Chartering & Market Intelligence
The most expensive demurrage cases are usually decided before the vessel is fixed.
With decades of direct chartering and shipping experience, we identify where standard fixtures hide future operational and demurrage risk.
Vessel selection, laytime terms, additional clauses, and operational flexibility are rarely neutral — they either protect margins or erode them later.
We focus on:
- Avoiding vessels and structures that limit operational control
- Closing contractual gaps that later become demurrage exposure
- Aligning charter party wording with how voyages actually perform
- Using market context to validate assumptions and challenge unrealistic expectations
- Strengthening commercial positions during disputes with factual market reality
Small details at fixture stage often decide the final cost — long before execution begins.
Operations & Voyage Execution
Most cost exposure materialises during execution.
Delays, missed notices, weak documentation, and unclear instructions are rarely isolated issues.
They are operational failures that directly translate into time, cost, and weakened claims positions.
We provide hands-on operational oversight to:
- Maintain control of charter party performance
- Identify exposure before it becomes irreversible
- Ensure records and statements of facts withstand scrutiny
- Prevent avoidable time loss from turning into claims
Operational discipline is one of the most effective — and underused — cost control tools in shipping.
Post-fixture & Final Settlement
Weak structure after the voyage is where money leaks quietly.
Post-fixture handling is where positions are either consolidated properly — or allowed to fragment into disputes,
delays, and unnecessary concessions. Many outcomes are determined by documentation quality, internal consistency,
and the discipline applied during close-out.
We support clients with:
- Rebuilding complete and defensible post-voyage files
- Aligning recaps, charter parties, SoF, and voyage records into one coherent position
- Identifying where exposure accumulated — and why
- Strengthening settlement strategy before escalation becomes expensive
Post-fixture is where final outcomes are decided — and where precision protects value.
Demurrage & Time-Related Matters
Demurrage is where margin leakage becomes visible.
In practice, most demurrage is challenged — but very little is challenged in a way that actually holds once pressure increases.
Weak structures, fragmented documentation, and selective arguments collapse quickly when escalated.
Demurrage is a specialist discipline within our wider shipping expertise. We rebuild cases properly, using the full contractual,
operational, and market framework — not isolated arguments.
Our involvement regularly results in:
- Material reduction of demurrage exposure
- Recovery of amounts that would otherwise be conceded
- Faster, more favourable settlements
- Avoidance of prolonged and costly escalation
We build positions that survive scrutiny — and deliver real financial outcomes.
