Chartering services

A fully equipped advantage for customer needs

Global physical trading relies on exceptional logistics. Global Wits Consultancy Services now provides vessel chartering, a one stop solution to all your shipping needs. Our experienced and dedicated staff is qualified to assist you around the clock to handle all your business endeavors whether that includes bulk, general, reefer, and project focused, or heavy/oversize cargoes; we are looking forward to assist you.

It is conventional to charter a whole vessel for a one-time dispatch of a large consignment of cargo. Charter-party is a contract between the shipowner and a "charterer" for the leasing of a ship for the shipping of cargo.

We provide chartering services as for our regular partners (the shippers, buyers, traders) as well as for external customers.
If you need to charter a vessel to deliver project, bulk, heavy cargo or to establish regular deliveries of similar goods, the choice of our company as a partner, who will settle all the questions on the organization of this time-consuming process - is the optimal management decision. 

We offer a wide range of ships and cargo brokerage related services to a diverse international clientele of charterers, operators, ship owners, shippers and receivers trading in tramp market. Our shipping business is involved in transportation of grains, oils, seeds, fertilizers, steels, iron ore, coal, raw material, sugar, etc.

Operation routes: domestic coastal, SE Asia and Far East, U.S. Gulf, Australia, W. Africa, N. Africa and Middle East (Mena), Persian Gulf, Black sea and Med, Baltic sea and other areas.

Our primary task is to maximally facilitate and simplify the process for the customer organization of cargo transportation from point A to point B, with a maximum cut its costs and time of delivery. After examining the specification of the goods, quantity, terms of carriage, the route, our specialists will prepare the optimum scheme of delivery of cargo and offer the most convenient port for processing.

Our Chartering division works closely with ship owners to charter vessels for our customer’s shipments (both part and full cargo) by checking and planning all technical, legal and commercial aspects. In doing so, we are able to help to minimize any risk surrounding the transportation of our customer’s consignments, by supplying them with transport that is fully compliant with international standards.

We can offer flexible methods such as TC/TCT/VC/BBC according to customer’s specific requirements and has also established extensive, long-term and friendly partnership with main ship owners at home and abroad.

Moreover for ship-owners, charterers and/or operators of the vessels we also provide marine survey with our main objective is for your products to arrive always on time and in good order, allowing you to concentrate on your business challenges.

1) On/off hire survey, bunker & condition survey

2) Damage inspection

3) Loss prevention inspection

4) Pre-purchase survey (Ship & Cargo)

5) Marine casualties, collisions, grounding, stranding, pollution survey

6) Supercargo service

7) And Capabilities Services

• Break Bulk Vessel Charters

• Tanker Vessel Charters

• Containerized Vessel Charters

• Project & Heavy Lift Charters

• Custom Brokerage

• Strong Global Network

• Ship Breaking. Charters

• Dry/Bulk Cargo Handling

• Foreign to Foreign Chartering

• Insurance Arrangements

• Time Charters/Voyage Charters

• Documentation Handling Facility

• Slot Operator & Bookings

• Warehousing Facility

With significant experience and a broad chain of established contacts with ship owners and operators, our specialists will not only find a reliable carrier, but also to charter a vessel for the best price. What's in a serious volatility in freight rates and dependence on a variety of seemingly unrelated factors - is a significant advantage.

Furthermore, shipping brokers require extensive knowledge in the field of maritime law. By the number of prepared documents, this type of transport has a leading position, and therefore the correct and timely execution of all required documents significantly affects the speed of the organization of transportation.

However, ship chartering, though a major part of the transportation by water, do not forget about the problems of the organization handling operations (transshipment). In this connection, we ask you to pay attention to the presented list of the services we provide:

• Chartering of sea vessels / sea-river and river vessels on voyage charter and time charter basis;
• Settlement of disputes with shipowners / charterers / port services;
• Providing additional services for survey vessel / cargo;
• Control of the loading or discharging of cargo;
• Monitoring position of vessel;
• Selection of the insurer of the cargo;
• Handling of cargo at the port of loading and unloading;
• Selection of a customs broker;
• warehousing, freight forwarding

Freight - in maritime law: a contractual or statutory fee for sea carriage.
Freight primarily relates to voyage charter contract, as for the time-charter, and bareboat charter daily hire rate to apply.

Depending on the tasks set, the most optimal route of the sea freight contract is outlined:

• Time-charter of a vessel (an agreement for the provision of a vessel and services of crew members for use within a specified period for the shipment of goods for a fee (freight)).

During time charter ship owner is obliged for the duration of the contract to maintain the ship seaworthy (operating) state. Accordingly, he pays all the associated costs: maintenance, supplies, repairs, maintenance crew, vessel insurance, the cost of lubricants and cleaning materials, conducting regular surveys. The charterer organizes commercial operation of the ship and pays the costs directly related to the performance of the transport operation, in which he uses the ship.
        This group includes the following cost items: port dues, pilotage and towing assistance, mooring, stevedoring, agency, fuel and water for the boilers. The charterer also include vessel extra insurance in cases when it is caused by working in a dangerous area of ​​navigation and the cost of repairing damage caused by the ship as a result of the orders of the charterer, or the actions of its employees (shifts cargo stevedores action). 

