CONTAINER DEMURRAGE: WAIT TILL WHEN?

摘要

Modern day carriage big package so called container is a very useful tool for both the carrier and the consignor/consignee. The carriage of goods in containers helps on one hand to lighten the carrier's responsibility especially in loading, stowing and discharging of the goods and increase the capacity of the carried goods for the consignor/consignee on the other. Therefore, carriage of goods by container poses new legal questions as well. One of the questions is the legal nature of container demurrage. More concretely, in case of the carriage of goods by container; most of the time the container is also chartered and a container charter fee is foreseen beside the carriage fee. Container charter fee includes a free time for the loading and discharging of the container and at the end of the free time, demurrage would be started with a demurrage rate. The question that will be raised here is that, if a maximum length of demurrage is not foreseen in the container charter agreement; till when the container demurrage fee will continue to accrue? More concretely, especially when the carrier could not contact or find the consignee what should the carrier do to stop the accruement of the container demurrage fee? On the other hand, what would be the situation of the debtor of the container charter if this is another person than the consignor/consignee (as freight forwarder for instance)? Regarding to respond these questions, after analyzing the legal nature of the container demurrage under English and Turkish legal system; a comparative analysis of English and Turkish Supreme Court's jurisprudences in the light of the maximum length of container demurrage would be done.