In the case of Silverburn Shipping (IoM) Ltd v Ark Shipping Company LLC (M.V. "Arctic") [2019] EWHC 374 (Comm), the High Court held that the owner was entitled to terminate a bareboat charter where the charterer had failed to maintain the ship's class for a short period of time while the ship was in dry dock.

The case provides clarification that a charterer's obligation to keep a ship in class under a Barecon charter is an absolute obligation and a condition of the contract. It also provides a warning of the importance of maintaining class under a bareboat charter at all times and the potentially drastic consequences of failing to do so.

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