamada;


"Üyesi bulunduğumuz FONASBA’ dan aldığımız 12 Eylül 2013 tarihli e-posta mesajında; FONASBA Başkanı’ nında içinde bulunduğu BIMCO ve FONASBA çalışma grubu tarafından Charter Party’ lerdeki LAYTIME tanımları üzerinde yapılan yorum çalışmalarının tamamlandığı ve değişikliklerin BIMCO’ nun Mayıs ayında Paris’ te yapılan toplantısında kabul edildiği ve geçen hafta da yayınlandığı bildirilerek yazıları ekinde gerek FONASBA’ nın gerekse BIMCO’ nun konu ile ilgili basın açıklamaları ve güncellenen kuralları yer almıştır."


denildi. 


İlgili basın duyurusu şöyle:


Significant update to laytime definitions


Uncertainties in laytime definitions currently used in charter parties have been addressed in the latest Laytime Definitions of Charter Parties 2013. Created by a shipping industry working group consisting of BIMCO, the Baltic Exchange, Comitė Maritime International (CMI) and the Federation of National Associations of Shipbrokers and Agents (FONASBA), the new document sets out statements of meaning of words and phrases commonly used in the context of laytime and reflects contemporary market understanding based on the current state of English law.


Separate meanings have been given to the different formulations of phrases such as “Weather Working” day, new definitions included covering “Always Accessible” and “Whether in Port or Not” while a number of other provisions have been updated or clarified. The move is a significant one as it reinstates the original 1980 concept of definitions and reflects developments in case law and changes in commercial practice. The definitions were last updated as the Voyage Charter Party Laytime Interpretation Rules (Voylayrules) in 1993.


Copies of the Laytime Definitions of Charter Parties 2013 together with explanatory notes are freely available from the chartering section of www.bimco.org.


Chairman of the Working Group, Jean-Pierre Laffaye (BIMCO) said:


“These provisions bring much needed clarity to the shipping markets and iron out a good deal of uncertainty. In a tough market, the amount of time a vessel spends unloading or loading cargo is under great scrutiny and it is therefore vital that imprecise laytime definitions and subtleties of interpretation do not provide grounds for expensive legal disputes when an interpretation is tested in the courts.”


Similar sentiments were echoed by Mrs Marygrace Collins (FONASBA) and Baltic Exchange director Colm Nolan. On behalf of CMI, Stig Gregersen commented that the new Definitions represented an important step forward in helping to remove some of the legal uncertainty associated with this area of the law.


The Baltic Exchange will be incorporating the new definitions into its code of conduct, the Baltic Code and definitions are now available for incorporation into charter parties or used as an agreed reference during dispute resolution. They can also be used as an educational resource.


Background information on the members of the working group at provided overleaf. 


List of Definitions

 

1. PORT has been amended to reflect the wider concept of port area explained in The Johanna


Oldendorff (1973) with reference now made to “places outside the legal, fiscal or 2


administrative area”. The term “offshore facilities” has been added to the illustrative, but non-exhaustive, list of cargo handling areas.


BERTH consistent with the amendment to PORT, the restrictive reference to “place within a port” has been replaced by an open-ended list of cargo handling locations.


REACHABLE ON ARRIVAL this term has been the subject of considerable litigation over the years. The revised text is based on the current position that delay due to bad weather or congestion or both is a breach of charterers’ obligations. The potentially disputatious qualification “in the absence of an abnormal occurrence”, included in Voylayrules, has been deleted.


ALWAYS ACCESSIBLE the provision has been treated by the authorities as synonymous with “Reachable on Arrival” in the context of getting into a berth but the position on departure has been less clear. The term has therefore been set out separately with the second sentence covering the position on departure requiring charterers to enable the vessel to leave safely and without delay.


LAYTIME this is unchanged.


PER HATCH PER DAY and


PER WORKING HATCH PER DAY or PER WORKABLE HATCH PER DAY


Laytime counting by reference to hatch calculations continues to be used, albeit to a limited extent, in some parts of the world. The provisions have been retained unchanged.


DAY in contrast to Definitions No 9 and 10, an unqualified DAY is now described as a period of twenty-four consecutive hours.


CALENDAR DAY is new and covers a period of twenty-four consecutive hours running from 0000 to 2400 hours.


