London Maritime Arbitration

AN ARBITRATION is usually described as a maritime arbitration if in some way it involves a ship. Most commonly, disputes will be referred under a charterparty. This may be for the hire of a ship for a period of time (a time charter), or the contract may simply be one for a voyage (a voyage charter) under which freight is paid, and in which there are provisions as to the amount of time (laytime) allowed to the charterer for loading and discharging, and liquidated damages (demurrage) to be paid if those times are exceeded. One thread which, not surprisingly, runs through most shipping disputes is that of time; as with detention during a voyage or during loading or discharging, or for repairs following an accident. Some years ago, as the law reports show, disputes most commonly arose under voyage charters, often concerning the calculation of laytime. Now, because time charters have come into common use for everyday business, the majority of cases concern that form of charter. Very often the off-hire provisions are under consideration.

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