Chartering (shipping)

Chartering is an activity within the shipping industry whereby a shipowner hires out the use of their vessel to a charterer. The contract between the parties is called a charterparty (from the French "charte partie", or "parted document"). The three main types of charter are: demise charter, voyage charter, and time charter.
The charterer.
In some cases a charterer may own cargo and employ a shipbroker to find a ship to deliver the cargo for a certain price, called freight rate. Freight rates may be on a per-ton basis over a certain route (e.g. for iron ore between Brazil and China), in Worldscale points (in case of oil tankers) or alternatively may be expressed in terms of a total sum - normally in U.S. dollars - per day for the agreed duration of the charter.
A charterer may also be a party without a cargo who takes a vessel on charter for a specified period from the owner and then trades the ship to carry cargoes at a profit above the hire rate, or even makes a profit in a rising market by re-letting the ship out to other charterers.
Depending on the type of ship and the type of charter, normally a standard contract form called a charter party is used to record the exact rate, duration and terms agreed between the shipowner and the charterer.
Time charter equivalent is a standard shipping industry performance measure used primarily to compare period-to-period changes in a shipping company's performance despite changes in the mix of charter types.
Charter types.
There are three main types of charter:
Variations on these types include:
Charterers' Liability Insurance.
A Charterers' Liability Insurance is a type of insurance meant to protect shipping businesses from certain risk or liabilities. This could include fines and breaking of a law, cargo or vessel damage and physical injuries including and up to death.
Coverage of a Charterers' Liability Insurance can vary based on the charter-party type and additional inclusions or exclusions arranged prior to the purchase of the insurance.