Sea and Land Securities Ltd v William Dickinson & Company Ltd
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 1942 |
| Date | 1942 |
| Year | 1942 |
| Court | Court of Appeal |
Shipping - Charterparty - Time charter - Ship waiting for turn to load cargo - Fitted by owners with degaussing apparatus at charterer's suggestion - Liability of charterers for hire.
During the currency of a time charter a ship, by the direction of the charterers, arrived in port to load a cargo, and it then appeared that she would have to wait for some days before she could be loaded. At the charterers' suggestion, the shipowners took the opportunity to fit the ship with degaussing apparatus. After the expiration of eight days, twenty-one hours, and forty-five minutes of this work there was room for the ship to load and she was loaded. Thereafter, the fitting of the degaussing apparatus was completed in a further period of one day and thirteen hours. The charterers deducted hire under the charter for ten days, ten hours and forty-five minutes. There was no clause in the charter providing that in the events which happened the hire should cease:—
Held, that there had been no breach of contract by the shipowners, because during the first period during which the ship was fitted with this apparatus she was at Blyth in enforced idleness, there being no direction by the charterers that the ship should proceed on another voyage and the fitting of the apparatus, which had to be completed during the second period, was done at the suggestion of the charterers, and that, accordingly, the charterers' claim to deduct hire failed.
Per MacKinnon L.J. The charterers' continuous liability under the charterparty to pay hire would only be interrupted if there were a provision in the contract by which it was agreed that in certain events there should be no such payment and such an event had happened.
APPEAL from Atkinson J.F1.
On October 23, 1939, the charterers, William Dickinson & Co., Ld., hired the steamship Alresford, belonging to Sea and Land Securities, Ld., on time charter “for six calendar months from the time the steamer is delivered and placed at the disposal of the charterers ready to load.” The charterparty contained (inter alia) the following provisions: Cl. 2: “The owners shall provide and pay for all the provisions and wages, and for the insurance of the steamer, and for all deck and engine-room stores, and maintain her in a thoroughly efficient state in hull and machinery for and during the service.” Cl. 5: “The charterers shall pay as hire for the steamer: (15s.) Fifteen shillings on steamer's dead weight as above per calendar month, commencing from the time the steamer is placed at the disposal of charterers and pro rata for any fractional part of a month …. until her re-delivery to owners as herein stipulated ….” Cl. 12: “In the event of loss of time from deficiency of men or owner's stores, breakdown of machinery, or damage to hull or other accident preventing the working of the steamer, and lasting more than twenty-four consecutive hours, the hire shall cease from the commencement of such loss of time until she be again in an efficient state to resume her service; but should the steamer be driven into port or to anchorage by stress of weather, or from any accident to the cargo, or in the event of the steamer trading to shallow harbours, rivers or ports where there are bars causing detention to the steamer through grounding or otherwise, time so lost and expenses incurred (other than repairs) shall be for charterers' account.” Cl. 14 was an exceptions clause in common form which contained no mention of degaussing. On March 19, 1940, the ship, which had been sub-let by the charterers, by their direction, put into Blyth to load a cargo of coal. As there would be a delay for at least a week before she could be loaded, the charterers suggested to the shipowners that the opportunity should be taken to fit the ship with degaussing gear and the ship-owners acceded to the suggestion. Accordingly, the Alresford was sent to the wharf of the Blyth Dry Docks and Shipbuilding Co., Ld., for fitting, where she remained for eight days, twenty-one hours and forty-five minutes. The fitting of the degaussing apparatus was then interrupted and the ship was loaded with her cargo. She returned to have the fitting of the degaussing apparatus continued, it being completed in a further period of one day and thirteen hours. Paragraph 9 of the case stated by the umpire was in these terms: “Whilst it was admitted that the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
- Patrick Stevedores No 2 Pty Ltd v Mv Turakina
- Nippon Yusen Kaisha v Acme Shipping Corporation (Charalambos N. Pateras)
-
Playa Larga (Owners of cargo lately laden on board) v I Congreso del Partido (Owners); Marble Islands (Owners of cargo lately laden on board) v I Congreso del Partido (Owners); I Congreso del Partido
...remains in the owner and the master is the servant of the owner: see Sea and Land Securities Ltd. v. William Dickinson and Co. Ltd.ELR [1942] 2 K.B. 65, 69–70 per Mackinnon L.J, and Scrutton on Charterpaties, 18th ed. (1974), articles 24–26. It is true that a demise charterer has in the pas......
-
Albazero, The (Albacruz)
...ship owners' entitlement to it does not depend upon whether or not goods are carried either safely or not at all. See Sea and Land Securities Limited. v. William Dickinson (1942) 2 King's Bench 65. The learned judge's statement at page 922 of his judgment that the plaintiff was obliged to ......