Distance freight. Cargo may sometimes have to be discharged at a port other than the original port of destination, for instance if a vessel runs the risk of being frozen in by ice and the master considers it prudent to deliver the cargo at the nearest safe port.
If the extra distance causes the owner to incur additional risk or expense, he can require to be compensated by extra freight, which is called “distance freight”. The General Ice clause usually found in. the GENCON charterparty states, for the port of discharge:
“(a) If during discharging the Captain for fear of vessel being frozen in deems it advisable to leave, he has liberty to do so with what cargo he has on. board and to proceed to the nearest accessible port where she can safely discharge.
(b) On delivery of the cargo at such port . . . vessel shall receive the same freight as if she had discharged at the original port of destination, except that if the distance of the substituted port exceeds 100 nautical miles, the freight on the cargo delivered at the substituted port to be increased in proportion.”
