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Charter Party Review

Charter party review that reads the broker's draft against the fixture recap term by term, pins each term to its charter party clauses, prices each gap, and leaves signing to someone who did not prepare it.

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Follow one time charter from recap to signature ↓
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The problem

A recap is the deal, and the broker's draft is what gets signed

When subjects are lifted, the deal lives in the broker's recap: thirty-odd numbered lines. Days later the draft arrives as a printed base form plus dozens of rider clauses copied from the owner's last charter, with logical amendments. Someone prints both, reads them side by side, writes corrections in the margin and emails them back as free text.

A rider that widens good weather, a lump-sum box left blank or a recap clause never carried over is found months later, when a performance claim or an allowance recharge fails. With an entire agreement rider in the draft, the written charter party is what a tribunal reads, and the recap is hard to argue from after signing.

Built forChartering managersHeads of charteringPost-fixture managersIn-house counsel

The Problem Today

Owners sign from a broker's draft that is rarely read line by line against the recap, and the gaps surface when a claim fails.

3,469
London maritime arbitration appointments in 2025, of every kind published
100%
of 2026 in-scope EU shipping emissions owe allowances published

Compared by hand today

  • Recap
  • Base form
  • Riders
  • Markups
  • Riders copied from the last charterA widened term or a blank box rides along unnoticed
  • A draft that outranks the recapAn entire agreement rider keeps the recap out of a dispute

The Solution

  1. Each recap term pinnedEvery numbered term marked matched, changed, missing or contradicted
  2. Read as a tribunal wouldA challenger sets out each side's reading and checks the corrections
  3. Gaps priced before askingAllowances, lump sums and claim exposure, with editable assumptions
  4. Corrected, then signed by someone elseBroker's answers come back in fields; the head of chartering opens each change and signs

Built-in controls

  • Counsel's positions stay privileged and away from the broker
  • Broker's notes reach the manager word for word
  • Nobody signs a draft they prepared

What You Get

An owner signs the deal it fixed, and knows what each gap is worth before asking the broker for changes.

  • Each gap pricedAllowances, lump sums and performance exposure, assumptions editable
  • Only changed clauses re-checkedA revised draft re-pins only what the broker changed
  • Refusals kept as rulesA past refusal applies once the chartering head approves it
Features

Features that pin each recap term to its charter party clauses

Chartering managers prepare the charter party with them and the head of chartering signs from them. One time charter runs through every screen: a printed form and forty-six riders.

demoSample data: the owner, charterer, broker, ship, people and figures belong to an invented fixture.

  1. 01Marked draft

    Fixture recap pinned term by term to the draft's printed clauses and riders

    • Recap split into its numbered terms. Each line the brokers agreed becomes a term with a status, so no recap line is read once and forgotten.
    • Missing terms held above the draft. A recap clause with nowhere to pin, such as an allowances clause, is in front of the manager before the first correction.
    • Fixture fingerprint checked first. The draft's ship, charterer, period, hire, delivery and laycan are checked against the recap, so the manager knows the right fixture is being read.
  2. 02Recap vs rider

    Recap line beside the rider clause that widened it, and the previous charter

    • Recap email shown with the line highlighted. The manager reads the broker's own words beside the draft's text, with nothing retyped.
    • Owners' last charter compared on request. The manager can ask mid-run for the charter the riders were copied from, so a change made in the copying stands out.
    • Past refusals shown at the clause. The head of chartering's answers to the same widening on earlier fixtures sit beside the clause, so the manager knows the house line before asking.
  3. 03Tribunal's read

    Draft read as a London tribunal would: what the charterers may argue

    • What the charterers may argue, point by point. The manager sees what the charterers could argue from the signed text while the draft can still change.
    • How the clauses rank, for counsel. The preamble's conflict wording and the entire agreement rider are applied to each conflict, and counsel decides the owners' position.
    • Agents' own corrections checked. A correction that fixes the wind force but drops the sea state is caught and rewritten before the broker sees it.
  4. 04Money in the gaps

    Each gap priced: ETS allowances, lump sum, good weather, hire deductions

    • Assumptions editable and labeled. Allowance price, voyages, fuel and good-weather days are inputs, so the emissions manager confirms what each figure rests on.
    • Small differences accepted under a tolerance. A wording difference worth less than the approved tolerance is listed for the signer instead of becoming a correction.
  5. 05Correction list

    Corrections sent to the broker as a structured list the manager signs

    • Clause, current text, requested text, recap line. The broker sees exactly what to change and why, where margin notes in an email leave room to misread.
    • Signature meaning stated. The manager's signature asks the broker to make the changes, so nobody takes it for a signature of the charter party.
    • Internal notes never attached. What-if figures and counsel's privileged notes stay out of what the broker receives.
  6. 06Broker portal

    Broker answers each correction line in the portal: made, countered, not made

    • One answer per line. Made, countered or not made comes back as a field, so the revision is tracked line by line.
    • Counter terms in their own field. A countered line carries the broker's wording to a person, who decides whether to accept it.
  7. 07Revised draft

    Revised charter party re-checked only where the broker changed it

    • Only changed pins re-run. Terms the broker did not touch keep their pins, so nobody re-reads the whole draft after a revision.
    • Before and after for each line. The manager and the signer open each revised page next to the original and read the exact change.
    • Broker's note held for the manager. Free text from the broker changes nothing in the case and holds signing until the manager has read it.
  8. 08Each change

    Head of chartering opens each change before signing the charter party

    • Draft and revision side by side. The signer sees exactly what moved between the broker's two drafts, one change at a time.
    • Signing locked until each change is opened. Each opening is logged, so the signature shows every change was opened first.
  9. 09Sign-off

    Clean charter party signed by the second person once every gate is passed

    • Gates listed in order. The signer sees who cleared each gate and when: terms resolved, the broker's note read, counsel's position, preparation and the changes opened.
    • Accepted differences listed for the signer. Anything accepted without a correction, and the rule that allowed it, is shown before signing.
    • Reopening clears the signatures. A change after signing clears both signatures and goes back through the same gates.

