What one safe berth, one safe port means in a charter party, who warrants it, and how draught and congestion make a berth unsafe. A misconception is that well known ports, frequently called, are safe. Safe doesn’t mean safe at this moment in time, but safe at the moment the vessel is in port. Any port in the world can become unsafe for the particular ship on charter. Accidents can happen always and everywhere. ARA Antwerp – Rotterdam – Amsterdam range of ports. ARAG Amsterdam-Rotterdam--Antwerp-Gent Range ARAGH Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Ghent. ARH Antwerp – Rotterdam – Hamburg range. ARHB Antwerp – Rotterdam – Hamburg – Bremen range. ASA Always safe (ly) afloat. ASAP (asap) As soon as possible. ASBA Association of Shipbrokers and Agents. A safe-berth clause is a provision in a ship charter agreement that requires the charterer to choose a docking location (berth) where the chartered ship will be safe from damage. The ship's master can refuse to enter an unsafe berth without breaching the charter. The Safe Berth clause requires the charterer to designate a berth that is physically safe for the vessel to approach, occupy, and depart from without risk of damage. This term is often used together with GSAAAAB (Good Safe Always Afloat Always Accessible Berth), with OSP (One Safe Port), with OSB (One Safe Berth) and to qualify the prices of the bunkers on delivery and redelivery in a time charter. This Comment uses the term safe-berth warranty to refer generally to the charterer's duty to send the vessel to a safe port and use the vessel in a safe berth. When and under what conditions is it safe? One port may be safe for smaller vessels, but not for larger ones. A port ordinarily acknowledged as safe may be unsafe at a particular time, perhaps if a violent hurricane is known to be bearing directly down upon it. What makes a port unsafe is essentially a question of fact: weather, inadequate berthing and mooring facilities, obstructions and defective navigational aids may render the port unsafe. However, the criteria which have to be applied in determining whether a port is safe are questions of law. While a safe port obligation will imply a safe berth warranty, the contrary is not the case. In the absence of a safe port obligation, the safe berth warranty will only apply to movements within the port and will not extend to the approach to the port.