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Boiler consumption of fuel oil - Time charter

“Whilst in port, the ship consumed about half a ton of fuel oil each day in her boiler, and the owners said the charterers had to pay for this. The charterers maintained that any port consumption was in respect of domestic purposes only and was not therefore for their account under clause 20. We could not accept that argument. Alternatively, the charterers said that if on the fact of it the consumption was for their account, the owners had misrepresented the ship’s bunker consumption, since there was no reference to port consumption in the charter. That, as a matter of fact, is true: whilst the charter gave a fairly detailed description of the anticipated consumption of bunkers in port, this related only to diesel oil. In these circumstances, we did not see how the charterers could be liable for the cost of fuel oil consumed whilst in port. The charterers’ claim for credit in respect of 18.96 metric tons of fuel oil accordingly succeeded.”