Assessment of the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Time Charter Contracts in the Context of “Off-Hire” Clause
Melda TaşkınCOVID-19 epidemic, which has surrounded all over the world in a short time and caused severe measures to be taken after the World Health Organization declared it as a pandemia on March 11th, 2020, has also affected trade significantly. Given that most international trade is dependent on marine transportation, the maritime has been one of the sectors most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In practice, the transportation and delivery of goods is often conducted based on time charter contracts. As set forth in Article 1131–1137 of the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC), a time charter contract ensures that “a dedicator undertakes the giving of commercial management of an equipped vessel for a certain period of time and for a fee to a charterer.” Time charter parties include clauses, known as “off-hire” those set forth that the charterer is not required to pay for time the vessel can not be managed commercially because of reasons which can prevent the efficient working of the vessel. This study reviews the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on time charter contracts in the context of “off-hire” clause and within the framework of some frequently used standard charter parties, including BALTIME, NYPE, SUPPLYTIME and SHELLTIME.
COVID-19 Pandemisinin Zaman Çarteri Sözleşmeleri Üzerindeki Etkilerinin “Off-Hire” Klozu Bağlamında İncelenmesi
Melda TaşkınTüm dünyayı kısa süre içinde etkisi altına alan ve 11 Mart 2020 tarihinde Dünya Sağlık Örgütü tarafından pandemi ilan edilmesi ile birlikte pek çok alanda sert önlemler alınmasına sebebiyet veren COVID-19 salgını, ticaret hayatını da önemli ölçüde etkilemiştir. Uluslararası ticaretin önemli bir kısmının denizyolu ile yapılması karşısında, denizcilik sektörünün COVID-19 salgınından en çok etkilenen alanların başında geldiği söylenebilir. Bilindiği üzere, uygulamada deniz yolu ile eşya taşımacılığı sıklıkla zaman çarteri sözleşmesine istinaden yapılmaktadır. 6102 sayılı Türk Ticaret Kanunu’nun (TTK) 1131-1137. maddeleri arasında düzenlenen zaman çarteri sözleşmelerinde esas itibariyle “tahsis eden, donatılmış bir geminin ticari yönetimini belli bir süre için ve bir ücret karşılığında tahsis olunana bırakmayı üstlenmekte”dir. Uygulamada, çarter partilerde, gemilerin denizde seyrüseferini engelleyebilecek bazı sebeplerin ortaya çıkması halinde, “geminin sözleşme süresi içinde çartererin ticari kullanımına tahsis edilememesi” nedeniyle çartererin “ücret ödeme borcundan kurtulmasını” sağlayan ve “off-hire” klozu olarak adlandırılan bazı kayıtlara yer verildiği görülmektedir. Çalışmada, COVID-19 salgınının zaman çarteri sözleşmeleri üzerindeki etkileri, BALTIME, NYPE, SUPPLYTIME, SHELLTIME başta olmak üzere uygulamada sıklıkla kullanılan standart çarter partilerde yer verilen ilgili klozlar gözetilerek incelenecektir.
On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a Coronavirus pandemic. This has affected society throughout the world, leading to severe precautions being taken and resulting in a sharp downturn in global trade. The World Health Organization has emphasized that the interruption of transportation of people and goods will halt the spread of the pandemic and issued a series of advisory recommendations. Most seafaring nations have enacted stringent restrictions in keeping with World Health Organization recommendations. These restrictions have increased the difficulty of arriving and departing from port, and taking delivery of and discharging goods. In some cases, it has not been possible to commercially manage ships or to nominate voyages.
Time charter parties include clauses, known as “off-hire” clauses those set forth that the charterer is not required to pay for time when a ship does not work efficiently. These clauses contain different provisions concerning the causes of offhire, assessments for lost time, and calculation for deductions from the total hire amount. This study reviews the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on time charter contracts, with a particular emphasis on the off-hire clauses included in standard charter parties.
Some standard charter parties prescribe “diseases on board or quarantine of ship” as a clear cause for off-hire. Coronavirus has caused the illness and deaths of many seamen and has led to the quarantining of many crews. Therefore, due to the global pandemic, “disease and quarantine” are increasingly common off-hire causes and both SUPPLTIME 2017 and SHELLTIME 4 charter parties clearly specify “quarantine of ship” as causes of off-hire.
On the other hand, “deficiency of some documents” related to the ship or crew is also specified as an off-hire cause, which interrupts the charterer’s payment obligations. However, it is important to emphasize that most of the seafaring countries have extended the validity time of some seamen-related certificates and have provided alternative methods to resolve the challenges of acquiring certain documents during the pandemic, in keeping with IMO recommendations. Therefore, claiming that a ship is off-hire based upon “deficiency of documents” is, at present very difficult.
Standard charter parties, such as SHELLTIME 4 and NYPE 2015, which are often used to conclude time charter contracts in practice, include general off-hire provisions in addition to particular off-hire causes. Given that the particular offhire causes of these charter parties are related to the “ship” and the “maintenance or technical management of the ship,” the COVID-19 pandemic is classified as an external cause and, therefore, cannot be admitted as “any other similar cause that prevents the efficient working of the ship.” However, if the parties have added to the clause the expression “any other cause whatsoever preventing the full working of the ship” the ship will be “off-hire” for time lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The final part of the study explores the “special clauses for infectious or contagious diseases” of time charter contracts. In 2015, BIMCO drew up a special infectious diseases muster clause for charter parties. Although BIMCO’s Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause for Time Charter Party was intended for cases of Ebola virus, in the frame of the BIMCO explanation, there is no doubt that this clause can also be implemented for COVID-19. On the other hand, INTERTANKO has created a special clause specific to COVID-19. “INTERTANKO COVID-19 Clause for Time Charterparties” prescribes similar principles with BIMCO Clause except insignificant differences in wording.
