terminal. The issue of demurrage, and who owes who what, can get very complicated. It is not our responsibility to file or allocate demurrage claims; but it is our responsibility to provide our clients with accurate and complete time logs that they can use when filing their own claims. Furthermore, it has also been known for our clients and/or terminal to attempt to pass demurrage charges back onto us. For example, there could be a lengthy delay in waiting for a sampling and analysis operation, which at first glance looks as though we were the reason for the delay, but in fact it wasn’t down to us and there were issues which held up the completion of our services. In this scenario, is very important that we detail all of the times relating to our activities, so we can defend ourselves. A lengthy delay which holds up a ship and only states something along the lines of “awaiting sampling and analysis” will inevitably be looked upon negatively by our clients unless we can provide an accurate account of what actually happened.
fluctuating a lot; a few minutes difference which sends it into the next day can make a significant difference.
16.1 Introduction A time sheet, log, or statement of facts is what we use to record all significant events that take place throughout the period of the operation. A time log is therefore a listing of descriptive entries with a corresponding date and time. It is not necessary for descriptive entries to be lengthy. In actual fact, they should be as short and unambiguous as possible while still being complete and accurate. Why is accuracy important in a time log? Well, to understand the reason for accuracy, it is necessary to recognise what our time logs are used for by our customers; and this falls into three main categories.
16.1.3 Payment of Services
Many of the services that we provide to our customers are based in whole or in part on the amount of time that it takes us to perform those services. The information on our time logs is therefore used by our clients to determine if our fee is accurate for the service provided. If we record very few times, it may suggest to the client that we are not doing as much as we actually are on the job. Remember, a lot of our clients these days do not understand what we do very well, and therefore, documenting what we factually do is important.
16.1.1 Demurrage and Charter Party Compliance
Our client is frequently the person who charters the ship, barge or pipeline that is used to transport the cargo we are inspecting. Central to this transaction is a contract, which is often called a "Charter Party". This contract specifies the terms and conditions of the charter. Most charters require that various cargo operations are to be completed in a specific amount of time. If this time is exceeded, the offending party will have to pay a penalty. This penalty is generally called demurrage. It is possible for a third party to cause the delay, such as when a berth or tank space is not available. In this case the vessel will claim demurrage from the charterer, who will in turn claim It from the
16.1.4 Internal Pricing Calculation
In addition to the three categories that are used by our customers, our time sheets can also be used to build a time profile per operation type, which then can be reviewed to establish the hours spent on specific jobs versus the price we are receiving for the job. This will enable us to ensure we are offering market competitive pricing, but also to make sure we are being paid appropriately for a specific job, and in some cases justify a rate increase. Without detailed time sheets, we cannot perform this kind of review, and crucially would not have the required data to present to our clients,
16.1.2 Cargo Price
In some cases, the actual cost of the cargo may be decided from the time log. The price of petroleum products is listed on many commodity exchanges. In times of high price fluctuations, cargoes are frequently sold on the listed exchange price around the time the Bill of Lading is signed. This can be based upon when the vessel finished pumping or when the hose is disconnected, which typically dictates the Bill of Lading date. If the price is
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