Whether Owners entitled to disobey charterers’ employment orders Mar 15, 2024 4 min read The Vessel was chartered on an amended BHPTime form. Various disputes arose under the charter and came before two LMAA Arbitrators for determination on documents only. Lawyers represented the parties. Owners’ claims succeeded in full, and Charterers’ counterclaims were dismissed. The disputes referred to arbitration concerned Owners’ claim for a balance of unpaid hire of $306,234.80, liability for which the charterers denied, and the charterers’ counterclaim for a balance allegedly due to them of $729,819.55, liability for which the owners denied. The ship was delivered to Charterers on 28 March 2007; the latest date for redelivery by them to head owners was 27 May 2008. In January 2008, Charterers sub-chartered the vessel on back-to-back terms, providing that the ship was to be redelivered “minimum 14 April 2008 to maximum 27 May 2008”. The major dispute between the parties arose because Charterers (and the head owners) assumed that a voyage that sub-charterers wished to perform could not be completed before 27 May 2008. They also assumed that the cargo Sub-charterers wished to load was not permitted under the charter. In due course, the parties agreed to extend the charter duration at an increased hire rate. One of the issues was whether Charterers’ message to the master to load a cargo of coal, asking for some information, amounted to voyage instructions with which the master failed to comply. The tribunal did not find this convincing, as no specific form was required for voyage instructions or orders. The tribunal turned to consider the nature of the cargo in the context of the agreed terms in the charter party that provided “the ship would not be required to carry bituminous coal” and having regard to expert evidence. Charterers said that during the negotiations for this fixture, oral representations were made by Owners’ brokers to the effect that steam/bituminous coal was