Notice of Readiness (NOR)

A notice of readiness is the master’s or agent’s notice that the ship has arrived and is ready in all respects to load or discharge, the event that starts laytime running under a voyage charter. Validity turns on three things: the ship must be an arrived ship at the contractual point (berth, port, or whichever the charter specifies), it must be physically and legally ready, and the NOR must be tendered in the manner and during the hours the charter requires. A premature or invalid NOR does not trigger laytime, a frequent demurrage dispute.