WorkflowChartering & Voyage Operations

Speed and Consumption Claims

Speed and consumption claims answered day by day: each day the charterer counted is tested against the good-weather clause, the noon report and the officers' deck log.

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See one claim sieved day by day, screen by screen ↓

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The problem

The charterer picks the good-weather days and deducts before you answer

A performance claim arrives with the charterer's routing report, and the sum is often already short-paid from the next hire installment. The report measures the ship on days its own model calls good weather, then stretches the shortfall across the whole passage.

Answering means testing each of those days against the clause: wind, sea state, current, the periods the clause takes out, and the officers' log against the routing model. That is a week of copying noon reports into a spreadsheet beside the charterer's day table and turning deck log pages, while the next claim arrives.

The weak spots are familiar. Model sea state is taken over the officers' observation with no independent data, adverse current days stay in, the about allowance is conceded without anyone pricing it, and the owner's own spreadsheet compares the wrong fuel column.

Built forClaims managersHeads of charteringVoyage operatorsTechnical superintendents

The Problem Today

The charterer's routing service chooses the good-weather days, measures the ship on them, and the deduction comes off hire first.

Force 4: Beaufort wind and Douglas sea 3: good weather in the form published
0.5 kn: and 5% on fuel: the usual reading of about, per a club guide published

Lined up by hand, day by day

Noon data
Deck log
Route model
Clause 12

Officers and model disagreeSomeone has to settle the sea state, one day at a time
Hire already short-paidThe money is gone while the pages are turned

The Solution

Days sieved by the clauseExcluded periods, wind, sea and current tested in the clause's own order
Disputed days heldWhere the log and the model disagree, an independent hindcast is ordered
The routing analyst's case, argued in advanceA challenger tests the answer, the owner's own figures included
Signed and co-signedThe claims manager signs; the head of chartering opens it and co-signs

Built-in controls

Method choices labeled and changed only with approval
A provider's note never moves a day by itself
Privileged club notes listed, never attached

What You Get

The owner answers with the days the clause counts and sees what each reading costs before hire is settled.

Our own errors caught firstThe challenger checks the owner's figures as well
Each reading pricedAllowance, current days and extrapolation, assumptions shown
Rulings kept as rulesApproved once, applied on the next claim

Features

Speed and consumption claims features, from routing report to co-sign

One charterer's claim on a laden passage, worked by the claims manager and co-signed on the chartering side, with records from the voyage operator.

demoThe ships, charterer, weather provider, people, days and figures in these screens are sample data.

