ABSTRACT
Time is of the essence in voyage charterparties, both for shipowners who wish to conclude new charters and for cargo interests who are eager to sell commodities at the best market price. The SYNACOMEX charter is a berth charter, meaning that normally, the master tenders notice of readiness (NOR) once the vessel has berthed. Indeed, the completion of the carrying voyage is deemed to occur when the vessel has reached the berth and is ready to start the unloading operations on the terminal. From an insider perspective in Paris, disputes about voyage charterparties are addressed with the same attention to contractual provisions and with the same interest for relevant evidence as in London. As the NOR was held to be invalid, the arbitrators found that laytime did start to run at the moment when the unloading operations did actually start, and that the whole waiting period was to be taken into account in calculating damages for detention.
