Bare-boat charter refers to a particular lease arrangement involving a ship. The lease of a ship is generally contained in a legal document called a “charter party” or “charter” for short. There are various types of charters. The more common are “voyage charter”, “time charter” and “bare-boat charter” (also called “demise charter”). In a voyage or time charter the charterer charters the ship (or part of it)for a particular voyage or for a set period of time. In these charters the charterer can direct where the ship will go but the owner of the ship retains possession of the ship through its employment of the master and crew. In a bare-boat or demise charter, on the other hand, the owner gives possession of the ship to the charterer and the charterer hires its own master and crew. The bare-boat charterer is sometimes called a “desponent owner”. The giving up of possession of the ship by the owner is the defining characteristic of a bare-boat or demise charter. (For landlubbers the comparison would be between hiring a taxi for a trip (voyage charter) or for a day (time charter) and renting a bare-boat charter (car)
