Always accessible

Always accessible is a berth warranty that the vessel can both reach and, on the modern reading, leave the nominated berth without delay whenever she arrives. English law treated it as covering entry only until ‘The Aconcagua Bay’ (2018) confirmed it also covers departure, so a berth blocked on the way out breaches the warranty. It is stronger than ‘reachable on arrival’, which addresses arrival alone. Where the berth is congested or tidally restricted, an always accessible term shifts the waiting-time risk to the charterer and supports an owner’s claim for detention or demurrage.