Meaning & use
charter party
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountablelegaltechnical
A written contract in which a shipowner agrees to let another person or company hire a ship, or part of one, for a trip or period.
Grammar: Countable: they signed a charter party.
Patterns
- a charter party between someone and someone
- sign a charter party
The two companies signed a charter party for a six-month voyage.
The charter party set out the rate and the ports the ship could visit.
A dispute over late delivery was settled under the terms of the charter party.
Word forms
| plural | charter parties |
|---|
Common combinations
- sign a charter party
- The shipper signed a charter party in London.
- under the charter party
- Under the charter party, the cargo owner paid for fuel.
- a voyage charter party
- They agreed a voyage charter party for a single trip.
- breach of a charter party
- The owner claimed breach of the charter party.
Synonyms and how they differ
- charter agreement
- Charter agreement is a plainer wording of the same idea, while charter party is the traditional shipping term.
- hire contract
- Hire contract is a general phrase for renting anything, whereas charter party always concerns a ship or similar vessel.
- freight contract
- A freight contract is about moving goods, while a charter party is about hiring the vessel itself.
Word family
Commonly confused: charter party or charter party boat?
charter party vs charter party boat
A charter boat is a vessel hired for fishing or sightseeing, while a charter party is the contract; people sometimes mistake it for a party held on a boat.
Practice
The shipowner and the grain company signed a ____ setting the fee for the voyage.
Choose one answer.
A charter party is the contract for hiring a ship. A party line or birthday party involves a different meaning of party, and none of them is a contract for a voyage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “charter party”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.