Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Demurrage

DEMURRAGE, in the law of merchant shipping, is the sum payable by the freighter to the shipowner for detention of the vessel in port beyond the number of days allowed for the purpose of loading or unloading. The contract between the parties generally specifies the amount per day to be paid as demurrage, and the number of days for which the ship may be detained at that rate. If it should be detained longer than the specified time of demurrage, the freighter will be entitled to damages, the measure of which will (in general, but not necessarily) be the sum agreed upon between the parties for demurrage. If no time is specified for unloading a ship, the " usual customary time" will be implied. But when there is positive contract that the goods are to be taken out by a fixed day, any delay beyond that time, not caused by the act of the shipowner himself, will make the freighter liable for demurrage, whether the delay is caused by him or not. So an agree ment to load, nob mentioning time, according to the customary manner, is an agreement to load within a reason able time according to the usage of the port ; and any delay beyond that time, though caused by circumstances beyond the control of the freighters, will make them liable. In calculating the number of lay-days (i.e., the days allowed for loading, &c., and not chargeable with demurrage), Sundays will be taken into account, unless it is otherwise specified or there is a custom to the contrary. The con tract to pay demurrage in a charter-party is between the freighters and the shipowner ; but if demurrage is mentioned in the bill of lading, the consignee will be held to take the goods under an implied obligation to pay the demurrage, and the master may sue for it in his own name. See CHARTER-PARTY.