Charterers Liability

One type of coverage in shipping is Charterers Liability insurance which is understood as complex and overlooked very often. The liability environment wherein the shipping industry nowadays operates becomes intensively aggressive. One of the main reasons are topics like safety and pollution which are subject to an increasing amount of regulation. Under many jurisdictions a charterer has huge responsibilities and liabilities, because they are considered as carrier. It is not only the case in the USA that parties in case of a loss are faced with numbers of penalties and extra costs due to pollution and/or environmental damage. Voyage, time, slot and space charterers are exposed to huge risks via either their contractual liabilities and indemnities or directly through third parties. In some occasions these exposures are large enough to threaten even the financial basis of the most well-established parties. This is the reason why charterers (or their insurance brokers) nowadays recognize the necessity to buy Charterers Liability-protection. Most ships are chartered either on a time or voyage charter contract. Before chartering a ship, ship owners and charterers will sign an agreement which is called the Charter Party. Time and voyage charters both have their own types of Charter Party. The charterer has the obligation to indemnify the owner for third party liability where this results from a breach of the Charter Party by the charterer or arises out of activities which are the charterer’s responsibility. Charterama’s Charterer’s Liability-insurance gives you the solution.