10/83

Gencon form - Laytime commencement date omitted from charter - When laytime starts

The printed clauses of the Gencon form do not include any provision as to the commencement of laydays. The present fixture was negotiated very shortly before the ship arrived at the loading port. The fixture recap stated “laydays 22/30 July”. [The arbitrators held that that was clearly intended to mean that laydays were not to commence before 22 July, and that 30 July was the cancelling date.] However, when the charter was drawn up, the provision did not quite appear in that form. In clause 1, the ship was described as “expected ready to load under this charter about 22 July 1980” and clause 6 contained the cancelling date of 30 July.