Contractual and
operational background
Stowage of heavy lift cargo: legal and insurance implications T
he project cargo trade, as with many segments of the shipping
There are customarily three principal contractual players in the carriage of project cargo: the head owner of the vessel (the “Owner”); the intermediate charterer operating the vessel on time charter (the “Operator”) who, in many instances issues their own bills of lading; and the sub-charterer who contracts to have the cargo shipped (the “Merchant”, as is the customary name under a booking note). The Merchant may be a freight forwarder, in which case additional cargo interests may feature as parties to the contract of carriage.
industry, experienced a boom during the pandemic owing to the constraints on available tonnage to match demand. This development emphasised the importance of careful stowage of multifaceted cargoes,
as contracting parties
sought to optimise cargo space on vessels. Whilst market conditions may have changed somewhat, correct stowage remains vital to charterers involved in this trade. Strict compliance with the vessel’s cargo securing manual is essential.
Carriage under the same or overlapping voyages of different cargoes with multiple concurrent Merchants is conceivable. Further, the head charter might normally be concluded on an amended iteration of the NYPE form. Whilst the sub-charter would most often take the form of a booking note, it is
not unknown for this to be concluded as a voyage charter, such as a version of Gencon or the Heavycon 2007. Under the latter form the Hague/ Hague-Visby Rules are replaced by a knock-for-knock liability regime, but we see that the standard provisions in this regard are sometimes amended by the parties.
Moreover, unlike most other cargoes, heavy lift goods are not uniformly sized and shaped. Careful stowage, therefore, assumes primacy. Considerable preparation goes into drawing up a detailed stowage plan, so all cargo presented may be safely loaded onboard in accordance with the contractual
requirements. It is our experience that the stowage plan is commonly prepared by the Operator, who will often have considerable in-house expertise, including highly specialised personnel and, in some cases, software able to process complex calculations as regards the cargo properties in the context of both stability and hold space.
76 | ISSUE 109 | SEP 2024 | THE REPORT
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