Safe berth clauses are often imagined as protection against dramatic marine danger. In reality, the expensive risk may be something far more ordinary: bad depth information.
A seller sold 12,000 MT of oil FOB through its own berth on the usual wording: one safe berth at Seller's option. After a partial washout, the buyer nominated a vessel for 7,000 MT.
The vessel arrived already partly loaded, started loading, and after about 3,000 MT took the ground and developed a list. Official port data suggested a much greater available depth than the crew's actual soundings revealed.
The seller argued that it had not guaranteed any specific draft figure, that the bottom was soft and no damage occurred, and that the buyer had itself loaded inefficiently. The tribunal rejected all three points.
A safe berth warranty is not exhausted by the absence of physical damage or by the lack of an express draft guarantee. Unless the parties have agreed a NAABSA arrangement, the default assumption is that the vessel remains afloat.
A port is safe if the particular vessel can reach it, use it and leave it without being exposed to danger that cannot be avoided by good navigation and good seamanship, absent abnormal occurrences.
The important danger here was not weather or rock. It was outdated port information. The master relied on published data that had not been properly updated, while a more current sounding showed materially less depth.
If berth selection is on your side under an FOB contract and the berth is described as SAFE, treat that word as a real operational warranty. One stale depth table can cost almost USD 200,000.