Grain pain

A pool manager fixed a ship to load a cargo of grain at a South American port.

However they advised the owner of the pool of the wrong costs, which were then used to calculate freight. The manager had calculated the port costs based upon an earlier Final Disbursement Account (FDA) for a previous call by another ship at the same port. Those costs were US$80,000. However, the current ship was bigger by 40,000 MTS, placing it in a higher pricing bracket under terminal rules. Furthermore, the ship had a deeper draft and a second pilot was required.

The final port costs, estimated by the manager at US$80,000 were actually US$220,000. The loss to the owner was therefore the amount in excess of US$80,000 ie US$140,000 – which they did not put into the freight.

ITIC settled this claim in full.