Emergency Contact Safe Ports Home Latest updates Publications Safe Ports 9 Aug 2023 View PDF Sign up for alerts Both time and voyage charterparties will normally place charterers under an obligation to order the ship to proceed to ports which are safe. Safe port disputes are normally complex and fact sensitive. We set out some of the principles a court or arbitration tribunal will usually apply when considering such claims. How does the ‘safe port’ obligation arise? The obligation usually arises by way of an express term in the charterparty. Examples of such terms include: NYPE 2015 (Clause 1): … (b) The Vessel shall be employed in such lawful trades between safe ports and safe places within the following trading limits… as the Charterers shall direct. (c) Berths – The Vessel shall be loaded and discharged in any safe anchorage or at any safe berth or safe place that the Charterers or their agents may direct, provided the Vessel can safely enter, lie and depart always afloat. Where there is no express term, the court may in certain circumstances imply a term as to safety. 1. What is a “safe” port? The often cited definition of a “safe port” was given by Sellers LJ in the case of  The Eastern City [1] : “…a port will not be safe unless, in the relevant period of time, the particular ship can reach it, use it, and return from it without, in the absence of some abnormal occurrence, being exposed to danger which cannot be avoided by good navigation and seamanship.” Physical risks which can render a port unsafe include: Grounding due to uncharted shallows, shoals, banks, bars, rocks or submerged objects / hidden wrecks; Meteorological risk such as storms, swells or ice; Berth characteristics such as defective fendering, water draft or air draft; Port set-up, including defective berthing procedures, inadequate tugs and pilotage arrangements. Political risks, including the risk of war and terrorism may also result in a port being rendered unsafe. In The Evia (No 2) [2