1. Liquidated damages owed by a charterer to a shipowner for the charterer’s failure to load or unload cargo by the agreed time. [Cases: Shipping 170. C.J.S. Shipping §§ 431–432.]
contract demurrage. A demurrage paid by a vessel’s charterer if the time to load or unload the vessel at port takes longer than that agreed on in the charterer’s contract with the shipowner. Cf. DISPATCH MONEY.
“The contract may also provide that if … the loading time exceeds that fixed by the charter, the charterer will pay a liquidated compensation termed ‘contract demurrage.’ ” Frank L. Maraist, Admiralty in a Nutshell 56 (2d ed. 1988).
noncontract demurrage. Demurrage not provided by contract, but ordered by a court.
— Also termed damages for detention.
“After the … days on contract demurrage have expired, the charterer of course still remains liable for further delay, but the liability now is one for noncontract demurrage, which will be fixed by the court just as would any other unliquidated claim for damages. Non-contract demurrage may also be referred to as ‘damages for detention.’ ” Grant Gilmore & Charles L. Black Jr., The Law of Admiralty § 4–8, at 212 (2d ed. 1975).
2. A charge due for the late return of ocean containers or other equipment.