CONVENTIONAL DAY is new and has been included in recognition of the fact that a period of twenty-four hours in relation to laytime counting is likely to start at any point during a Calendar Day.


WORKING DAY the meaning has been brought into line with English law.


RUNNING DAYS or CONSECUTIVE DAYS the provision is unchanged.


RUNNING HOURS or CONSECUTIVE HOURS this is new and reflects practical usage, particularly in tanker charter parties.


HOLIDAY this is the (unchanged) mirror image of Definition No 11 WORKING DAY.


15-18 WEATHER WORKING in contrast to the single provision in Voylayrules covering three alternative forms of Weather Working provisions, separate meanings have been restored in line with English law decisions.


WEATHER WORKING DAY deductions for bad weather are calculated by reference to the length an interruption during a vessel’s normal (or notional if waiting on turn) working hours bears to a period of 24 hours. Thus, a two hour stoppage during an eight hour working day is pro-rated to six hours (or four hours in the case of a twelve hour working day) and the time then added to the end of laytime. No deductions are made for rain occurring outside normal working hours.


WEATHER WORKING DAY OF 24 CONSECUTIVE HOURS the actual duration of an interruption for bad weather at any time on a working day during or outside normal working hours and including periods on turn, is added to the end of laytime.


WEATHER WORKING DAY OF 24 HOURS this is an artificial day made up of twenty-four working hours. An eight hour working day is equal to three calendar days’ laytime but with laytime suspended for stoppages due to bad weather in working hours or in working hours when work was contemplated.


(WORKING DAY) WEATHER PERMITTING this has the same meaning and interpretation as Definition No 16 Weather Working Day of 24 Consecutive Hours.


EXCEPTED or EXCLUDED the content is unchanged


UNLESS SOONER COMMENCED has the effect of bringing forward the commencement of


laytime if work begins prior to the contractual start of laytime.


UNLESS SOONER COMMENCED, IN WHICH CASE ACTUAL TIME USED TO COUNT the commencement of laytime remains in accordance with charter party provisions but time actually used in any prior period will count against laytime.


UNLESS USED time used during excepted periods is set against laytime.


TO AVERAGE LAYTIME the provision is unchanged.


REVERSIBLE LAYTIME the provision is unchanged. Reversibility applies between loading ports and discharging ports but not between loading ports or between discharging ports.


NOTICE OF READINESS this is unchanged.


TIME LOST WAITING FOR BERTH TO COUNT AS LOADING OR DISCHARGING TIME or AS LAYTIME the basis is unchanged in principle, subject to minor editorial improvements. Where a vessel is unable to berth but cannot tender Notice of Readiness at a waiting place, time lost will count against laytime or, on expiry, as demurrage. Once a berth is available, laytime or demurrage ceases to count until the vessel is at a place where Notice of Readiness can be given and resumes in accordance with charter party provisions.


WHETHER IN BERTH OR NOT (WIBON) or BERTH OR NO BERTH relates to delays due to congestion (but not on account of weather). A change has been made. Under Voylayrules, laytime or demurrage ceased once a berth became available and would not resume until the vessel was at the berth. This meant that the owner would have to bear the risk of any intervening delay, even if not otherwise contractually responsible. An adjustment has therefore been made so that time will always run in accordance with the underlying charter party provisions.


WHETHER IN PORT OR NOT (WIPON) this is new. It will enable an owner to give Notice of Readiness from any recognised waiting place “off the Port” if unable to proceed to the usual waiting place.


VESSEL BEING IN FREE PRATIQUE has been amended to address the position in Voylayrules potentially restricting time counting arrangements and possibly conflicting with underlying charter party terms. The content has been streamlined with the reference to


Custom House entry removed as formalities vary considerably from one state to another. The provision now relates only to compliance with port health requirements.


DEMURRAGE in order to avoid conflict with the position in many charter parties, the Voylayrules provision that “Demurrage shall not be subject to laytime exceptions” has been qualified by “unless specifically stated in the Charter Party”.


DESPATCH MONEY or DESPATCH this is unchanged.


DESPATCH ON ALL WORKING TIME SAVED or ON ALL LAYTIME SAVED this is unchanged.


DESPATCH ON ALL TIME SAVED this is unchanged. 


 


 

Editör: TE Bilişim