ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on type of contract which is employed in the context of contemporary trade, namely the Contract of Affreightment (COA). The COA usually identifies the loading and discharging ports or range and provides that the shipowner is to nominate either a named vessel or one satisfying an agreed description within the agreed shipment period and the Charterer is to make cargo available for that vessel in that shipment period. A particular area of interest concerns the assessment of damages in connection with COAs. This is often difficult because many of the contracts are 'bespoke'; for the major COAs it is often difficult to find an equivalent substitute ship; and there are issues which arise relating to the decision of the House of Lords in Golden Straight Corporation v Nippon Yusen Kubishka Kaisha.
