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Dead freight claimed by vessel not honored by charterers - bulk carrier guide


In a recent case study it is found dead freight claimed by vessel not honored by charterers. Charterers not put on notice for poor stowage and not providing vessel with full cargo Urea in bulk.

What went wrong?: The shippers were unable to provide vessel with full cargo. The vessel had indicated the full capacity in the NOR as per stowage factors advised by the shipper.



On completion of loading Urea in bulk it was ascertained that one hatch had still some space left to load. The complete cargo as per NOR was also not provided. The vessel then notified agents and issued a dead freight claim, but due to paucity of time and last minute departure arrangements the vessel only managed to get the agents to acknowledge the deadfright protest for receipt. Vessel however did not put the shippers and other concerned parties on notice for the deadfreight and sailed from the port with only an acknowledgement from the agent.

Fig:Dead Freight claim partly loaded condition

This deadfreight claim however was not honoured by the shippers after vessels departure from the loadport. It is customary in the bulk trades for the charter party to allow for the actual weight to be more or less (MOL) than the proposed weight by a margin of approximately 10%, in either the charterer’s option (MOLCO) or the owners’ option (MOLOO). If the weight loaded is less than the agreed margin, the charterers are deemed to be in breach of contract and liable for deadfreight. This however requires the Owners to present the deadfreight statement to the shippers in the load port prior departure.

Fig: Fully loaded bulk Urea

In order to support a dead freight claim it is necessary to prove that the charterer or shipper are aware that the vessel could carry more cargo and are given reasonable opportunity to provide the balance before the vessel left the loading port. It is therefore essential that





Related information

  1. Required cargo documents for seagoing bulk carriers

  2. Bulk carrier voyage agreement - Function of bill of lading




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