Abuse of Subjects in Shipping Negotiations
BIMCO (Baltic and International Maritime Council) have produced a warning in their bulletin regarding the abuse of subjects; they quote experiences with Charterers who:
- Charterers use the subjects to work and fix several ships at the same time, eventually taking the cheapest ship;
- Charterers do not bother to check the suitability of the ship for the cargo, using the failure of the subject as a pretext to get out of the ensuing difficulties;
- Charterers fix a ship with two days ‘sub stem’ when they already have their own vessel and are covering the possibility of finding better employment for their own ship.