Sweden’s Concordia Maritime has recovered demurrage costs following a decision by a tanker master to pull out of a US terminal 12 minutes after berthing.
A High Court judgment in London has revealed that the captain of Concordia’s 65,100-dwt product carrier Stena Primorsk (built 2006) feared for the vessel’s safety due to low water levels at Paulsboro, New Jersey, on 31 March 2019.
The ship had been booked for a single voyage by charterer Petroleos del Norte, which claimed the vessel was in breach of its contract by leaving the dock.
Stena-controlled Concordia has succeeded with a claim of $143,000 against the charterer.
The single-voyage charter provided for 72 hours of laytime for loading and discharge, with demurrage at $22,500 per day after that.
The tanker had loaded 54,000 tonnes of oil at Bilbao in Spain.
On 31 March, the Stena Primorsk, with a pilot on board, made it to the Crown Point International facility in the Delaware River.
The terminal informed the master that for the first seven to eight hours, unloading would need to take place at a reduced rate of 5,000 barrels per hour.
The captain’s view was that the vessel needed to maintain a discharge rate of 15,799 barrels per hour to keep a safe under keel clearance (UKC).
Little margin for error
He therefore took the decision to leave the berth and return to the anchorage.
The owner then refused to comply with the charterer’s request to return to berth on 1 April.
Concordia said the decisions were based on the safety of the vessel as permitted by the UKC element of the charter.
Stena management company Northern Marine Management believed there was “very little margin for safety and ensuring adequate UKC” if there were any delays.
And if delays were prolonged, the UKC would be “severely compromised, with the risk of the vessel touching bottom”, the judgment noted.
The court viewed the decision to move from the berth as “an appropriate one which did not put the owner in breach of the charter”.
And it was satisfied with the company’s view that it would have been “dangerous for the vessel to remain at the specified berth as a result of wind or water conditions”.
The company was also fully justified in not berthing again on 1 April, the court ruled.
The charterer’s counterclaim for lightering costs of $64,000 was dismissed.