01The sieve
Good weather days sieved through the charter's own tests, one bar at a time
- The passage as a strip of noon-report days. Each day shows wind force, sea state and whether the charterer counted it, so the claims manager sees the claim before reading the report.
- Tests applied in the clause's order. Excluded periods, wind, sea and current each stop the days that fail them, with the reason left on the bar.
- Nothing judged before the run. No day is counted or dropped until an agent has read it, so each verdict on screen rests on a source.
02The clause
Good-weather clause turned into four tests, with the method shown
- Each test quotes the words it rests on. Wind, sea, current and excluded periods each cite the clause or Appendix A, so a test can be argued from the charter itself.
- Method choices labeled as choices. The about allowance, the current threshold and the extrapolation basis are shown as choices, changed only with the head of chartering's approval.
03Day by day
Deck log against the routing model, day by day, with each disagreement marked
- Noon report, deck log and model aligned. Distance, speed, fuel, the officers' weather and the charterer's model weather sit on one row per day, each with its source.
- Disagreements filtered in one click. The days where officers and model differ are the ones an underperformance claim turns on, so they are listed apart.
- Unreadable pages flagged to the voyage operator. A scan nobody can read is marked, with whether it changes the counted days, and a clean copy is requested.
04Hindcast order
Independent weather hindcast ordered in fixed fields for the disputed day only
- Order drafted, sent by a person. The agent drafts the fields; only the claims manager sends, so no outside spending happens without a decision.
- Only the disputed day is bought. Days the log and the model already agree on are left out, so the hindcast is bought only for the sea state in dispute.
- Reply read field by field. The provider's figures move a day; anything written in its note waits for the claims manager to read.
05Counted days
Speed and fuel worked on the counted days only, against the about allowance
- Performance line drawn from counted days. Speed and fuel are averaged only over the days the clause counts, never over the charterer's selection.
- Their claim and our answer side by side. Time lost, extra fuel and the deduction appear next to the owner's figures, so the disputed sum is plain.
- Steers logged in the plan. A check typed mid-run, such as how long the ship waited at anchor before the passage, joins the plan with name and time.
06Challenger
Charterer's objections to the owners' answer tested before anyone signs
- Each objection in the analyst's words. Sea state, currents, the allowance and slowed days are argued as the charterer's routing analyst would, before the answer leaves.
- Our own fuel column checked. A draft that compared main-engine fuel against an all-purposes warranty is caught and corrected from the generator column.
- Method points handed to a person. Whether the about allowance applies is left to the claims manager, with the money each way shown.
07What-if
Performance claim under the charter party priced reading by reading
- Readings worked from the same noon reports. The charterer's reading, the owner's, a middle reading and a strict one each show days, knots, fuel and what the owner pays.
- Assumptions editable and labeled. Fuel price, allowances, the expert's fee and the extrapolation basis can be changed here without touching the answer the claims manager signs.
- Options with timing and cost. Accepting, answering or settling at the middle are compared before anyone is asked to co-sign.
08The answer
Owners' answer letter, every sentence footnoted to the record it rests on
- Every sentence carries its source. Noon reports, deck log pages, the hindcast and the clause are footnoted, so the charterer can follow each counted day.
- Attachments listed, privilege kept. The deck log pages and hindcast go with the answer, and the club correspondent's note is listed as excluded.
09Co-sign
Head of chartering co-signs after opening the answer and the day sheet
- Co-sign enabled only after opening both. The head of chartering reads the answer and the day sheet before the button works, because the answer puts the owner's position on hire to the charterer.
- Outside free text shown word for word. The provider's note appears in the co-sign view exactly as written, with who opened it and when.
- Reopening clears both signatures. A changed answer is signed again from the start, so no signature covers words it did not see.

Who answers an underperformance claim, and what each one gets

The claims manager builds the answer, the head of chartering co-signs it, the voyage operator and the superintendent supply the ship's side.

Claims managers

Test each claim day by day, decide method points, sign the owners' answer

The days the clause counts, each with its source
The charterer's objections answered before sending
Each reading priced with the money in view

Heads of chartering

Co-sign every owners' answer on hire; approve rules and method settings

The answer and day sheet to open before co-signing
The weather provider's note exactly as sent
Rules that wait for their approval

Voyage operators

Supply noon reports, deck log pages and port logs, and chase clean scans

Unreadable pages flagged with their effect
One list of records still needed

Technical superintendents

Explain hull and engine performance and act on drift warnings

Ships drifting past the allowance before a claim
Hull questions asked with the facts attached

Two slowed days, a convenient sea state, two currents and our fuel column

What the charterer's selection of good weather days left in, and what the owners' first draft got wrong.

Days 7 and 19, eased for safety

The deck log records the master easing the engine in a head sea and heavy swell. Clause 12(a) takes those periods out whatever the weather data says.

Day 8, log and model apart

The deck log said Douglas 4, the routing model 3. The hindcast gave a significant wind-sea height of 1.35 m, and Douglas 4 starts at 1.25 m.

Days 22 and 23, adverse current

The charterer's own report, page 3, lists −0.8 and −0.7 knot. Appendix A warrants performance with no adverse currents.

