270. Proceeding without delay.

The shipowner's duty is, subject to any agreement to the contrary, to proceed to the port of discharge without calling at any intermediate port, deviating from the proper course of navigation1, or failing to follow the course customarily taken by similar vessels on the voyage in question2. Parties are deemed to contract with reference to settled usage, so that, if there is a customary track consistent with the charter voyage, the ship must follow it3. If the voyage is described by reference to a series of intermediate ports of call, those ports must be taken in the order in