Lien on cargo and sub-freights
The contractual lien, what it secures, and the limits on exercising it at the discharge port.
A lien on cargo is a contractual right for the owner to retain cargo as security for sums due under the charter, and a lien on sub-freights is a right to intercept freight payable down a charter chain before it reaches the defaulting party. GENCON secures freight, deadfreight, demurrage and damages for detention in both live editions.
The two operate very differently. A cargo lien is possessory and can be defeated by local law at the discharge port, by the terms on which the bill of lading holder took the cargo, or simply by the practical impossibility of holding perishable or bulk cargo on board. A lien on sub-freights is an interception right rather than a possessory one and its characterization varies by jurisdiction.
The full article will cover what the lien secures, how it is exercised and at whose risk, the effect of discharge into a terminal, the position against a bill of lading holder, and the registration and characterization problems affecting liens on sub-freights.