Cargo size and capacity. This quantity is one of the most crucial in a voyage charter. It can vary from a fixed amount to an amount with a margin.
For example, one margin can be “5 per cent more or less in Master’s/Owner’s option” which allows the vessel to load “down to its marks” according to the freeboards and loadlines allowed by legislation yet maximising the use of the vessel’s deadweight. Another margin gives the charterers or shippers an option (“CHOPT”). They may require this for flexibility to meet contractual commitments. It must be certain to the owner that the vessel can load safely to the charterer’s options. The cargo can also be determined on a fixed margin such as, “49,500-50,500 metric tons Minimum/Maximum” or as a fixed weight, such as “50,000 metric tons Minimum/Maximum”.
There may be other descriptions of the quantity of cargo such as “Full and Complete cargo”, “Complete cargo” (no option to the owner to complete with his own cargo) and “Part cargo”.
