Laytime

Laytime is the period the charter party allows the charterer to load or discharge cargo without extra payment under a voyage charter. It is fixed as a number of days or hours, or by a loading or discharge rate in tonnes per day applied to the cargo quantity. Laytime begins after a valid notice of readiness and the lapse of any agreed notice time, and it runs subject to exceptions for weather, holidays, and other excepted periods defined in the charter. The statement of facts records the events that count for and against laytime; exceeding it triggers demurrage, finishing early earns despatch.