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Baltime charter - Whether charterers or owners responsible for cleaning sludge tanks

A recent London arbitration dealt with something of a novel point. The question was a short and simple one. The vessel was chartered on the Baltime form. Expenses were incurred by the owners for cleaning the ship’s sludge tanks. The owners said that those costs were for charterers’ account. The charterers said that it was not their liability to pay for tank cleaning, even though the cleaning had to be carried out at frequent intervals during the charter period.