Ship chartering is the hiring of tonnage to move cargo — from a single grain voyage out of Odesa to a years-long lease of a vessel without crew. The deal takes the form of a charter, and the type you sign decides who pays for bunkers, who covers idle time at the berth and who carries the delay risk. Here is how the three basic charter types work, what a charter party fixes, and what actually drives the freight rate in the Odesa hub ports.
Three charter types: voyage, time, bareboat
Voyage charter — the shipowner undertakes to carry cargo on an agreed voyage or series of voyages. Crew, bunkers, navigation and commercial risks stay with the owner; the charterer pays per tonne of cargo or a lumpsum for the voyage. For a grain or steel exporter this is the most common form: you need the parcel delivered, not the ship itself.
Time charter — the vessel is let with crew for a period. Navigation stays with the owner, while commercial employment passes to the charterer: they decide where to go and what to carry, pay a daily hire and cover bunkers and port dues. The form of choice for traders and operators with a steady cargo flow.
Bareboat charter — the vessel is handed over without crew or stores. The charterer becomes the de facto operator: manning, insurance and operation are all theirs. Cargo owners rarely need this form — it is a tool of the shipping business and fleet leasing.
Which option to price for a given parcel is a question of volume and regularity. That is where our ship chartering service starts: matching tonnage to the cargo, not the other way round.
The charter party: what the contract fixes
Voyage terms are fixed in the charter party. In practice nobody drafts one from scratch — an industry proforma is taken and its boxes amended for the deal. The universal proforma is GENCON by BIMCO; grain trades use specialised forms such as SYNACOMEX.
The boxes worth reading before you sign: laycan (the vessel presentation window), freight rate and payment terms, loading and discharging rates, the demurrage rate, war and ice clauses, arbitration (most often London, LMAA). A mistake in a single box — an unrealistic loading rate, say — turns into a bill for idle time.
Agree the laycan against the real readiness of cargo and documents, not an optimistic schedule. A vessel tendered within the window starts the laytime clock whether or not your cargo has reached the terminal.
Laytime, demurrage, despatch
Laytime is the period within which the charterer must load or discharge the vessel at no extra cost. The clock starts with the notice of readiness (NOR) tendered by the master on arrival. Overrun the laytime and demurrage kicks in: a charge for every day of delay at the rate fixed in the charter. Finish early and the owner pays despatch, usually at half the demurrage rate.
Demurrage is not a penalty but agreed additional freight, which is why disputing it “on fairness grounds” almost never works: whoever signed the rate and failed to meet it, pays. A detailed legal breakdown of laytime and demurrage is available from maritime lawyers Interlegal.
What drives the freight rate
There is no freight price list — the rate is built voyage by voyage. The main components:
- Vessel size and port depths. The bigger the parcel, the lower the per-tonne cost — provided the port takes the tonnage. Pivdennyi with depths up to 19 m works Capesize vessels, Odesa accepts ships up to 270 m with a draft up to 13.0 m, Chornomorsk offers berths up to 13.5 m. Choosing the port means choosing the tonnage class.
- Cargo and handling rates. Bulk grain loads faster and cheaper than general cargo; terminal rates define the laytime — and with it the demurrage risk.
- Direction and ballast leg. The owner prices in the unladen passage to the loading port: the further away suitable tonnage sits, the dearer the voyage.
- Season. Harvest peak is tonnage demand peak: at the height of the grain campaign, rates on the same routes run higher.
- War risk insurance. For calls at Ukrainian ports underwriters charge a war risk premium, and it sits in the voyage economics. How cargo and hull insurance works — in our marine cargo insurance guide.
- Bunkers. Fuel prices feed straight into the voyage charter rate — the owner calculates the voyage from them.
How chartering works with Dragon Maritime
Over 10+ years in the Odesa hub we have chartered for all kinds of cargo — grain and meal, steel and fertilisers. The pattern is the same: we price the parcel and direction, source tonnage through broker channels, vet the owner and the vessel, and negotiate the charter party — reading the rates, demurrage and clauses line by line. The voyage is then attended by our ship’s agent: ship agency in Odesa port covers the NOR, stevedores and loading documents.
Need tonnage for your parcel?
We will price chartering options for your cargo, port and dates — with transparent voyage economics.
FAQ
How does a voyage charter differ from a time charter?
Under a voyage charter you pay for the carriage of a specific parcel, while vessel operation and bunkers stay with the shipowner. Under a time charter you hire the vessel with crew for a period, pay a daily hire and cover bunkers and port dues yourself.
What is demurrage and who pays it?
Demurrage is the charge agreed in the charter and paid to the shipowner for keeping the vessel beyond the laytime. The charterer pays it. The rate is fixed in the charter party in dollars per day, so it must be negotiated before signing.
What is laycan?
Laycan is the window of dates within which the shipowner must tender the vessel for loading. Arrive earlier — the charterer is not obliged to start loading; miss the cancelling date — the charterer may cancel the charter.
Can I charter part of a vessel rather than the whole ship?
Yes. For parcels smaller than a full shipload, parcel chartering is used: several shippers share one vessel. It is standard practice for meal, oil and smaller grain lots.
Which document confirms the cargo has been loaded on board?
The bill of lading. It confirms receipt of the cargo, serves as a document of title and is required for letter-of-credit settlement and for taking delivery at the discharge port.