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The three most common types of charter contracts are the voyage charter, the time charter, and the demise (or bareboat) charter.

A charter party is an agreement between charterer and ship owner to lease a ship. A bill of lading is an agreement that legally obligates the charterer to carry cargo that has been loaded aboard the ship. A time charter is a type of vessel chartering whereby the ship owner leases the ship for a set length of time.

In a demise (or bareboat) charter, the charterer takes responsibility for the crewing and maintenance of the ship during the time of the charter. He assumes the legal responsibilities of the owner, and is known as a disponent owner. In a time charter, the vessel is hired for a specific amount of time.

Since the transferee or consignee of the bill of lading is not party to the charter party, then the bill of lading is the contract of carriage. On the other hand if the consignee or transferee is the charterer then the charter party is the contract of carriage and it is not superseded by the bill of lading.

The test to distinguish a demise charter from a voyage or time charter is control. If the owner retains control over the ship, merely carrying goods designated by the charterer, the charter is not a demise. If the charterer controls the vessel and the master and crew are his, the charter is a demise.

A voyage charter is the hiring of a vessel and crew for a voyage between a load port and a discharge port. The charterer pays the vessel owner on a per-ton or lump-sum basis. The owner pays the port costs (excluding stevedoring), fuel costs and crew costs. The payment for the use of the vessel is known as freight.

What is the difference between Bareboat Charter and Demise Charter? If ship owners lease the ship with ship owner's crew members it is called Demise Charter. If ship owners lease the ship without crew members it is called Bareboat Charter. Ship Managers (Ship Management Companies) provide technical management services.

Demise charter, or bareboat charter, occurs when an owner hires or leases the vessel to a charterer who then provides the crew, together with stores and bunkers as well as paying for all the operating costs. In such cases the vessel will then likely be sub-let by the bareboat charterer on time and/or voyage charters.