Liability to Pay Demurrage under a Voyage Charterparty

Nowadays, in order to apportion the risk and to avoid the vessel's delay, most of the voyage charters include provisions, either explicit or tacit, which binding the charterers to carry out loading and discharging operation in a designated time limit (laytime), urge them,in case of delay,to pay the owners an agreed amount (ie. Demurrage).Though, liability for demurrage rests with the charterers, however, the charterer's liability to pay demurrage is subject to the various terms and conditions of the charter. Furthermore, possibility of issuing bill of lading and performance of cargo operations by third parties, may lead to exonerate the charterers and sometime direct the liability to third parties. This article, studying the different aspect of the issue, will explore the charterer's and third partie's liability to pay demurrage.