2.1 Initial remarks
In the absence of directly relevant rules in the Maritime Code, the time charters themselves form the central source of law. The charter law is further illuminated through case law and the maritime law literature. We have already seen positions taken by the Norwegian maritime law authors. The idea here is to approach the issue with a blank slate and revisit the Norwegian maritime literature at the end to review our findings.
The Norwegian case material is sparse. Besides customary principles of interpretation, analogies and contract law concepts will be used as tools to illuminate and substantiate the charter construction. Since we are at times entering somewhat unchartered territory under Norwegian law, the discussion may be seen as having a de sententia ferenda-character. But the perspective is in principle the law as it is.
In addition to charter construction, the research question involves general principles on the measure of damages. On that point, the exposition will rely on these principles especially as illuminated by the Norwegian and Scandinavian contract law literature. When we later in the discussion focus on the 1A scenario and the potential binding effect of notice, we rely as well on principles applicable to the formation of legal dispositions.
When the perspective is Norwegian law, it will for most practical purposes entail that the parties opt for Norwegian law to adjudicate disputes arising within an international standard form. A recurring methodical issue in that context is the relevance and weight of foreign, primarily English, legal opinions on the charter construction. It is therefore necessary to anchor and explain how the thesis approaches foreign source material, see 2.2 below. Thereafter, the overall conceptualization of the research problem will be explained followed by a layout of the remaining thesis structure.