Definition
In a voyage charter the owner sells a voyage: a cargo, from a load port to a discharge port, for freight per tonne or a lump sum. The owner pays for running the voyage — crew, bunkers, port costs — and the charterer has an agreed laytime to load and discharge, paying demurrage if it is exceeded.[1]
GENCON, first issued in 1922, is the general-purpose form; GENCON 2022 replaced the 1994 edition. West P&I highlights its changes: the Hague-Visby exceptions and one-year time bar for owners, with due diligence on seaworthiness owed at the start of each voyage; the BIMCO Laytime Definitions 2013 incorporated, with weather now an exception to laytime; written NORs that may be tendered at any time; and demurrage at half rate for up to 10 days during strikes.[2,1]
For buyers the point is cost allocation: on a voyage charter the owner buys the bunkers and stores, and a supplier quoting the ship invoices the owner or manager — not the charterer.
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Sources
- [1] BIMCO — Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties 2013 (PDF) — https://bimco.org/media/qy2neqim/laytime-definitions-for-charter-parties-2013-v2.pdf
- [2] West P&I — The new GENCON 2022 charterparty (4 Jul 2023) — https://www.westpandi.com/news-and-resources/news/july-2023/the-new-gencon-2022-charterparty/
A working definition for buyers, not legal advice — the contract, the convention text and your club or class have the last word.