A bareboat charter, or demise charter, is an arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a ship or boat for which no crew or provisions are included as part of the agreement. Instead, the renter of the vessel from the owner is responsible for taking care of whatever the agreement specifies – insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc.. The act is commonly known as bareboating or bareboat charter.
There are legal differences between a bareboat charter and other types of charter arrangements, commonly called time or voyage charters. In a voyage or time charter, the charterer charters the ship or part of it for a particular voyage or for a set period of time. The charterer then can direct where the ship will go but the owner of the ship retains possession of the ship by its employment of the master and crew. In a bare-boat or demise charter, on the other hand, the owner gives possession of the ship to the charterer, and the charterer hires its own master and crew. The bare-boat charterer is sometimes called a "disponent owner". The giving up of possession of the ship by the owner is the defining characteristic of a bareboat or demise charter.
