Charter party basics for agri cargoes and the survey clauses

A charter party is the contract between a shipowner and a charterer for the use of a ship. For bulk grain and oilseeds it is almost always a voyage charter: the owner provides the ship for a voyage and the charterer pays freight. This article covers the clauses in a voyage charter that touch a survey, and the standard forms used. It describes the forms; it does not reproduce them, because their text belongs to BIMCO and the other publishers.

Voyage charter and time charter

Under a voyage charter the owner provides the services of the ship for a voyage in exchange for freight. BIMCO describes GENCON as such a general purpose agreement. The owner runs the ship, the terms name the cargo, ports and laytime, and time lost in port is settled through laytime and demurrage, see notice of readiness, laytime and demurrage.

Under a time charter the charterer pays hire for a period, gives voyage instructions within agreed trading limits and supplies the fuel, as Skuld describes it. The surveyor meets this form less often on bulk agri shipments, but a time charterer may sit in the middle of a chain, between the owner and a voyage charterer or shipper.

Standard forms used for grain (and a general form)

• GENCON 2022. Not a grain form: BIMCO's general purpose dry bulk voyage form, often used for grain as well, the first revision since 1994. West of England notes a dedicated fumigation clause that puts fumigation at the charterer's cost and risk, and a laytime clause that incorporates the BIMCO Laytime Definitions 2013.
• GRAINCON. BIMCO's grain voyage form (latest edition 2003), with the bill of lading form GRAINCONBILL (2016).
• NORGRAIN 89. A North American grain form recommended by BIMCO.
• SYNACOMEX 2023. The continent grain charter, developed by SYNACOMEX and Armateurs de France, revised in 2023 with BIMCO's approval. BIMCO notes its use by grain traders in the Baltic, on the East Coast of South America and in the Black Sea.

Parties often start from a form and then amend it. Always read the fixture recap and the rider, not just the printed form. GAFTA contracts are not charter parties: they are sale contracts, see what GAFTA is and CIF contracts. The sale contract and the charter party cover the same cargo with different weighing, sampling and time rules, and a surveyor should know which applies to the question at hand.

Clauses that touch a survey

The points below are what to look for in any form. Clause numbers and wording differ per form and per recap.

1. Cargo description. The description, quantity tolerance and the stated shipper and receiver should agree with the sale contract and later the bill of lading. A mismatch shows up in the certificate.
2. Loading and discharge rates. These set the laytime. See the statement of facts for how the time record is kept.
3. Laytime and NOR. How laytime is counted (for example weather working days, Sundays and holidays excepted or included), when it starts and what a valid notice is. BIMCO's 2013 Laytime Definitions are often incorporated.
4. Hold cleanliness and inspection. Whether the vessel must present holds clean and fit for the cargo, and who decides that. The surveyor's hold inspection record is the evidence here.
5. Draught survey clause. Whether a draught survey is the basis for the quantity or only a check, who appoints the surveyor, and how differences are settled.
6. Fumigation. Who arranges and pays for it, and the ventilation and certificate steps that follow.
7. Lien and retention. Whether the owner may hold the cargo for unpaid freight or demurrage, and how cargo remaining on board is to be recorded at discharge.
8. Who appoints and pays the surveyor. The charter party may say, the sale contract may say something else, or neither may. The party that instructs you is not always the party that pays, and not always the one entitled to the report.
9. Bill of lading clauses. Whether the bill is issued "as presented" or in conformity with the mate's receipt, and which bill form is used. See mate's receipt versus bill of lading.

Where the charter party and the survey meet in a claim

A dispute rarely stays in one contract. Quantity goes back to the survey figure and the bill of lading, time goes back to laytime, and condition goes back to the hold inspection and the remarks on the bill. The routes are set out in cargo claims in bulk shipping. The surveyor who has the charter party clause in front of them writes a report that answers the question the clause asks, not a general one.

Practical rule

Before you attend, ask for the charter party recap or the relevant clauses: cargo description, laytime terms, hold inspection and draught survey. Note in your file which clause you are working to, so your report answers the clause and not only the instruction email.

From nomination to certificate

A nomination often arrives with a clause number or a line from a recap. FOSS (Field Operational Services System) follows the document flow from nomination to certificate: offline entry on board, built-in calculation methods as used in the sector, reports in the surveyor's own house style, a client portal showing nomination, progress and documents, and an audit log per entered value. See how FOSS supports the flow.