Paramount clause. (Also termed Clause Paramount.) This clause is generally found in a bill of lading but can also be found in a charterparty. The main purpose of such a clause is to incorporate the terms and conditions of the Hague or Hague-Visby Rules (or the Hamburg Rules) into the document which is (or which evidences) the contract of carriage of goods by sea. The Paramount clause can also incorporate particular legislation, such as the United States Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1936.

Disponent owner: This term refers to a person or company, which "displaces" or takes the place of the legal, registered owner. In chartering many examples can occur.

Delivery and redelivery clauses. A time charter commences with the "delivery" of the vessel to the (control of the) charterer and comes o an end with the “redelivery" of the vessel to the owner's control.

Colliery turn. This refers to the order in which vessels are taken into the loading and/or discharging berth. This may change the requirements for the commencement of laytime.

DOP (Dropping Outward Pilot). This expression is used to identify the point at which a time-chartered ship is "delivered" to the Charterer or "redelivered" to the shipowner. The place of delivery and redelivery are the places where the time charter commences or comes to an end.

Deviation clause. The word "deviation" can have a geographical meaning, where the vessel departs from its usual or customary route and then returns to it, or a purely legal, contractual meaning, where the contract is performed in a manner that is not originally contemplated, and this would be a departure from the manner agreed in the contract or implied by law. As an example of the latter form of "deviation", cargo may be carried on deck when deck carriage is neither authorised nor acceptable, depending on the nature of the goods. For example, in The Chanda, the vessel carried delicate, sophisticated and expensive computer equipment on top of Number 1 hatch, close to tile forward part of the Vessel. Heavy weather damaged the cargo severely. This was a deviation from the contract of carriage and because of this the carrier was permitted to rely on the terms of the contract to limit his liability for loss or damage. The owner had breached the contract of carriage.

Container sizes. The sizes of containers depend mainly on their external dimensions, so that, for example, a container can be an ISO standard “Series 1 Freight container, Rating 1AA” with external dimensions of 40 feet (length) x 8 feet (width) x 8 feet 6 inches (height). The dimensions are used in either imperial or metric units. Although much of the world has become metricated, the “box” or container is still referred to by its imperial units, for example, a FEU is a forty-foot equivalent unit (of space occupied).

Demurrage (a). In every contract, each party to the contract has certain agreed obligations. In a voyage charter one of the charterer's obligations is to load and/or discharge the vessel in an agreed period of time, the "laytime", without any payment additional to the agreed freight.

Deck cargo. When goods are carried on deck ("deck carriage"), they are exposed to the weather conditions; sea spray and seawater shipped on board the vessel.

Contractual liabilities. Liabilities incurred under contracts necessary for the normal operation of a ship, such as towage contracts, indemnities to port authorities, indemnities to stevedoring companies.

Damages for detention. "Damages" is the legal word for compensation or indemnity for loss suffered for a breach of contract. (It is also payable for breach of "tort", another branch of law, but this does not concern us here.) The amount of damages is, generally, the amount of loss actually suffered by one party by the failure of the other party to perform the contract. The contract is the charter. Damages can be "liquidated", that is, agreed by the parties as compensation.

Demise clause. This is commonly found in bills of lading issued by a charterer who enters into a contract of carriage of goods by sea with a shipper. A specimen clause is:

Dock water allowance (DWA). When a vessel moves from salt water to water of lower density it will increase its draught and vice versa.

DWCC (Deadweight Cargo Capacity). This is the part of the available deadweight for carriage of cargo. quantities of fuel, water and stores, etc. are not included.

Despatch money. Despatch money (or simply "Despatch") is the compensation paid to charterers provided the charterparty contains a stipulation to this effect if the loading or discharging operations are completed within the laytime allowed by the charterparty, that is, before the agreed laytime has expired. In other words, despatch money is the opposite of demurrage. The reason for the compensation is to reimburse charterers, shippers or consignees for any expenses they may have incurred in order to save time to the vessel. Despatch is not payable if the charterparty does not contain a clause providing for its payment.