Agents arrested the vessel due to unpaid disbursements at Rosario- Owners claiming unpaid hire, bunk Apr 19, 2023 3 min read In this arbitration, under the LMAA Terms, various disputes arose under an amended SHELLTIME 4 CP. The Owners submitted that the Charterers had specifically, wrongly and in breach of the Charter Party failed: a) to pay hire as and when due following the 4th hire instalment in breach of Clause 8, and b) to provide and pay for bunkers resulting in the Owners having to bunker the vessel in Santos at a cost to the Owners of US$143,498.36 in breach of Clause 7(a); and c) to pay for disbursements at Rosario resulting in the Owners being required to pay US$61,370.00 to obtain the vessel’s release from arrest at New Orleans in breach of Clause 7(a). [Author’s Comment: The charterers did not participate in arbitration despite being given every opportunity to do so. Therefore,  a Tribunal will proceed to its Award on the Claimant’s Submissions and Documents alone (providing a case has been made out) if the Respondents refuse or fail to participate in the arbitration procedure. However, the arbitrator has a duty to carefully consider the documents and calculations accompanying the Claimant’s Submissions before issuing any Award.] Payment of hire Owners submitted that the Charterers failed to pay hire as and when due and therefore exercised their right of lien over sub-freights to obtain payments direct from sub-charters. These totalled US$1,466,319.75, and credits for the various amounts were shown in the Hire Statement. The owners adduced copies of all supporting documentation. The tribunal was satisfied that the Charterers had persistently failed to pay hire as and when it became due; therefore, the Charterers were clearly in breach of Clause 8 of the Charter Party due to these failures. Payment of bunkers Clause 7(a) of the Charter Party provided for the Charterers to pay for bunkers, which was the usual practice under a time charter such as this