Under English law, a ship is chartered for 24 months. Due to the owner's breach of a term requiring the ship to be 'seaworthy', the ship is out of service for five weeks. The term could be broken in trivial or serious ways. How is the term classified and what is the charterer's remedy?

Correct answer: D) An innominate term; the charterer can claim damages but can only terminate if the breach deprives it of substantially the whole benefit of the contract

Explanation

Following Hong Kong Fir Shipping v Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, a term that can be broken in ways ranging from trivial to serious is innominate. The remedy depends on the seriousness of the consequences: termination is available only if the breach deprives the innocent party of substantially the whole benefit intended, otherwise damages only. Losing five weeks of a 24-month charter is unlikely to meet that test, so the charterer would be limited to damages.