A variation of the time charter is a contract under which the charterer pays all port charges (fees, services, stevedoring operations, agency), and the owner - the costs of operation, including maintenance of the crew, fuel, repairs and others.

• Agreement for the transport (the period of use of the vessel for transportation is limited by the route to be followed within the estimated time frame, and not by a specific time period) or Chartering of the vessel for the single voyage.

In this case, after delivery to the consignee and the end of all calculations on this voyage charterers and shipowners are free from mutual obligations. They may conclude another agreement with each other or with other partners in the same or other terms and conditions agreed with the same or another freight rate;

Chartering a vessel for several consecutive voyages.
      Under this contract the operator after the completion of the first voyage must immediately steer the ship in the second, then the third and so on to fulfill all the agreed number of voyages. The amount of freight is paid separately for each voyage on an agreed freight. During the entire term of the contract can not be without the consent of the charterer to carry cargo on board the other owners, even in passing, or ballast in the opposite directions. Replacement of the vessel, due to the agreement on a substitute in the first or any subsequent voyages should also be agreed with the charterer; 

Charter contract.
     It is an agreement for carriage on scheduled services of a certain amount of cargo the charterer for a specified calendar period (eg, 3-12 months). To fulfill its obligations the carrier has the right to involve not only owned but also the leased tonnage and replacement of vessels over the period of the contract. The main conditions of the chartering contract : term of the contract, with specific dates of start and end, the ports of loading and unloading; type and the total amount of cargo, distribution of traffic by month (in tonnes or number of voyages), type or capacity of vessels, which the carrier may be used to fulfill the contract, the minimum amount of supply ships for loading. The contract may be restricted by age and dimensions of vessels (length, draft full load), the requirements for adaptation to cargo operations, packaged for carriage of cargo by the presence of ice class and others.

The fundamental difference between leasing a whole cargo-ship and part of one is independence from other cargo owners, the route and terms set by the ship owner or single charterer.

It makes sense to charter an entire ship rather than a part of the ship when:

• The volume of your cargo is sufficient for sending by a separate vessel and the cost of such a dispatch is equal to the cost of sending a part cargo. In this case, you save time.

• It is impossible to use sea transportation services on a part-cargo basis at the place of loading / unloading. That is, you are the only one who wants to send cargo along this route. In this case, you will have to include the costs of organizing non-standard transportation in your budget.

• You need to deliver the cargo by sea to several destinations and one of the options for accomplishing this task is to charter a whole ship and send it on the route that you need.

Chartering of ships includes various components of transportation, primarily, the leasing of a ship and the organization of transportation. But this is not always enough, there are number of services associated with transportation that are not covered by a charter agreement:

• Organizational issues — coordination of the entry / exit of the vessel with the port, stevedoring services, dispatching, coordination of loading / unloading on site, etc.;

• Organization of "unlocking" (read more below), as well as the organization of loading / unloading at the roadstead from other floating facilities, and other non-standard issues.

These complications usually are not included in the charter agreement, but are included in a separate forwarding agreement.

In each specific situation we determine with the customer which contracts must be signed in order to fulfill the task.

The precarious nature of transportation in the Arctic zone is also associated with the possible lack of the necessary port infrastructure at the place of unloading.

In our practice, there has been a large number of projects related to the organization of unloading cargo on an unequipped shore (Wrangel Island, Schmidt Island, Novaya Zemlya, Bolshevik Island, Varandey, Dikson). In this case, for the organization of logistics, several vessels are used — one sea vessel, on which the entire shipment is loaded, and a barge-towing train, which carries out the movement of cargo from the sea vessel to the shore.

Such a format for organizing unloading involves drawing a larger ship with smaller ones to reach and unload upon arriving at the destination. It is very difficult for our customers to arrange such logistics on their own and can be expensive.

Lack of experience and the necessary skills in organizing complex logistics can result in additional costs, as well as losses — up to the failure of a supply contract.

Essential Factors You Should Know About Arctic Sea Shipping:

• There are two navigation periods — summer and winter. Summer — from early July to mid-October. Winter — from November to early May. These are conditional terms regarding the navigation period is determined by the maritime services every year, depending on the weather.

• Drafts of vessels and the passing draft at the place of unloading — for the correct selection of the vessel, you need to take into account and know all the data. Precipitation at each specific unloading site may vary from year to year; in the execution of complex projects, we organize the measurement of the water area.

• Rules for the location of cargo on the ship. Trying to draw up your own cargo plan can result into a failure during the real loading. The cargo plan should be drawn up by a specialist who knows the real specifics of the placement of cargo on the ship, and not only the theoretical foundations. We help our clients to solve these problems.

• Ensuring the securing of cargo on the ship — if you do not want to be responsible for the safety of the cargo during transportation, then it would be more appropriate to transfer this responsibility to the forwarder, who will organize the correct securing of the cargo and will be held responsible by you.

If you have any queries about it, call us on +84 707 578386 or send an email at chartering@gwcs.com.vn to know more.