2019-04-26
601 《装卸时间与滞期费》第6版
CHAPTER 3 第3章
Commencement of laytime 装卸时间的起算
3.394 In none of the previous cases was a berth available when notice of readiness was given. In The Kyzikos, however, the berth was available but she could not reach it because of bad weather. What happened was that the vessel arrived off Houston to discharge but anchored because of fog. She made an abortive attempt to get into berth, but had to reanchor until the fog lifted. Apart from considering this phrase, the lower courts also considered whether in these circumstances the vessel was at the immediate and effective disposition of the charterers and the meaning of an ‘‘always accessible provision’’, which was said to be the same as one providing for a berth ‘‘reachable on arrival’’.
3.394在上述案例中，当准备就绪通知书递交时均未有空闲的泊位。然而，在The Kyzikos案，是有空闲的泊位，但由于天气恶劣而不能靠泊。由于有雾，该轮不得不在休斯顿港外拋锚卸货。该轮曾做了失败的尝试靠泊，但是还是不得不重新拋锚，直到雾散。抛开这个短语不谈，下级法院在审理时也曾考虑，在这种情况下，该轮是否处于承租人的立即马上和有效的支配之下，还有‘随时可以自由进入靠泊’条款的含义，据说其被认为如同‘到达即可靠泊’条款规定的一样。
3.395 In arbitration, the arbitrator held in favour of the owners that there was no limitation on the meaning of the phrase. Webster J in the High Court disagreed, saying that such a provision did not have the effect of changing the primary obligation of the owners from being one to carry the cargo to a berth, to carry the cargo to a named port. He therefore disagreed with Roskill LJ when he said in The Johanna Oldendorff :
The phrase ‘‘whether in berth or not’’ was designed to convert a berth charterparty into a port charterparty and to ensure that under a berth charterparty Notice of Readiness could be given as soon as the ship had arrived within the commercial area of the port concerned so that laytime would start to run on its expiry.
3.395在仲裁时，仲裁员的裁定是支持船东，即该短语的含义上无限制条件。在高等法院，Webster法官不同意，说：该条款的作用并不能使船东将货物运输到泊位的基本义务改变为运至指定的港口。所以，他也不同意Roskill大法官在The Johanna Oldendorff案中所说的，如下即是：
‘不论靠泊与否’这个短语是被设计用来将泊位租船合同转化为港口租船合同，并确定在泊位租船合同下，只要船舶一抵达港口的商业区域范围内就可以递交准备就绪通知书，这样一俟（通知）时间届满，装卸时间就可以起算。
3.396 Having reviewed the authorities to see whether they supported the proposition that a WIBON provision has the effect of converting a berth to a port charter, Webster J concluded:
I recognise that, when the vessel is unable to come alongside because no berth is available, the ‘‘Wibon’’ provision in the ordinary case has, in practice, that effect; but in my view it cannot be said without doubt that the authorities which I have considered, read as a whole, support the proposition that it has that effect in law, still less that it actually converts a berth charter into a port charter.
3.396在重新审阅了先例，看他们是否支持WIBON条文具有将泊位租约转化为港口租约的作用这一观点，Webster法官总结道：
我认为，当是由于没有空闲泊位而使船舶不能直接靠泊的，在一般的情况下，‘不论靠泊与否’条文实际中会有那种作用；但依我看，又不能说对我曾经考虑的先例没有疑问，总体上来看，他们是支持法律上有此作用的，更不必说它竟然把泊位租船合同变成为港口租船合同。
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