Cargo retention clause

A cargo retention clause is a tanker charter-party provision that lets the charterer deduct from freight the value of cargo that remains on board, pumpable but not delivered, after discharge. It targets liquid residue measured as remaining-on-board (ROB) quantity that the surveyor finds reachable by the ship’s pumps. The deduction is usually capped at the freight rate or FOB value of the retained cargo and is paid without prejudice to the owner’s defense that the residue was unpumpable or non-liquid (clingage, sediment). It shifts the commercial risk of poor outturn onto the owner and is standard on crude and product voyages.