Delivery taking inward pilot - vessel waiting for pilot
Overview
Enquiry: The vessel has been fixed for a time charter trip basis delivery TIP with laydays/cancelling 2/7 September. Vessel arrived off the port 7 September but despite master's efforts pilot did not board and master is given to understand that the cargo is not ready and that the port is congested. Owners maintain that vessel is on hire since her arrival at the pilot station whereas time charterers hold the view that vessel is on hire only as from taking inward pilot. Reply: The stipulation "TIP" should, in principle, be avoided, partly so as to avoid time charterers' attempts to manipulate commencement of hire by seeking to saddle owners with the consequences of congestion and partly so as to prevent that owners have to absorb the waiting time which may be incurred if there is no congestion but weather conditions prevent the pilot from embarking on vessel's arrival in the area where pilots usually embark. This said, stipulations like "taking inward pilot" should serve to determine point and time of delivery and not as a means of passing on to owners delays due to congestion or if port authorities prohibit berthing of the vessel because cargo is not ready, i.e. hindrances at a place beyond the point of delivery. These matters must be considered as a consequence of the commercial operation of the vessel which falls within charterers' sphere of risks. This is supported by the decision reached in a London arbitration award rendered in 1980, a summary of which appeared in Lloyd's Maritime Law Newsletter No.23 of 18 S...
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Posted:
02 June 2016
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