Disponent owner: This term refers to a person or company, which “displaces” or takes the place of the legal, registered owner. In chartering many examples can occur.
For instance, if a vessel is bareboatchartered by its owner to a demise Charterer, the latter can take over complete control of the vessel and its commercial operation, as if he is the actual owner. Also, both voyage charters and time charters usually captain a clause allowing the Charterer to “relet”, “sub-let” or “subcharter” the ship to another user, a “subcharterer”. The first Charterer, who is commonly called a “head Charterer”, is acting as if he was the actual owner; he can be referred to as the “disponent owner”.
The phrase can also refer to “control”, that is, the vessel is placed at the disposition or disposal of the Charterer.
