Most owners have had the experience to be concerned about a time charterer’s ability to perform and pay hire timely.
The following is a summary of the course of actions which can be taken by the owner in the event he is uncertain whether the time charterer will perform, following the recent case of The Bulk Chile (2013).
An owner is entitled to demand the shipper pay freight to him directly subject the bill of lading is an owners’ bill. This is because an owner’s bill of lading is a contract directly between the owner and the shipper. The owner’s right to demand freight from the shipper continues to exist even if the bill of lading states that “freight is payable as per charterparty” and notwithstanding the charterparty referred to in the bill of lading relates to payment of freight to another party in the charterparty chain apart from the owner. This legal opinion was expressed in the case of The Spiros (2000), but is now held to be good law by the Court Of Appeal in the recent case of The Bulk Chile.
See attached file: ALCO20130040 Precautions when a charterer may default.pdf
租家可能违约，船东如何防范
大多数船东都曾经历过担心期租租家的履约能力以及能否及时支付租金的情形。
如下是对一些诉讼案件的总结，船东如果对租家的履约能力不大确定，可参考这些总结，有关于此的最新案例是2013年的 The Bulk Chile 。
如果提单是船东提单，那么船东可以要求发货人将运费直接付给自己。因为船东提单是船东与发货人之间的一个直接合同。即使提单上标明：”运费按租约规定支付”，而提单所指向的租约又规定运费支付给租船链条中船东之外的一方，船东仍然有权要求发货人直接支付运费给自己。2000年 The Spiros 案明确表达了这一法律意见，在最新的 The Bulk Chile 案中，上诉法院已确定了其合法性。
详细信息请参阅附件。
