Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly
Laytime, demurrage and multiple charterparties
Trond Solvang *
Governing legal principles concerning laytime and demurrage are basically derived from case law concerning single charterparties. In the tanker parcel trade, and to some extent also the dry cargo trade, multiple charterparties are being used for one and the same voyage. Questions relating to laytime and demurrage concerning such multiple charters are often difficult to resolve
—both because of the factual complexity resulting from various charterers being involved during the vessel’s port calls, and also because there may be limited guidance to be found in case law based on single charterparties. This article addresses a selected number of issues concerning laytime and demurrage under multiple charterparties.
1. Background
In the tanker parcel trade it is common to agree to clauses addressing the particular questions which may arise in relation to various charterers being involved during the vessel’s loading and discharging, an example of which could be:
Time waiting for load berth and/or discharge berth to be prorated based on the amount of each charterer’s cargo in relation to the total cargo to be handled at such berth.
This article will not deal primarily with such clauses and how they should be construed but rather with the legal position when no such specific regulation is agreed. The questions that typically arise can be divided into three categories concerning respectively:
- (i) commencement of laytime and validity of notice of readiness;
- (ii) the running of laytime during period when the vessel is occupied in activities for other charterers; and
- (iii) prorating of demurrage claims.
Discussion of some of these issues may vary according to whether we are dealing with dry or wet cargo; some sections of this article are subdivided accordingly.
2. Commencement of laytime—validity of notice of readiness
The question whether a valid notice of readiness can be given to all part charterers at the same time cannot be answered without reference to the traditional requirements which must be met for a notice to be valid. First, the vessel must geographically have become “an arrived ship” with respect to all charterers. This is not usually a problem since owners
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