Re: (2012) 852 LMLN 2 The Gaz Energy

Earlier this year in London Commercial Court a case arose regarding the application of the term aboutwith regards to fuel consumption. QTE: Held, that on the first issue the important question was the meaning of overperformance. That meant a performance better than that warranted. The consumption warranted was about 40 mt which meant between 38 and 42 mt per day. If the consumption was less than 38 mt per day the vessel was clearly performing better than warranted. However, if the consumption was between 42 and 38 mt per day the vessel was performing in accordance with the warranty, not better than the warranted performance. That was how the clause would be understood by the reasonable man and was the true construction of Clause 42. UNQTE: In order to be in compliance with this court ruling, AWT will modify the method for calculating fuel allowance. In the absence of other terms in the charter party agreement which would override this, AWT will adopt the following policy. Fuel (over) or under consumption is indicated if the actual consumption is outside the range of what would have been achieved at the stated consumption allowance, based on the Total Time En Route, with above adjustments for any time gain or loss. Allowance in relation to consumption, for any 'about' in the wording of the Charter Party, is as instructed by AWT's client. As mentioned, the tolerance for the word about does not have a legal definition and AWT will apply the tolerance as described by our client.