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CHARTER PARTIES
GENCON - Clause 6
Laytime
LOADING/DISCHARGING TIME
To load and/or discharge the ship the charter party foresees a number of days called laydays which must be described in such a manner that later no dispute can arise.
In former days the time allowed to load and/or discharge the ship was determined "according to the custom of the port". Because the term "custom of the port" is very elastic and generally insufficiently known by the parties concerned, this way of description of the laydays is not recommended.
The laydays are set during the negotiations between the Ship Owner and the Charterer (via the brokers) and often, an agreement is only reached after days of long and labour intensive discussions.
In principle the laydays can be set in three manners:
- according to a fixed number of days/hours) which are necessary for the loading and/or discharging operations;
- without a fixed number of days/hours);
- according to a quantity to be loaded or discharged.
When describing the laydays, numerous expressions are used such as: "running days"," working days", "weather permitting", "as fast as steamer can deliver that", etc. which are often interpreted in a different way by the parties concerned and therefore create sometimes endless discussions or lawsuits. In the following paragraphs most used terms and expressions which are related to the laydays are commented upon.
