How to charter an LCT in the Philippines

Chartering an LCT is not the same as booking a berth on a liner service. There is no published schedule, no fixed port rotation, and no standard freight rate you can look up. When you charter an LCT, you are contracting for the exclusive use of a vessel for a specific voyage or period, and the terms of that contract — the freight, the timeline, the allocation of costs and risks between you and the vessel owner — are negotiated directly between the two parties. Republic Act No. 9295, the Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004, deregulates freight rates for tramp services of this kind, which means operators set their own rates without prior MARINA approval.1What you pay reflects the actual economics of your specific voyage, not a published tariff.

For shippers new to vessel chartering, the process can feel opaque. The terminology is specific, the commercial structure is unlike freight forwarding or trucking, and the consequences of misunderstanding a clause like laytime or demurrage can be financially significant. This is how we approach a charter from the first inquiry, and what each stage requires from both sides.

Before we can issue a freight indication or confirm vessel availability, we need a cargo description that is specific enough to allow a preliminary loading plan and a voyage cost estimate. A message that says "we need to move some equipment to Mindanao" cannot be quoted. A message that says "we need to move two excavators (each approximately 22 tonnes), one 50-tonne crawler crane, and 180 tonnes of bagged cement from Cebu to a beaching site in Misamis Occidental, delivery required by the first week of June" can be quoted.

1. 01Total cargo weight in metric tonnes, broken down by item or category. Rough estimates are acceptable at the inquiry stage, but we will ask for weighbridge tickets or equipment dataplates before the charter party is signed.
2. 02Cargo type and any special handling requirements. Heavy plant, hazardous materials, oversized items, or cargo that cannot be driven aboard under its own power all affect vessel selection and loading methodology.
3. 03Load port and discharge port, or the GPS coordinates of the beaching site if the destination has no port infrastructure. For beaching deliveries, we also need a description of the beach surface and local tidal conditions if you have them.
4. 04Required delivery date or delivery window. We work backward from this to confirm whether the vessel can complete the voyage within your schedule, accounting for loading time, passage time, and any weather contingency.
5. 05Whether you require the vessel for a single voyage or whether you anticipate repeat movements on the same route. Repeat volume changes the commercial structure of the engagement significantly.

We treat all cargo information provided at the inquiry stage as confidential. We do not share shipper cargo details with third parties.

Philippine inter-island LCT charters take two main commercial forms. The right structure depends on who bears the voyage risk and who controls the vessel's commercial deployment.

Under a voyage charter, we carry your cargo from the agreed load port to the agreed discharge port for a fixed freight amount. We provide the vessel, the crew, and the fuel. You provide the cargo and the port or beach access. The freight is settled as a lump sum for the voyage regardless of how long the transit takes, provided the delay is not caused by you. If the voyage takes longer than expected due to weather or port congestion, that is our risk. If the cargo is not ready when the vessel arrives and laytime expires, that is your risk and demurrage accrues. Voyage charters suit shippers who have a defined cargo and a specific one-way move to execute.

Under a trip time charter, you hire the vessel for a defined period covering a specific trip, paying a daily hire rate rather than a lump sum per voyage. You direct the vessel's movements within the agreed scope, and you bear the bunker cost and port charges directly. The vessel owner provides the vessel, the crew, and the maintenance. Trip time charters suit operators who need commercial control over the vessel's schedule — for example, a project with multiple delivery legs where the cargo sequence and site access windows cannot be fixed in advance.

A voyage charter freight quote from Majestic is a lump-sum figure covering the vessel, crew, fuel, and our operational costs for the described voyage. It does not include cargo handling at the load port (stevedoring, forklift, crane hire if required), PPA wharfage charges on the cargo, or any demurrage that accrues if loading or discharge exceeds the agreed laytime. These are standard exclusions in domestic cargo charters and should be budgeted separately.

The freight figure reflects the voyage distance and estimated fuel consumption at the planned speed, the round-trip cost including the ballast leg back to our base port if no return cargo exists, port dues at both ends, the vessel's daily operating cost including crew, insurance, and maintenance allocation, and a margin appropriate to the voyage risk profile. Beaching deliveries carry a higher margin than port-to-port moves because the approach, grounding, and refloating sequence introduces operational risks that a berth call does not. Routes through exposed sea areas during typhoon season carry a higher margin than sheltered coastal runs. These adjustments are not arbitrary — they reflect what it costs to operate safely on that specific route.

The ballast leg is the part of the cost shippers most often overlook. A vessel that discharges in Davao and returns empty to Cebu has run two voyages on your freight.

These three terms govern the time dimension of the charter party. They are the source of most commercial disputes in vessel chartering and the most important clauses for a shipper to understand before signing.

The laycan is the window within which the vessel must present itself ready for loading. It has two dates: the laydays (earliest date the charterer is obliged to accept the vessel) and the cancelling date (the latest date the charterer is required to accept the vessel). If the vessel arrives before the laydays, the charterer is not obliged to begin loading. If the vessel fails to present by the cancelling date, the charterer has the right to cancel the charter party without penalty. The laycan is our commitment on timing. Missing it without agreement from the charterer is a breach.

Laytime is the free time allocated in the charter party for loading and discharge operations. It is expressed in hours or days. Once the vessel presents notice of readiness and laytime commences, the clock runs. If loading or discharge is completed within the laytime, no further time charge applies. If operations run over, demurrage accrues at the agreed daily or hourly rate for every period the vessel is kept waiting beyond laytime. Demurrage is not a penalty — it is compensation to the shipowner for the opportunity cost of a vessel sitting idle when it could be on its next voyage.

Laytime counts are straightforward in principle but contested in practice. Weather days, waiting-for-berth time, and delays caused by vessel breakdowns each have specific treatments in the charter party language. We define these explicitly in every fixture we issue. Read them before you sign, not after the vessel has been sitting for two days and the demurrage clock has been running.

Once the charter party is signed, the operational sequence is as follows. We confirm the vessel's pre-departure schedule and the estimated time of arrival at the load port. The cargo officer begins the loading plan using the confirmed cargo manifest. You confirm that cargo will be available at the berth within the laycan window and that any permits, site access arrangements, or heavy vehicle escorts required at the destination are in place before the vessel sails.

The Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) requires operators to hold a valid Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) authorising the specific route being served.23 We maintain CPCs for our operating routes and can confirm coverage for your specific origin and destination before a fixture is signed. If your cargo move requires a route not covered by our current CPC, we apply to MARINA for an authorisation before committing to the charter. This is not a formality on routes we operate regularly, but it can add lead time on unusual itineraries.

On loading day, the cargo officer takes over from the commercial team. The cargo manifest submitted to the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)4at the load port must match the charter party cargo description. Any discrepancy between declared and actual cargo weight or type requires a revised manifest and may require a revised loading plan and freight recalculation before the ramp goes down. The charter party is the governing document from signature to final discharge. Any changes to cargo scope, route, or schedule after signing are treated as amendments and agreed in writing.