Laytime, demurrage and despatch
Laytime is the time the charter party allows to load or discharge. A Laytime Calculation compares it with the time used, from the voyage's statement of facts, and works out the despatch earned or the demurrage owed, to the minute and to the cent. One calculation is made for each counterparty at each port, under that counterparty's own terms.
1. With whom
| Terms | Load port | Discharge port |
|---|---|---|
| FOB / FOBT (buyer charters) | With the supplier | With the buyer |
| CFR / CIF (you charter) | With the supplier and with the owner | With the buyer and with the owner |
Each calculation uses that counterparty's contract terms, so the same statement of facts can give different results on each leg.
Who pays whom: with a supplier you are the buyer: despatch is owed to the supplier, demurrage is owed to you. With a customer you are the seller: despatch is owed to you, demurrage you pay. With an owner you are the charterer: the owner pays you despatch, you pay demurrage.
2. Laytime rule sets
Shipping › Laytime › Laytime Rule Set: the charter-party practice, approved once and reused.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Terms | SHINC (Sundays and holidays included), SHEX (excluded), SHEX UU (unless used), SATPM SHEX (from Saturday noon), SSHEX (Saturdays and Sundays excluded), FHINC, FHEX (Fridays and holidays, for Middle-East ports) |
| Day Basis | Running Days, Working Days, Weather Working Days, Weather Permitting Days |
| Reversible | Load and discharge time pooled |
| Laytime Starts | After NOR and turn time, on NOR acceptance, or on commencement of operations |
| WIBON, WIPON, WIFPON, WCCON | Whether in berth / in port / in free pratique / customs cleared or not: waiting for these counts |
| Turn Time (hours) | Free time after NOR before laytime counts |
| Time Before Laycan Counts | Usually off: time before the laycan opens does not count |
| Once on Demurrage, Always on Demurrage | Once allowed time is used up, exclusions stop applying |
| Events That Never Count | For example Waiting Free Pratique, Initial Draft Survey, Final Draft Survey, Shifting, Weather Stoppage |
| Port Holidays | A holiday list excluded on *EX terms |
| Despatch as Share of Demurrage | Used when the contract gives no despatch rate (usually half) |
The port clauses change the excluded events: without WIBON, Waiting for berth never counts; WIPON lets waiting outside the port count; WIFPON lets waiting for free pratique count; WCCON lets waiting for customs count; on weather working or permitting days, weather stoppages never count.
Approval: Submit for Review (Logistics Coordinator) → Approve (Shipping Manager, not the requester) → later Revise or Retire.
3. Make a calculation
Shipping › Laytime › Laytime Calculation, New:
- Title (for example T.0101 load port laytime with the supplier), Voyage, Trade, Port (Load Port or Discharge Port), Port Name.
- Settled With (Supplier, Customer or Owner) and Counterparty; Contract (that leg's contract).
- Laytime Terms (the rule set).
- Terms: Cargo (MT) (the B/L quantity), Share of the voyage's cargo (%) (100 unless several cargoes share the voyage), Rate (MT per day) (for example 12,000), Laycan Starts, NOR Tendered, Currency, Demurrage per Day, Despatch per Day (from the contract).
- Save. The statement of facts is copied into Intervals: each event until the next. An interval counts when the event was marked Counts for Laytime, unless the rule set excludes it or it falls before the laycan.
4. Adjust the intervals
Each interval has From, To, Event, Counts, Share That Counts (%), Hours, Counted Hours and Why (for example does not count under SHINC WPD). Edit to match the agreed laytime sheet:
- Untick Counts for a period that does not count (turn time, arrival before laycan, waiting for free pratique, draft surveys).
- Set Share That Counts for a period that counts in part. Example: of 13h 20m spent on export documents only the last 1h 20m counts → split the row, or set the share so that 1h 20m counts.
- Actions › Reload from the statement of facts starts again from the voyage (your edits to the intervals are replaced).
5. The result
On save:
| Field | How |
|---|---|
| Allowed | Cargo ÷ rate per day, as days and as 6d 08h 27m |
| Used | The counted hours in order, less calendar time the terms exclude (Sundays, Saturday afternoons, Fridays, port holidays) while on laytime |
| Result | Despatch (allowed > used), Demurrage (used > allowed) or Nil |
| Saved / Lost (days) | The difference |
| Amount | Days saved × despatch rate, or days lost × demurrage rate, to the cent |
| Amount for this cargo | Amount (or the agreed amount) × the cargo's share of the voyage |
| Amount Agreed with Counterparty / Difference | The figure the counterparty billed, and how far it is from yours |
Example: 76,230 MT at 12,000 MT per day: allowed 6d 08h 27m. Used 3d 19h 25m. Despatch 2.543472 days × USD 8,250 = USD 20,983.65. The supplier billed USD 20,983.63 (rounded from the minutes); enter that as the agreed amount: the difference of −0.02 is kept for the record.
6. Shared cargoes
When several cargoes share one voyage, make one calculation per cargo owner with Share of the voyage's cargo (%); Amount for this cargo is that share of the vessel's result.
7. Approve and settle
| Step | Action | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Draft / Calculated | Submit for Approval | Logistics Coordinator, Trade Finance Executive |
| Pending Approval | Approve (not the requester) / Return | Shipping Manager |
| Approved | Mark Settled | Trade Finance Manager, Trade Finance Executive |
8. The debit or credit note
Actions › Raise the debit / credit note records the note as a Trade Document (type Debit Note) with the amount for this cargo, the vessel, the B/L number, date and quantity, and the allowed and used time:
- Our … debit note to … when the counterparty owes you;
- …'s … debit note to us when you owe the counterparty (the note you expect from them).
Print › Laytime Statement prints the calculation with its intervals for the counterparty.
The result also feeds the leg's commercial settlement: on a purchase credit, the supplier's despatch is added to (or demurrage deducted from) its commercial invoice, as the credit's 46A requires.