Charter Party Agreements under the Maritime Code
The charter party — a ship hire contract — is the central document of commercial maritime law, and the Maritime Code of Georgia regulates its whole family in one chapter: the general requisites (Article 115), the definition and written form of the time charter (Articles 184 and 185), and the bareboat charter — transfer of the ship without crew, with a purchase option and detailed requisites (Articles 196 and 198). This page explains all three forms of charter together — what the contract must contain and what is left to the parties’ agreement.
The Charter’s Requisites — Article 115
A charter must indicate, as basic requisites: the names of the parties; the name of the ship; the name of the cargo; the ports of loading and destination — the direction of the ship’s movement; the cost of carriage — freight; and the parties’ basic obligations and the conditions of carriage. This enumeration is a minimum frame: on the basis of the parties’ agreement other additional conditions may be introduced into the charter. The charter is signed by the shipowner and the charterer or their authorized representatives — the authority to sign is checked exactly here.
The Time Charter — Articles 184 and 185
Under a contract of hire of a ship for a definite period — a time charter — the shipowner undertakes, for a definite term and fee, to hire the ship out to the charterer for the carriage of cargo, the carriage of passengers or another purpose of commercial navigation. A time charter is concluded in writing — an oral agreement does not suffice here. The degree of freedom also matters: the subsequent rules of this chapter apply where the parties have not agreed otherwise — the Code’s rules are dispositive, and the contract freely modifies them if the parties so decide.