Independent arbitrator and mediator, Peter McQueen, writes:
Can a shipowner make a claim against a charterer for damages, in addition to a claim for demurrage? Yes, says the English Commercial Court.
A recent decision relates to a question of long-standing uncertainty which has divided opinion for many years, namely whether a shipowner can claim both demurrage and damages where the only breach of contract by the charterer is the failure to load/discharge the vessel within the laytime allowed.
On the one hand, it has been considered that a shipowner may recover both if it can prove a separate type of loss, that is a loss unrelated to the use of the vessel.
On the other hand, it has been considered that a shipowner must prove both a separate type of loss and a separate breach of contract, that is one other than the charterer’s failure to load/discharge the vessel within the laytime.
