Sources
Each quote below was copied from the page named, fetched on 3 October 2026, and is checked word for word against our saved copy of that page by an automated test. Where we could not find a source we can quote, it says so. The calculation never takes a rule from here as a default: every rule is a term of the charter party, entered or confirmed by a person for each voyage.
The texts themselves
BIMCO/CMI/FONASBA/Baltic Exchange, Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties 2013, preamble
“when any or all such definitions are expressly incorporated into the Charter Party.”
The definitions apply only when the charter party incorporates them. So the calculation takes each rule as a term the reviewer confirms from the CP, and these definitions are shown as the reference reading, not as defaults.
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BIMCO Special Circular No. 8 (2013)
“The full text of the Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties 2013 is available to download free of charge from the Chartering/Clauses section of the BIMCO website (www.bimco.org)”
The text is public; every definition quoted here is from it.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 5
“LAYTIME shall mean the period of time agreed between the parties during which the owner will make and keep the Vessel available for loading or discharging without payment additional to the freight.”
Laytime is the time agreed in the charter party — entered per port call, or as one reversible total.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 8
“DAY shall mean a period of twenty-four (24) consecutive hours. Any part of a Day shall be counted pro rata.”
Time is counted to the minute and a part of a day pro rata; demurrage is minutes × daily rate ÷ 1440.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 14
“HOLIDAY shall mean a Day other than the normal weekly Day(s) of rest, or part thereof, when by local law or practice work during what would otherwise be ordinary working hours is not normally carried out.”
A holiday is a fact of the port's law or practice, so the reviewer enters the port's holidays; the tool knows no holiday calendar.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 19
“EXCEPTED or EXCLUDED shall mean that the Days specified do not count as Laytime even if loading or discharging is carried out on them.”
An excepted period does not use laytime, even if cargo is worked in it.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 22
“UNLESS USED shall mean that if Laytime has commenced but loading or discharging is carried out during excepted periods, actual time used shall count as Laytime.”
Under "unless used", the reviewer marks the hours actually worked in an excepted period, and they count.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 21
“UNLESS SOONER COMMENCED, IN WHICH CASE ACTUAL TIME USED TO COUNT shall mean that actual time used during turn-time shall count as Laytime.”
If the CP says so, time counts from the start of cargo work when it begins before the notice time has run out.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 24
“REVERSIBLE LAYTIME shall mean an option given to the charterer to add together the time allowed for loading and discharging. Where the option is exercised the effect is the same as a total time being specified to cover both operations.”
Reversible laytime is one total used up across the port calls in order.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 23
“TO AVERAGE LAYTIME shall mean that separate calculations are to be made for loading and discharging and that any time saved in one operation is to be set off against any excess time used in the other.”
Averaging is a different calculation from reversible laytime. This tool does not average; a CP that averages is calculated by the reviewer by hand.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 25
“NOTICE OF READINESS shall mean the notice to the charterer, shipper, receiver or other person as required by the Charter Party that the Vessel has arrived at the Port or Berth, as the case may be, and is ready to load or discharge.”
Laytime runs from the NOR tendered plus the CP's notice time. Whether a NOR was valid is the reviewer's call; the tool does not judge it.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 30
“DEMURRAGE shall mean an agreed amount payable to the owner in respect of delay to the Vessel once the Laytime has expired, for which the owner is not responsible. Demurrage shall not be subject to exceptions which apply to Laytime unless specifically stated in the Charter Party.”
Once laytime has expired, laytime exceptions do not stop demurrage unless the CP says so. The reviewer records, for every voyage, whether the CP says so.
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Voylayrules 1993, 24 (as published by trans-lex.org)
“Demurrage shall not be subject to laytime exceptions.”
The 1993 rules said the same without the qualification. The full 1993 text is not public; only the parts quoted here are used.
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Laytime Definitions 2013, 31
“DESPATCH MONEY or DESPATCH shall mean an agreed amount payable by the owner if the Vessel completes loading or discharging before the Laytime has expired.”
Despatch runs the other way (owner pays). This tool does not calculate it, and says so when the CP names a despatch rate.
