London Arbitration 12/98

Laytime - calculation of despatch on basis of time saved - whether laytime exceptions should be taken into account

The vessel was chartered on the Gencon form. A dispute arose in relation to the calculation of despatch. The issue was as to how time saved should be calculated. The charterers took into account laytime exceptions and claimed despatch for time during a weekend which would have been excluded if the ship had been loading. The owners said that despatch should be calculated in the same way as demurrage would be, ie without the exclusion of excepted periods.