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Contract of Affreightment (COA)

What is Contract of Affreightment?

Contract of Affreightment is an agreement between a charterer and a shipowner, where the shipowner agrees to transport specific number of goods for the charterer at a specified period.

Under this agreement, the charterer is obligated to pay the freight whether the goods are ready for shipment or not.

This is an agreement that exists between a ship-owner and a charterer.