Changes

A clause in the American Americanised Welsh Coal Charter form (1979 amendment) provided that “... [i]n case of strikes,… or any other causes included but not limited to breakdown of shore equipment or accidents beyond the control of the Charterers which prevent or delay the discharging, such time is not to count unless the vessel is already on demurrage.” The English Court of Appeal affirmed the decision of Field J and held that so long as the strike was the effective cause of the delay, the period of delay in cargo operations directly caused by strike was to be discounted from the calculation of laytime and further, the charterers were also protected from the effects of strikes which prevented or delayed the vessel from entering berth in order to discharge.

In March 2008, Louis Dreyfus Commodities Suisse SA (“the Shipowners”) chartered four of its vessels (“the Vessels”) to Carboex SA (“the Charterers”) for the carriage of coal from Indonesia to Ferrol, Spain on the American Americanised Welsh Coal Charter form (1979 amendment).