《装卸时间与滞期费》第二章——装卸时间条款-连载(二十)

2018-05-14692
  《装卸时间与滞期费》第6版

  Laytime Clauses 装卸时间条款

  Rate per working hatch (or available workable hatch)

  每个作业舱口(或可用于作业的舱口)的速率

  2.145 A typical clause would be:

  At the average rate of... tons per working hatch per day.

  2.145 一种典型条款是:

  平均每天每作业舱口的作业效率是……吨。

  2.146 A working hatch is one from which, on a particular day, cargo is being worked and therefore, once the hold served by that hatch is empty or full, as the case may be, the hatch ceases to be a working hatch. Since the total amount of cargo to be worked on a particular day is the sum of the rates for those hatches still working, this will, if all hatches are being worked equally, decrease steadily during loading/discharge until only one hatch remains working. The laytime allowed may therefore be calculated by ascertaining which hold is to have or had the most cargo, which will be the last one to continue working, and dividing the quantity it now contains or contained by the agreed working rate.

  2.146 作业舱口指的是指在某一具体日子里进行货物装卸作业的舱口。所以,根据具体情况而定,一旦提供作业货舱卸空或装满,这一舱口就不再是作业舱口了。既然在某一具体日子中所作业的货物总量就是这些仍在作业的舱口的速率总和,那么如果所有舱口同等地作业,则这一总速率在装/卸过程中就会稳步递减,直到剩下只有一个舱口在作业。因此,允许的装卸时间就可根据哪个货舱装有(或已经装有)最大的货量,它也必将是连续作业到最后的一个货舱,用所允许的装/卸速率来除该货舱现在装有的(或已经装有的)货物数量得出的商来确定。
  


  2.147 The Voylayrules 1993 provide:

  ‘‘PER WORKING HATCH PER DAY (WHD)’’ or ‘‘PER WORKABLE HATCH PER DAY (WHD)’’ shall mean that the laytime is to be calculated by dividing (A), the quantity of cargo in the hold with the largest quantity, by (B), the result of multiplying the agreed daily rate per working or workable hatch by the number of hatches serving that hold. Thus:
  


  Each pair of parallel twin hatches shall count as one hatch. Nevertheless, a hatch that is capable of being worked by two gangs simultaneously shall be counted as two hatches.

  2.147《1993年航次租船合同装卸时间解释规则》中规定:

  ‘每日每工作舱口(WHD)’或‘每日每个可工作舱口’(WHD)”是指装卸时间的计算是用最大货舱载货量(A)除以每天每工作舱口或每个可工作舱口约定装卸率乘以该货舱服务舱口数的积(B),即:
  


  每对平行的双层舱口按一个舱口计算。尽管如此,能够由两个工班同时进行作业的舱口则按两个舱口计算。

  2.148 It is only after the completion of loading, when the precise quantities loaded into each hold are known, that the exact amount of laytime can be determined.

  2.148这样,只有在货物装完之后才能知道每个舱口所装货物的精确数量,才能得出准确的装卸时间。
  


  2.149 The leading case in which this type of clause was considered is The Sandgate, in which a charter on the Welsh Coal Charter 1896 form provided for the carriage of a cargo of coal from Cardiff to San Rosario. The charter provided for an ‘‘average rate of discharge of 125 tons per working hatch per day . . . ’’. The ship had four hatches and the shipowners argued that this meant a discharge rate of 500 tons per day. The charterers said, however, that this ignored the fact that once a hold became empty, it could no longer be described as a working hatch and they contended that the total discharging rate should be proportionately reduced as each hold became empty, without affecting the rate per hatch. Both before Hill J and on appeal the charterers’ view was preferred. In the course of his judgment, Hill J said:

  I suppose worked out most accurately you would take these several quantities (that is the quantity in each hold) and start with 500 and go on reducing to 375, reducing to 250 and finally 125; but you get exactly the same result, and the shipowner would have no difficulty in doing the arithmetic if he took the quantity in the hold which contains the largest quantity and divided that by 125, then that would give you the period in which the discharge had to be carried out, and you would then take into account Sundays and holidays.

  On appeal, Scrutton LJ said, rejecting the shipowners’ argument:

  . . . the phrase cannot be read as a roundabout way of saying what might have been said quite simply: ‘‘I will discharge 500 tons per day out of four cargo hatches, 125 tons for each hatch’’. What it does mean is to assume that the amount may vary per day, according as there is a working hatch—a hatch which can be worked because there is coal in it. Whether it was a reasonable agreement to make or not, it is not for me to say.

  2.149讨论这一类型条款的典型案例是The Sandgate案。这是根据1896年威尔士煤矿租船合同格式范本的租船合同,由英国Cardiff往San Rosario运输煤炭。租船合同规定‘平均卸货率为每天每作业舱口125吨……’。该船舶有4个舱口,所以船东争辩说这就意味着卸货率为每天500吨。然而,承租人却认为:船舶的争论忽视了这样一个事实,即当一个舱口卸空之后,它就不再被描述为可作业的舱口了,因而他们主张因为有一个舱口卸空,整个卸货率应按比例减少,而不必考虑每个舱口的卸货率。在其审判的判词中,Hill法官说:

  我认为,要计算得非常准确,您就必须用这些不同的货物量(即每个货舱里的数量)并从500开始,接着减到375,再到250,最后是125;但您会得出完全相同的结果,而且船东会轻而易举地进行这一算术计算,他会用某个装有最大货量的货舱的货物量除以125,就得出了允许进行卸货作业的时间,接着再把星期日和节假日考虑进去。

  上诉后,Scrutton大法官驳回了船东的争辩,他说:

  ……对于该短语没有必要进行兜圈进行解释,本可以非常简单地讲:‘每天4个舱口卸货500吨,一个舱口就是125吨’。这意味着这一数量会想当然地随着每日作业舱口数的变化而变化,因为只有当舱内还有煤的时候这个舱口才能算是作业舱口。至于签订这种协议是否合理,这就不是我所应在此评说的。
  


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