Notice of readiness is one of the most litigated documents in commodity shipping. The timing, wording, and acceptance — each a potential trap that can shift thousands of dollars in laytime.
Laytime — the period the charterer or shipper gets to load or discharge without additional cost — starts running from the moment the vessel is ready and the NOR has been validly tendered. Get the NOR wrong, and you've either started the clock too early or failed to start it at all.
In grain trades under GAFTA or voyage charterparties, demurrage rates run from $5,000 to $30,000 per day depending on vessel size. A dispute over when laytime commenced — a matter of hours, sometimes — translates directly into real money.
1. The vessel must be an arrived ship. Under most berth charterparties, this means the vessel must be at the specified berth. Under port charterparties, arrival within the port area — even at anchor — is usually sufficient. The distinction matters enormously and should be in the contract.
2. The vessel must be ready in fact. Holds inspected and clean. Documents in order. No outstanding deficiencies that would prevent loading. A vessel that tenders NOR with dirty holds and then spends two days cleaning cannot count that time as laytime.
3. NOR must be tendered within permitted hours. Many charterparties restrict NOR to office hours or working hours. A NOR tendered on a Sunday evening may only become effective Monday morning — even if the vessel is genuinely ready.
"Time to count whether in berth or not (WIBON)"
This single clause, common in grain voyage charterparties, removes the arrived-ship requirement for berth charters. If the vessel is waiting for a berth due to congestion, time counts anyway — against the charterer. Sellers and buyers negotiating CIF or CFR contracts need to understand which party ultimately bears port congestion risk.
Charterers sometimes accept an invalid NOR — or fail to reject it in time — and then attempt to challenge its validity once demurrage becomes the issue. Courts and arbitral tribunals have generally held that if you accept a NOR without reservation and proceed with operations, you may have waived your right to challenge it later.
The practical lesson: if you receive a NOR that you believe is premature or invalid, reject it promptly and in writing. State your reasons. Don't simply file it away and raise the point months later when the demurrage claim arrives.
NOR disputes are won or lost on contemporaneous records. The statement of facts prepared by the port agent, the log abstract from the vessel, the port authority's records of vessel movements — these are the documents that determine when laytime actually started. If your agent is not keeping a precise statement of facts, you are building a future problem.
Check the charterparty before the vessel sails: what type of charter, what NOR permitted hours, does WIBON or WIPON apply. When the NOR arrives, read it against those terms immediately. If it's defective, reject it in writing the same day. Paper trails determine demurrage disputes — not recollections.