Measures Would be Taken by the Courts in Deciding whether to Trigger the Off-hire Clause

Abstract

In the scope of carriage of goods by sea, the central issue is the vessel. Obviously, the efficiency of the vessel is of utmost importance not only to the shipowner who render the vessel to earn hire but also the charterer who pay the hire in the purpose to utilize the vessel. Sometimes, the vessel might be out of order or cannot work efficiently. Therefore, there must be the collision of interests between the parties on whether paying the hire continuously in this situation. In other words, it is the problem of triggering off-hire clause in the charterparty. Though the standard forms, such as NYPE and Baltime form have the off-hire clause, however, the utilization of the clause is ambiguous according to different situation. Therefore, the critical challenge faced by the Court is how to trigger the off-hire clause more reasonable so that the interests of parties can be balanced.
Key words: On-hire; Off-hire; Seaworthiness