Who reads, prices, decides and signs each charter party

The chartering manager prepares, the head of chartering signs, post-fixture lives with the result, and counsel holds the legal positions.

Chartering managers

Read each draft against the recap, send corrections and prepare it for signature

  • Each recap term with its clause and status
  • Gaps priced before asking for changes
  • Only changed clauses to re-read
Heads of chartering

Sign the clean charter party and approve rules and tolerances

  • Each change opened before signing
  • Accepted differences listed with their rule
  • Past refusals turned into rules on approval
Post-fixture managers

Live with the charter for its term: hire, off-hire and performance claims

  • Good weather and deductions as agreed
  • Money in each gap before signing
  • A clause library with past rulings
In-house counsel

Decide legal positions on conflicts and the forum for claims

  • Each side's reading set out
  • Positions kept privileged
  • Only the points that need counsel
More screens

Recap, agents' relay, clause library and the week's drafts

The recap as the broker sent it, the agents at work, what the desk has learned and the week's queue.

Recap, numberedThe broker's recap email beside its 38 terms, each with the clause it is pinned to, its state and how sure the pin is.
Agents' relayEight agents in a relay, each showing its steps, the passage behind each conclusion, a confidence and the next owner; the manager's steer is logged.
All terms resolvedAfter the revision and the signature: 37 match, 1 changed and accepted under the tolerance rule, nothing missing or contradicted.
Rules learnedTwo rules in force, plus one drawn from four refusals of wider good weather that waits for the chartering head's approval.
Clause libraryPast charter parties searched by clause, each signed clause kept with the ruling on it.
Drafts in review12 drafts this week across time and voyage charters, with form, riders, first-read deadline, owner and state.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Six records the review reads for every fixture

Broker's fixture recapFrom email, with its headers and the clean-fixed time.
Draft charter partyBase form, typed boxes, strike-outs and each rider clause.
Published forms and BIMCO clausesTo compare printed text and name each clause and its edition.
Past signed charter partiesWith the ruling recorded on each clause.
Noon reports and the emissions estimateTo price good weather and allowances for this ship.
Broker's revised draft and answersFrom the broker portal, with the revised pages attached.

What stays with the manager, the chartering head and counsel

Legal positionsHow a rider ranks against the recap or another rider is set out for counsel. Counsel decides, and the note stays privileged.
Editing a recap termNo agent merges or rewrites a term, and an unmarked change in printed text is never treated as agreed.
Anything sent to the brokerA correction list leaves only with the manager's signature.
Signing the charter partyOnly the head of chartering signs, never the person who prepared it.
An assumption shown as factAllowance prices and modeled exposure stay labeled until the emissions manager or another person confirms them.

Eight agents read and price the draft, and none takes a legal position

From the recap splitter to the broker liaison, each passes its work on, and every call goes to a named person.

Recap splitter

Reads the recap email and splits it into numbered terms.

  • Changes or merges no term without a person
Form reader

Names the base form and edition and compares its printed text, boxes and strike-outs with the published form.

  • Treats no unmarked change as agreed
Rider reader

Reads each rider, its title and the BIMCO clause and edition it carries.

  • Assumes no clause from its title alone
Pinning agent

Pins each recap term to its clause, marks its status and recalls past rulings.

  • Applies no rule a person has not approved
Precedence agent

Applies the preamble and the entire agreement rider to each contradiction and sets out the ranking for counsel.

  • Decides no legal position
Arbitrator's read

Reads the draft and the agents' own corrections as a tribunal would in a later dispute.

  • Gives no legal advice
  • Signs nothing
Gap costing

Prices each gap with editable assumptions.

  • Presents no assumption as a finding
Broker liaison

Drafts the correction list, reads the revised draft's fields and re-pins only changed clauses.

  • Sends nothing without the manager's signature
  • Keeps the broker's free text out of its reasoning

What chartering teams ask about charter party clauses and the recap

What is a review of charter party clauses against the recap?

It checks that the charter party clauses say what the fixture recap agreed: each numbered recap term pinned to a clause in the base form or a rider, and each change, gap or contradiction marked. Agents do the reading and pricing; the chartering manager sends the corrections, and the head of chartering signs.

What is a fixture recap?

A broker's summary of the agreed terms, sent when subjects are lifted. It is the deal the draft charter party must carry, line by line.

Why do rider clauses need review?

Riders are often copied from the owner's last charter with logical amendments. A rider can widen a definition, leave a box blank or contradict another rider, and the time charter form's preamble ranks riders above the printed text but not against each other.

Will it tell us which reading of a clause wins?

No. A challenger sets out how each side could read a clause, for counsel. Counsel decides positions, and those notes stay privileged.

What happens when the broker sends a revised draft?

Only the clauses the broker changed are re-pinned. Both the manager and the signer open each change beside the earlier draft, and the broker's own notes reach the manager exactly as written.

Does it read voyage charter parties too?

Yes. This week's queue holds time and voyage charters on NYPE, GENCON and tanker forms, and each is read the same way: recap terms pinned to the form and its riders.

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Bring a recap and
the draft that followed.

Bring one fixture's recap and the broker's draft, and we will pin each recap term to its clause and price what is missing.

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