Ships Business, Maritime Economics and Personnel Administration
What the exam tests
Ships Business, Maritime Economics and Personnel Administration tests charter parties, laytime, bills of lading, crewing, payroll and maritime economics. The exam expects commercial arithmetic and contract awareness.
Core rules and concepts
- Voyage charter: owner pays operating costs, charterer pays port costs and demurrage. Time charter: charterer pays bunkers and port costs; owner pays crew and maintenance.
- Laytime starts after valid NOR; demurrage is liquidated damages for delay beyond laytime; despatch is usually half demurrage.
- Hague-Visby Rules: carrier duties, package limitation and seaworthiness; a bill of lading is receipt, contract and document of title.
- MLC: crew accommodation, wages, repatriation, medical care and complaint procedures.
- Payroll and manning: check articles, certificates, rest hours, wage accounts and allotments.
- Voyage estimate includes bunkers, port dues, canal fees, commission and freight revenue; operating costs include crew, insurance and maintenance.
Worked example
Laytime allowed is 72 h; used is 80 h. Demurrage rate is USD 15,000 per day. Excess = 8 h = 8/24 day = 0.333 day. Demurrage = 0.333 × 15,000 = USD 5,000. If the charter party says once on demurrage, always on demurrage, the clock continues through weekends unless excepted.
Traps
Starting laytime before valid NOR; using despatch at full demurrage; confusing time and voyage charter cost allocation; ignoring package limitation; and treating MLC as optional.
Key points: NOR and laytime; demurrage calculation; Hague-Visby; MLC; voyage estimate; charter party allocation.