Contract analysis

I. Branch One — Liquidated Damages Cap Interpretation (Clause 28 of the Charter-Party) Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment on the interpretation of the liquidated damages provision set forth in Clause 28 of the Charter-Party is GRANTED. It is hereby DECLARED AND ADJUDGED that:

1. The phrase "single continuous period of breach" as set forth in Clause 28 of the NYPE 2015 form time charter-party (as amended by the parties), executed on December 3, 2020, governs the Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollar ($4,500,000) cap as a single aggregate maximum for all liquidated damages recoverable under Clause 28 across the entire thirty-six (36) month charter period, which ran from January 15, 2021

2. Plaintiff's claim for liquidated damages under Clause 28 of the Charter-Party is limited to Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($4,500,000) in the aggregate for the entire charter period, and Plaintiff may not recover separate $4,500,000 caps for each of the three alleged breach periods identified in the Complaint, to wit: (a) Incident 1: March 12 through April 2, 2022, comprising twenty-two (22) off-hire

3. Applying the mathematical formula prescribed by Clause 28 of the Charter-Party — namely, one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the aggregate off-hire days multiplied by the daily hire rate of Fourteen Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Dollars ($14,750) — yields a liquidated damages figure of One Million Five Hundred Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,504,500) based on the sixty-eight (68) total claimed off-hire days.

II. Branch Two — Deviation Claim (Maputo, Mozambique — September 2022) Defendants' motion for partial summary judgment dismissing Plaintiff's Deviation Claim is GRANTED. It is hereby ORDERED AND ADJUDGED that:

1. Plaintiff's claim that Defendants breached the Charter-Party by directing the M/V Aegean Fortuna (IMO No. 9847231, Liberian-flagged Supramax dry bulk carrier, 58,200 DWT) to call at the port of Maputo, Mozambique in September 2022 during a voyage from Durban, South Africa to Qingdao, People's Republic of China is hereby dismissed. The undisputed record demonstrates that the alleged deviation was within the scope o

2. Plaintiff's associated claims for demurrage and dead freight arising from the missed Qingdao laycan window of October 1 through October 5, 2022, in the amount of One Million Two Hundred Thirty Thousand Dollars ($1,230,000), to the extent such claims are predicated solely on the Deviation Claim, are hereby dismissed together with the Deviation Claim.

3. The foregoing dismissal of the Deviation Claim and associated demurrage and dead freight claims is without prejudice to any other claims Plaintiff may have relating to damages arising from the mechanical incidents alleged in the Complaint, which claims shall continue in this action and shall not be affected by this Order.

III. Additional Provisions All other relief requested by Defendants that is not expressly granted herein is denied. The remaining claims and counterclaims in this action — including, without limitation, Defendants' counterclaim for One Million Six Hundred Twenty Thousand Dollars ($1,620,000) in withheld hire for the period October 1 through December 31, 2022 — shall proceed to trial or further proceedings in accordan