What price a breach?

This is the question confronted, first, by an experienced LMAA tribunal and then, on appeal from the arbitration award, by Christopher Clarke J in a time charterparty dispute involving Transfield Shipping (the charterer) and Mercator Shipping (the shipowner) in Transfield Shipping Inc of Panama v Mercator Shipping Inc of Monrovia [2006] EWHC 3030 (Comm).

The facts

The vessel involved was the Achilleas , a 1994-built bulk carrier of about 36,000 gt managed by the not insubstantial Danaos Shipping Co Ltd of Pireaus, Greece. On 22 January 2003 she was chartered on amended NYPE 1946 Form to Transfield Shipping Inc, a major charterer in the dry bulk sector operating out of Hong Kong and specialising in Chinese business. Initially the charter period was for about five to seven months (exact period at charterer’s option) and in which the word ‘about’ was defined to mean plus or minus 15 days. The hire rate was US$13,500 per day and the charterer had to give the owner approximate notice of the re-delivery date and port of re-delivery at 20 and 15 days and definite notice of the re-delivery date and port at 10, 5 and 3 days.