An Overview on the Implied Obligations in a Contract of Affreightment

If there were no express provisions in the charter party as to seaworthiness or a ship owner's obligation to exercise reasonable dispatch, there is an implied obligation in common law. At other times, in the absence of an express term, the right to nominate a port does not give rise to a correlative warranty on the nomination to a safe port. Likewise, a change of circumstances occurring after the conclusion of the contract may be sufficient to discharge the parties from further performance of their contract. In common law, the shipper has an implied obligation to inform the ship owner on the dangerous nature of the shipped goods. Last but not least, whether the owner of the vessel operates a liner service or a under a charter undertakes that his vessel, while performing its obligations under the contract of carriage, will not deviate from the contract of carriage.Based on theoretical and jurisprudential aspects, this article aims to analyze the consequences of the ship owner's breach of the contract, the implications of express liberty clauses, and where appropriate, the Hague-Visby Rules incorporation effect. In conclusion, the obligations have different meanings depending on the type of the contract of affreightment and the circumstances in which the obligation must be fulfilled or the moment while operating.