London Arbitration 2/12, LMLN
3 August 2012
The disputes in this arbitration related to claims for
deadfreight and despatch under a voyage charterparty for the
carriage of iron ore.
The background facts and the tribunal's
decision
Owners' claim for deadfreight
The cargo was defined in the charterparty as "46,000MT
MOLOO [More or Less at Owners' Option] 10% IRON ORE IN
BULK". It was further provided that "Chartrs
confirm min draught of 11.4m SWAD plus tide in the loading
port".
An owner is entitled to deadfreight if the charterer fails to
load the full amount of cargo which he has agreed to supply under
the terms of the charterparty. Here, the deadfreight claim arose
from the fact that when the vessel arrived, the maximum allowable
draught at the berth was 11.19 metres: less than the minimum
draught warranted by the charterers. Therefore, the vessel could
only load 46,000.787mt of iron ore. As the charterers had agreed
under the charterparty to load up to
