Shifting Cargo - Who Is Responsible?

Loading and discharging operations from ship to shore are in

many ways a joint operation between the owner/manager of a vessel

and those who charter it. Whilst the crew notionally oversee the

operations, the Local stevedores appointed by charterers/shippers

agents conduct the operations in line with local custom.

Many charterparty forms seek to define in very rigid terms which

of the parties i.e. owners or charterers are ultimately responsible

for the overall loading and discharge operations and any problems

which arise from it.

A recent London arbitration decision, LMLN 12/08 has examined

the extent to which a charterer (or more specifically a

charterer's local agents) can or cannot make a difference to

the terms dealing with overall responsibility. In time

charterparties, it is usually the case that the full responsibility

for loading and discharging operations fall on the charterers. The

master/crew are given a supervisory role.

The facts of the recent decision were as follows:

The vessel was chartered for a trip between various ports in

South America for the carriage of cargo onto the Far East.

A consignment of steel pipes had been loaded in tweendeck No.1

in South America

After the steel pipes were loaded, the master signed two

certificates given to him by the shipper's agents. The

certificates certified that the cargo had been loaded/secured in

accordance with the stowage plan.

In addition, it stated that loading has been under the

master's "approval/supervision" and that no damage to

the cargo or the vessel had been caused during loading.

After loading, the shipper's surveyor then produced a

report stating that the cargo had been adequately secured, as per

"the custom of the trade".

He gave the master a loss prevention letter, which basically

recommended daily inspections of the cargo (in the tweendeck) with

a request to adjust any slack on the lashings.

The vessel sailed to China, but the pipes in tweendeck no.1

started shifting. The vessel was then forced to stop and re-stow

the pipes. The owners claimed the lost time from the charterer as a

result of this incident. The charterers indicated that they thought

the time lost had been caused by the master not following the

recommendations in the loss prevention letter.

In this particular case, the charterparty had included a

standard clause. Which required the Master to be under the orders

and directions of the charterers, who are to load, tally, stow,

lash, secure, dunnage the cargo...