Our draft read the wrong fuel

It compared main-engine fuel only, 25.4 mt a day, with a warranty for all purposes. Corrected, the answer accepts $4,650.00.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

More screens

The provider's portal, the claims queue and the fleet drifting toward a claim

Before and around the answer: what the weather provider sees, what else is open, and which ships to watch.

Provider portal: hindcast order for day 8 with wind-sea height, swell, wind and current entered per 6-hour block and a note to the owner — **The provider's side**The weather provider answers in fields per 6-hour block; every field can move a day, and its note goes to the claims manager.

Queue of 22 open vessel performance claims, $1,404,310.00 claimed, with counterparty, direction, passage, stage, owner and answer due — **Open performance claims**Twenty-two open claims, $1,404,310.00 claimed, including five the owner brings against owners of chartered-in ships.

Performance trends: each ship's speed and fuel against warranty on good-weather days, days since hull cleaning, and a hull question to the superintendent — **Trends on good-weather days**Ships drifting past the allowance on good-weather days, with days since hull cleaning, before any charterer claims.

Rules kept: proposed rule SC-02 awaiting approval, and active rules on co-signing, fuel price and restricted waters — **Rules kept**A ruling that model weather never overrides an observed sea state without a hindcast waits for approval before any agent applies it.

Documents screen: charter clauses, the claim email and routing report pages, noon and deck log pages for days 1 to 31, hindcast order and reply — **Documents of the claim**The charter, the claim email, the routing report, noon and log pages for each day, and the privileged note kept apart.

Audit trail for the claim: agent steps, the hindcast order and reply, the allowance decision and the claims manager's signature with its meaning — **Audit trail**From the first wind test to the co-signer opening the day sheet: each agent step, steer and decision, and what each signature means.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The records a speed and consumption claim is tested against

Charter partyClause 12, Appendix A and riders such as the hull-fouling period

The charterer's claimEmail with headers and the routing service's performance report

Noon reportsDistance, hours, main-engine and generator fuel, reported weather

Deck log pagesOfficers' wind and sea observations and remarks on each watch

Weather data providerHindcast orders and replies in fixed fields

Voyage management system and ERPVoyages, hire payments and the disputed receivable

What claims teams ask about speed and consumption claims

What are speed and consumption claims?

Speed and consumption claims are a time charterer's claims that a ship was slower, or burned more fuel, than the charter warrants in good weather. This solution tests each good-weather day the charterer counted against the clause and the deck log, and people sign the owners' answer.

What counts as good weather days under the charter?

Under the standard form, good weather means wind up to Beaufort force four and sea up to Douglas sea state three, unless Appendix A says otherwise. Periods of speed reduced for safety or in narrow or restricted waters are excluded.

How is the about allowance applied?

In practice about is read as half a knot off the speed and five percent on the fuel. That reading comes from case law and practice, so here it is labeled as the method chosen, editable, and priced both ways.

What if the deck log and the routing model disagree on a day?

The day is held, not decided. An independent hindcast is ordered for that day in fixed fields, and only the provider's figures move it.

Who decides whether to refer a claim to an independent expert?

The claims manager and the head of chartering. The what-if prices accepting, answering, settling and the expert route under the charter; no agent refers a claim.

Can we use it on claims we make against owners of ships we charter in?

Yes. The same queue holds claims by the owner against owners of chartered-in ships, tested the same way, day by day.

Chartering & Voyage Operations

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Speed and Consumption Claims

The charterer picks the good-weather days and deducts before you answer

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

Speed and consumption claims features, from routing report to co-sign

Good weather days sieved through the charter's own tests, one bar at a time

Good-weather clause turned into four tests, with the method shown

Deck log against the routing model, day by day, with each disagreement marked

Independent weather hindcast ordered in fixed fields for the disputed day only

Speed and fuel worked on the counted days only, against the about allowance

Charterer's objections to the owners' answer tested before anyone signs

Performance claim under the charter party priced reading by reading

Owners' answer letter, every sentence footnoted to the record it rests on

Head of chartering co-signs after opening the answer and the day sheet