Cargo, Chartering & Trade led by a Master Mariner and ICS member
Most disputes are won or lost in the drafting: a charter party clause that allocated risk badly, a laytime calculation nobody checked, a cargo that arrived without the right India import paperwork. Commercial and documentary support across the full cargo lifecycle, led by a Master Mariner and Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (M.I.C.S., UK).
Where the commercial document meets the cargo reality.
Most disputes in shipping originate on the commercial and documentary side: a charter party clause that allocated risk badly, a laytime calculation nobody checked, a cargo that arrived without the right import paperwork, a bill of lading that said more than it should have. These matters are won or lost long before they reach a tribunal, in the drafting and the documentation.
Capt. Pramod Kumar Singh holds two credentials that matter here. He is a Master Mariner (F.G.) and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (M.I.C.S., UK). So Lex Dux can speak credibly on both the operational deck side and the commercial chartering side of any fixture, cargo or dispute.
This vertical serves charterers and operators on charter party drafting, vetting, and post-fixture disputes; cargo interests and traders on import/export documentation and the India-specific compliance regime; and both sides on demurrage, laytime, and cargo claim disputes.
Four scopes we deliver well.
Engagements typically begin with a discrete deliverable from this list and develop into ongoing advisory relationships where the fit is right.
Charter party drafting & vetting
Drafting and vetting of GENCON, NYPE, Shelltime, BPVoy, Asbatankvoy, Synacomex, and bespoke forms. Clause-by-clause exposure analysis, rider clause drafting, and amendment recommendations. The highest-leverage point to prevent a dispute is before the fixture is concluded.
Demurrage & laytime analysis
Voyage accounting, NOR validity analysis, laytime calculation under standard and bespoke definitions, demurrage quantification, time-bar analysis, and dispute preparation. Strength in dry bulk and tanker voyage disputes, with detailed documentary laytime statements.
Technical and commercial support in cargo and charter party disputes
Support across cargo claims and charter party disagreements: technical analysis, evidence and documentary preparation, settlement positioning, and support to the client's lawyers. Technical maritime grounding that strengthens the commercial case.
Import & export documentation advisory
Advisory on the documentary chain for import and export shipments: bills of lading, letters of credit alignment, certificates of origin, customs and port documentation, and the India-specific regulatory paperwork. Preventing the documentary errors that delay cargo and trigger disputes.
Partner-led, scoped tightly, accountable end-to-end.
Every engagement in this vertical is led directly by Capt. Pramod Kumar Singh. The ICS training, the commercial chartering knowledge, the master mariner background, and the India trade-compliance experience are not delegated to associates.
For pre-fixture work, such as charter party drafting and vetting, engagement timing is critical, and we turn around standard-form vetting within 48 hours. For demurrage and laytime work, engagements are project-based with a defined deliverable and a fixed-fee or capped-hourly arrangement. For import/export documentation work, we scope against the specific shipment and its timeline, because port delay is the cost that matters.
For disputes, we work alongside the client's lawyers in a technical and commercial advisory role, covering technical analysis, evidence preparation and expert input. We do not provide legal services.
Common questions, candidly answered.
What charter party forms do you regularly work with?
On the dry bulk side: GENCON 1994 / 2022 (voyage), NYPE 1946 / 1993 / 2015 (time charter), Baltime 2001, and Synacomex 2000.
On the tanker side: Asbatankvoy, BPVoy 5, Shellvoy 6, Shelltime 4, and BPTIME 3.
For project cargo, gas, container, and specialised trades, we work with the relevant industry-standard or bespoke forms. Most of our drafting work, in practice, is on rider clauses and amendments to standard forms. That is where most fixture-stage disputes are prevented or planted.
How do you handle demurrage disputes?
Three phases: NOR validity analysis (was Notice of Readiness properly tendered, was the vessel ready in fact and law), laytime accounting (commencement, exceptions, interruptions, exhaustion), and demurrage quantification against the charter rate.
We prepare detailed laytime statements with documentary support for each step, identify counterparty exposure points, and prepare a settlement-positioning analysis, or technical material for the client's lawyers. Time-bar analysis matters. Many demurrage disputes turn on procedural points before substantive merits are reached.
What does the import/export documentation advisory cover?
The full documentary chain that moves a cargo across a border: bills of lading (and their alignment with the underlying sale and any letter of credit), certificates of origin, packing and commercial documentation, customs paperwork, and the India-specific regulatory documents a given cargo requires.
Most cargo delays and a surprising share of disputes trace back to a documentary mismatch: a bill of lading inconsistent with the LC, a missing certificate, a description that triggers a customs query. We review the documentary set before shipment to catch these, and advise on corrections when a shipment is already in difficulty.
What happens if a dispute goes to court or arbitration?
Lex Dux is a technical and commercial consultancy and does not provide legal services. If a cargo or charter party dispute escalates, the client instructs its own lawyers. We work alongside them in a technical and commercial advisory role: documentary and evidence preparation, expert input, and commercial strategy support.
For international arbitration where technical maritime or commercial chartering evidence is determinative, we can serve in an expert or expert-support capacity.
From charter party vetting to import documentation, we work where commercial knowledge matters.
Send a brief note about the fixture, cargo, or documentation issue. Response within one working day; same-day for shipments in progress.