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BPVOY4 cl. 20.1, as quoted in Kassiopi Maritime v FAL Shipping [2015] EWHC 318 (Comm)
“unless a claim in writing has been presented to Charterers, together with all supporting documentation substantiating each and every constituent part of the claim, within ninety (90) days of the completion of discharge of the cargo carried hereunder.”
An example of a printed time bar: 90 days from completion of discharge, with all supporting documents. The tool never assumes it — the days and the documents are read from each CP.
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Shellvoy 5 cl. 15(3), as quoted in AET v Arcadia (The Eagle Valencia) [2010] EWCA Civ 713
“Owners shall notify Charterers within 60 days after completion of discharge if demurrage has been incurred and any demurrage claim shall be fully and correctly documented, and received by Charterers, within 90 days after completion of discharge.”
Another form: notice within 60 days, documented claim within 90. A CP with a separate notice period needs the reviewer to enter the earlier date.
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Markedsføringsloven (LBK nr 1420 af 02/12/2024), § 10, stk. 1
“§ 10. En erhvervsdrivende må ikke rette henvendelse til nogen ved brug af elektronisk post, et automatisk opkaldssystem eller telefax med henblik på direkte markedsføring, medmindre den pågældende har givet sit forudgående samtykke hertil.”
In Denmark no marketing e-mail without prior consent. We do not send cold e-mail; we reach operators through LinkedIn and people in the industry.
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Forbrugerombudsmanden, Spamforbuddet — vejledning (2021)
“Spamforbuddet gælder i forhold til alle modtagere, dvs. uanset om henvendelsen sendes til en forbruger, en virksomhed, en offentlig myndighed mv.”
The ban covers companies too, not only consumers.
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P&I clubs and lawyers explaining them
Steamship Mutual, "Once On Demurrage, Always On Demurrage?"
“In order to rely on a contractual exception, the Charterparty must make it abundantly clear that demurrage is to benefit by the provision in question.”
An exception helps the charterers on demurrage only if the CP says so clearly; the same article notes cases where owners' fault interrupts demurrage — the reviewer marks such a period "not counted even on demurrage".
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Skuld, Weather Working Days
“Once on demurrage, the vessel remains on demurrage.”
Bad weather during demurrage does not interrupt it, absent a CP term.
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West of England P&I, Interruptions and exceptions to laytime in a nutshell
“Although the SOF is persuasive evidence, it is by no means binding.”
Every time on the statement shows the SOF line it came from, so the other side can check it and the client can answer a challenge.
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Skuld, Timebar for demurrage claims
“It is not unusual, especially in the tanker trade, to see short time bars of 90 days, plus detailed lists of necessary documentation that must accompany the filing of a claim.”
Why the deadline and the documents the clause lists sit at the top of every voyage.
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Skuld, Timebar for demurrage claims (quoting Hamblen J)
“all supporting documentation was not provided as required by the clause with the consequence that the claim for demurrage is time barred.”
A claim without the documents the clause requires can be lost even when it is sent in time.
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SHINC, SHEX, SSHEX, FHEX
Not verified: the 2013 definitions deliberately drop these abbreviations and no club or law-firm definition was found. The tool never expands an abbreviation into hours — the reviewer enters each excepted period from the CP's own words.
Not verified
What others in the market say about themselves
Deep Blue Laytime Services
“Most clients pay a fixed fee per claim, making your demurrage and post-fixtures budget straightforward to manage and your cash flow easier to forecast.”
The outsourced alternative charges a fixed fee per claim; the figure is not on its site.
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Qwest Maritime, Qwest Demurrage
“Value for money with annual arrangements, fixed fees, hourly rates, no cure no pay or any combination of these to fit your requirements and all agreed in advance”
Another outsourcer; prices not published.
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Marcura blog, Where Demurrage Actually Gets Lost (16 Jun 2026)
“One real portfolio documented $450,000 in time bar failures in a single year.”
A vendor's figure, quoted as theirs: claims are lost to the time bar, not only to arithmetic.
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Danske Rederier, Om os
“Danske Rederier har knap 90 medlemmer”
Almost 90 member companies in Danish Shipping — the first market is small and reached person to person.
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Freelance laytime analyst, €40–60 an hour (the card's estimate)
Not verified: no marketplace with public rates for laytime analysts was found.
Not verified