Off-hire
Under a time charter, the charterer pays the shipowner a daily hire rate for use of the vessel. Off-hire is the period during which hire stops being earned because the vessel is unavailable or under-performing through no fault of the charterer — for example: breakdown, dry-docking, crew arrest, deficiency, inability to maintain warranted speed/consumption.
Off-hire clauses vary by charter party form (NYPE, BALTIME etc.), but typically include the events that trigger off-hire, the start/end mechanics, and whether bunker consumed during off-hire is for owner's or charterer's account.
Off-hire is a major commercial issue: every day of off-hire is revenue lost to the shipowner. Ship management software tracks every off-hire event with start/end timestamps, root cause, supporting evidence (master's log, surveyor's report) and the hire adjustment.
Every off-hire day is revenue the owner loses. The off-hire clause and the evidence around it — master's logs, surveyor reports — decide who bears the cost of downtime, so tracking every event precisely, with start and end timestamps and root cause, is how owners protect their income.
A vessel on $18,000/day hire is off-hire for 2.5 days after a breakdown. The hire deduction = 2.5 × $18,000 = $45,000 — revenue the owner does not earn for that downtime.
What events trigger off-hire?
Typically breakdown, repairs, dry-docking, deficiency, crew issues or failure to maintain warranted speed and consumption — anything that makes the vessel unavailable through no fault of the charterer, as defined in the charter party.
Who pays for bunkers during off-hire?
It depends on the charter party clause — some put off-hire bunker consumption on the owner's account, others on the charterer's.