Charter party forms

Charter parties (CPs) are the underlying commercial contracts between shipowner and charterer for the use of a vessel. Standard-form CPs — developed and maintained by BIMCO, the Association of Ship Brokers & Agents, oil majors, and industry bodies — give the market a common contractual vocabulary. Almost every modern fixture is based on a standard form modified by additional clauses ("riders"). Understanding which form applies is essential context for any commercial + operational discussion.

Three principal charter types

Voyage charter. Charterer pays freight per tonne (or lumpsum) for a specific voyage between named ports. Owner remains in commercial + operational control. Suitable when a single cargo movement is required.
Time charter. Charterer pays hire per day for a specific period. Charterer directs the trading routes (subject to safe-port + safe-berth clauses) and pays bunker + port disbursements. Owner supplies + maintains vessel + crew.
Bareboat charter (demise charter). Charterer takes possession of the vessel + crews it + operates it + pays all costs; owner receives hire only. Effective ownership transfer for the charter period. Used in leasing structures + reflagging.

Standard forms — time charter

NYPE (New York Produce Exchange)

Origin 1913; current version NYPE 2015. Historically the dominant dry-cargo (bulk + container) time-charter form. Off-hire clause (Clause 15) is the litigation lightning rod: when the vessel is off-hire, hire stops running.

BALTIME

Historically the European dry-cargo time-charter form; less prescriptive than NYPE, more owner-friendly on some clauses. Now less widely used than NYPE.

SHELLTIME 4 + SHELLTIME 5

Oil-major-drafted crude and product tanker time-charter form. Widely used across the tanker market. Rider clauses often extend to sanctions + trade compliance + war risk.

BPTIME 3

BP-drafted tanker time-charter form. Similar market position to SHELLTIME. Some clause differences that specialist tanker chartering desks understand well.

Standard forms — voyage charter

GENCON 1994 / GENCON 2022

BIMCO-drafted general-cargo voyage form. Extremely widely used for dry-cargo voyage fixtures. GENCON 2022 is the current version with modernised sanctions + BIMCO Standard Clauses.

ASBATANKVOY

Association of Ship Brokers & Agents US tanker voyage-charter form. Predominant in US-charter tanker fixtures — particularly Aframax and Suezmax on the transatlantic + US-Gulf routes.

SHELLVOY 6

Shell-drafted tanker voyage form. Used on Shell-nominated tanker business. Widely referenced beyond direct Shell business.

Amwelsh + Norgrain + Baltcon + others

Trade-specific voyage forms: Amwelsh for Welsh coal (historical); Norgrain for North American grain; Baltcon for coal; PolCoalvoy for Polish coal. Each embeds trade-specific commercial conventions.

Standard forms — bareboat

BARECON 2017

BIMCO-drafted bareboat charter form. Part I contains commercial terms; Part II standard bareboat clauses; Part III applicable to specialty types (leaseback, hire-purchase).

BIMCO SmartCon library

BIMCO's current online SmartCon platform is the market reference for standard clauses + full-form CPs. Standard clauses covering sanctions, war risk, MARPOL sulphur cap, cyber, hours-of-rest MLC compliance, weather routing, and dozens of other topics are updated periodically. All modern fixtures include BIMCO-standard sanctions + war-risk clauses.

Master's practical implications

Read the fixture recap. Every voyage begins with a fixture recap identifying the standard form + rider clauses. Master should read the recap before departing on a new voyage.
Understand the "safe port" obligation. Time-charter CPs give the charterer the right to nominate ports but require ports to be "safe" — no political risk, no draft or approach issues. Master must object to unsafe-port nominations.
Log off-hire events carefully. Any period the vessel is prevented from performing (breakdown, deviation for weather, off-hire clause events) must be logged with time-of-off-hire + time-of-restoration. Central to hire calculation.
Signing bills of lading. On charter, Master signs B/L on behalf of the carrier per the CP's scope-of-agency clauses. Understand who the carrier is (owner or charterer) under the specific CP.
Weather-routing decisions. Deviations from great-circle + speed changes for weather protection interact with performance warranties. Document reasoning in the deck log.