NAUTICAL LOG

What is an experienced boater? As the national boating season approaches NAUTICAL LOG will try, once again, to save a boaters life. For most of you now is the time when you start de-winterizing (is that a real word?) your boat. Without doubt you will clean, polish, paint, varnish, overhaul the engine, winches, check standing rigging, examine the running rigging, anchor gear, blocks, bilges, docklines, sails, charts, tide/current tables, the galley (beer in fridge is optional, remember BUI ), all safety equipment such as lifejackets, flares, radios, foul-weather gear, depth sounder, shoes and sealing wax. All to be 'Shipshape and Bristol fashion' and ready to head for the yacht clubs and marinas. Splendid, well done, hard work pays off and things look really great. Now there how about yourself, - excuse me I am in good shape, up to speed on things, been boating for years - I'm an experienced boater. Oh! dear those fatal words, - I'm an experienced boater. Fellow seafa...

This is NOT one of those urban Internet tales but from a report on fires and their sources. Some of you may know that the last years of my career were spent as a cruise ship Safety and Security Officer. Once ashore I was a STCW instructor and also taught firefighting, some of my students were active firefighters gaining an understanding of shipboard fire sources and on board firefighting. As a result NAUTICAL LOG recieves, on occasions, copies of reports such as the one received this morning on house fires and sources. SOURCE; An Investigator for a property insurance company was trying to pinpoint the cause of a serious house fire that completly destroyed the home. After sifting through the ashes for several hours he developed some ideas and placed the source in the master bathroom. Sitting down with the homeowners he asked them if they used and had possibly left plugged in the usual things, curling irons, blow dryer or electric shaver. The answers were negative as he expected since t...

Voyage Charter: A contract (C/P) for hire of the use of a vessel to make a specific voyage between two identified terminal ports. The vessel will be carrying cargo or passengers for and on behalf of the Charterer's. The Charterer's pay for the the use of the ship either on the basis of a lump sum or in the case of cargo at a 'Freight Rate'. This freight rate is so much per tonne carried and delivered. This would not be the form of charter normally used in the business of yacht chartering. Time Charter: A contract (C/P) for the hire of the use of a vessel for a specified period of time and can take one of two basic forms, * Basic Time Charter * Demise or Bareboat Charter The Basic Time Charter; An agreement between the owner of a vessel, or if allowed the disponent owner, and a charterer who wishes to use the vessel for his own purposes without being responsible for the operation of neither the vessel or its day-to-day management. Throughout the period of the charter the...

It is not necessary for charters to be in writing to be enforceable in Law. Given their relatively complex nature it is advisable for such agreements to be in writing. This avoids misunderstandings and provides clear evidence of the terms of the contract (C/P). To assist commercial people negotiate charters, various standard forms of agreement are available which parties can use. These can then be modified as necessary to suit particular arrangements. However it is important to remember that the terms of any such written agreement can subsequently be varied by the conduct of the parties. The Parties or their Authorized Agents may expressly agree to a variation or such a variation may be implied from their behaviour. This is an area which can easily lead to Arbitration or even the Civil Courts so it is best to be very clear about it. The Master of a vessel has the Owner's authority to vary charters. This is done by agreeing to or acquiescing without protest, to the Charterer's r...

Here's whats coming up in the Posts ahead on Marine Chartering, + Employment of Ship-Chartering Practice, an Overview + Voyage Charters + Time Charters + Demise or Bareboat Charters Many Charter Parties (C/P's) allow trading with certain express exclusions of countries or places of increased risk. While this can change due to the 'winds of war' or political events there is a pretty standard list. Countries and places often excluded are, Angola Cuba Ethiopia Israel Kampuchea Burma/Myanmar Lebanon Libya Namibia North Korea Orinoco Persian/ Arabian Gulf Somalia South Africa Syria Vietnam * South China Sea, certain islands due to conflicting sovereignty claims * Horn of Africa, due highly active piracy Masters must therefore clarify, prior to the C/P signing, these possible exclusions due ever changing geopolitics. They must be clearly agreed too and stated in the C/P. Remember it is not necessary for charters to be in writing to be enforceable in Law. There are further p...

It has come to the attention of NAUTICAL LOG that many seafarers and particularly recreational boaters are not knowledgeable about Chartering. For recreational boaters who rent boats or might even be considering a yacht charter vacation either locally or to some exotic locale, this is not good. It is most important to have background knowledge and be able to go through a contract, that is a Charter Party , and have a basic idea what it is about and what to look out for in it. So what to do? NAUTICAL LOG has decided to write a series of Posts about Marine Chartering which we hope will be helpful. The series is based on personal experience at sea as Master and Chief Officer of chartered cargo ships/freighters, bulk carriers and container ships. In addition at one time we taught International Maritime Law to sea-going officers for a United Kingdom 'Certificate of Equivalency' and the Posts are edited from our lecture notes. We hope you find it useful but please remember it is, I...

On April 28, 1947 the rather tired looking Peruvian Navy tug "Guardian Rios" towed an extraordinary looking object out of Callao Harbour, Peru. A closer inspection showed it was a collection of balsa logs lashed together with ropes made of jungle fibre. On top sat a straw hut and just forward of it was a single pole mast to which was fitted a simple square sail rolled up. A long steering pole aft projected well astern and this whole contraption looked extremely crude and ready to fall apart. Some six Europeans stood on deck checking everything and looking concerned at the tugs progress. Some 50 nautical miles later out in the Humboldt Current after some signalling, only one of the Europeans spoke Spanish, the tug cast off the raft as it turned out the contraption was. So finally the sail was lowered to show a large face and the Kon-tiki Ekspedisjonen was now underway. The voyage so well known needs nothing further from NAUTICAL LOG, and of course a book was written, in Nor...