Okuzeka
Maritime & Shipping vocabulary · Chartering & Shipping Documents

Laytime

Meaning in maritime & shipping, with examples

/ˈleɪtaɪm/nounAdvanced term

In maritime & shipping, laytime means: The period of time agreed in a charter party for loading or discharging cargo without any extra payment to the shipowner.

In Turkish: starya, starya süresi, yükleme-boşaltma süresi

How it is used

Laytime is expressed in days or hours, or as a rate such as '8,000 tonnes per weather working day'. It usually starts after the notice of readiness, and the events that affect it are recorded in a statement of facts (SOF).

Example sentences

  1. Laytime will commence at 0800 on Monday, twelve hours after NOR was tendered.

  2. The agent's statement of facts shows that laytime expired on Thursday.

Common collocations

  • laytime calculation
  • laytime commences
  • laytime expires
  • statement of facts
  • demurrageMoney that the charterer pays the shipowner when loading or discharging takes longer than the laytime agreed in the charter party. It is usually a fixed daily rate.
  • notice of readinessA formal notice from the master to the charterer or receiver stating that the ship has arrived and is ready in all respects to load or discharge. It is shortened to NOR.
  • charter partyThe contract between a shipowner and a charterer for hiring a ship, either for a voyage or for a period of time. It sets out the freight or hire, the cargo, the ports and the laytime.
  • dischargeTo unload cargo from a ship in port. As a noun, discharge means the unloading operation itself.

More terms: Chartering & Shipping Documents

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: