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Laytime Calculation

Laytime calculation that turns the port agent's statement of facts, the notices of readiness and the charter party into a laytime statement with each row cited, read first as the charterer's demurrage desk would, then signed by a checker.

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Follow one grain claim from the SOF to the signature ↓
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The problem

One misread line in the statement of facts moves where laytime runs out

Every port call ends in a laytime statement worked by hand. The analyst reads the port agent's statement of facts against the recap, the base form and the riders, marks each period counting or excepted, and works the money to the cent. One remark read as a time-changer, or the reverse, moves the line where laytime runs out, and everything after it is demurrage.

Then the charterer's demurrage desk reads the claim looking for hours to take back: a notice of readiness given before the holds passed, rain in the deck log, a shift along the berth. A claim that leaves without one of the documents its time bar clause lists can be barred outright, and the same arguments come back on the next call.

Built forDemurrage analystsPost-fixture managersVoyage operatorsHeads of chartering

The Problem Today

Laytime is worked by hand from the port agent's log and a stack of clauses, and the charterer reads each claim for hours to take back.

90 days
demurrage time bar a P&I club calls not unusual in tankers published

Read side by side by hand

  • SOF
  • NOR
  • Riders
  • Recap
  • Errors leave with the claimA failed-hold window counted as laytime goes out unseen
  • Time bars run while sheets are tradedOne missing listed document can bar the whole claim

The Solution

  1. Rows built from the SOFEach period cited to its statement-of-facts lines and its clause
  2. Read as the charterer wouldA challenger lists their arguments, including errors in the agents' own sheet
  3. A person decides how laytime startsEach basis is priced; the analyst chooses and the sheet reruns
  4. Preparer and checker signThe claim leaves with each listed document and privileged notes held back

Built-in controls

  • Privileged notes are never cited or attached
  • The port agent's own words reach the checker unchanged
  • A checker who did not prepare the claim signs it

What You Get

The claim reaches the charterer already read the way their demurrage desk will read it, and inside the time bar.

  • Counter-statements row by rowTheir sheet behind ours, each difference answered
  • Time bars watched across the queueStatements near a bar surface before they are lost
  • Arguments kept as rulesAn earlier ruling appears at the next decision, once approved
Features

Laytime calculation features, from the port agent's SOF to a signed claim

Demurrage analysts and post-fixture managers use them to build, challenge and send each claim. The screens follow one grain loading under a GENCON charter with riders.

demoA made-up voyage: the owner, charterer, ship, port agent, berth and each figure are sample data.

  1. 01Working sheet

    Laytime statement built row by row from the statement of facts, each row cited

    • Allowed laytime worked from the recap. Quantity, rate, SHEX and the demurrage rate are each cited to the recap, so the arithmetic starts from the terms both sides agreed.
    • Each period cited to SOF lines and clause. The analyst and the checker can open any row and see the event and the clause it rests on.
    • Agents steered while they read. The analyst can ask for a check mid-run, such as whether laytime is reversible, and the added step carries the analyst's name and the time.
  2. 02Charterer's read

    Challenger reads the sheet as the charterer's demurrage desk will

    • Their strongest argument found first. An attack on the notice of readiness itself is raised before the claim leaves, while a sounder basis can still be chosen.
    • Errors in the agents' own sheet. Time counted while holds had failed inspection is removed before the charterer finds it.
    • Routine points answered from documents. Rain, shifting and Saturday afternoon arguments are answered from the deck log, the elevator tally and the recap.
  3. 03NOR decision

    Which notice of readiness the claim rests on, decided by the analyst

    • Each basis priced before choosing. The analyst sees the claim on each notice before deciding, and no agent gives a view on whether a notice was valid.
    • Reason code and reason recorded. The checker reads why the claim rests where it does, and so does the next analyst who meets the same charterer.
  4. 04Rerun

    Laytime sheet reruns on the re-tendered NOR and moves where laytime runs out

    • The decision visible row by row. Rows that move to before laytime are marked, and the claim shows what it was and what it is now.
    • Demurrage worked to the cent. Days on demurrage times the daily rate is printed in full, so finance and the charterer follow the same arithmetic.
  5. 05What-if

    Demurrage claim what-if: four bases priced, plus your own scenario

    • Each option played forward before sending. The analyst and the head of chartering see where the parties could land before anyone negotiates.
    • Rate, basis and concessions editable. Giving the charterer Saturday afternoon, the showers or the shift is priced at once and labeled as an assumption.
  6. 06Port agent

    Port agent answers a document request in fixed fields, files attached

    • Only documents the time bar clause lists. Agents draft the request for what the charter party names, and nothing goes out until the analyst approves it.
    • Signed-by and times-unchanged as fields. A page signed by the agent only keeps the point open, so the claim does not leave on an incomplete SOF.
    • The agent's note kept as free text. Whatever the agent writes reaches the analyst and the checker word for word and holds preparation until read.
  7. 07Checker

    Checker sees the NOR basis, its reason and the agent's note before signing

    • What the checker must see, at the top. The basis, its reason and any outside note sit in front of the post-fixture manager before the sign button.
    • Statement and note opened before signing. Both openings are logged, so the signature records that the statement and the note were opened first.
    • Claim email drafted with the listed documents. Statement, signed SOF, both notices, stowage records and the charter party are attached, and the defense club note is held back as privileged.
  8. 08Statement

    The laytime statement as the charterer's demurrage desk will receive it

    • Remarks follow the rows. Each period carries its SOF events and clause in the remarks, so the other desk reads the reasoning along with the totals.
    • Laytime commencement stated with its clause. The statement names the notice and the clause laytime starts on, so the charterer's desk meets the basis before the first row.
  9. 09Claim sent

    Demurrage claim sent inside the time bar with every listed document

    • Time bar counted on the case. The day count against the bar sits in the header, so a claim does not wait on a desk until its last week.
    • Preparer and checker, never one person. Claims over the threshold go to the post-fixture manager, and nobody checks a claim they prepared.
    • Claim pack with privileged items excluded. The pack downloads with what was sent and lists what was held back.

Who builds, checks and settles each demurrage claim

The analyst builds and prepares, the post-fixture manager checks, operations feeds the documents, chartering holds the relationship.

Demurrage analysts

Build each laytime statement, decide disputed points and sign as preparer

  • A first sheet with each row cited
  • The charterer's arguments before they arrive
  • Counter-statements laid behind ours
Post-fixture managers

Check and sign claims above the threshold, and approve rules

  • The basis and its reason at the top
  • Statement and outside notes opened before signing
  • New rules waiting on the manager's approval
Voyage operators

Match statements of facts and notices to the right voyage

  • Unmatched documents put to a person
  • Unreadable times entered, never guessed
  • Each voyage's documents in one place
Heads of chartering

Hold the charterer relationship and steer where the parties settle

  • Where the two sheets differ, in money
  • Comments without signing
  • Past concessions by charterer

Failed holds, a notice under attack, SATPM and an unsigned SOF page

What the challenger found on one sample voyage before the claim left.

Time counted while holds had failed

The first sheet counted 19h 20m between the failed stowage examination and the holds passing, which clause 6(c) excepts.

The notice of readiness itself

Holds 3 and 5 failed 25 minutes after the notice was tendered. The master re-tendered once they passed, and the claim rests there: $29,677.08 against $45,222.22.

Saturday afternoon from a pro forma

The charterer's pro forma excepts Saturday afternoon; the agreed recap says SHEX. A past ruling shows the same charterer pressing the same point.

Page 2 of the SOF without the master

The time bar rider lists an SOF signed by master and agents. The port agent returned page 2 countersigned by the master before the claim left.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Seven agents read and calculate, and none rules on a notice of readiness

Each agent's step, source and hand-off shows beside the sheet.

SOF reader

Turns the port agent's statement of facts into timed events, page by page, and matches documents to voyages.

  • Invents or rounds no time
  • Leaves a weak match to the voyage operator
Clause reader

Pulls quantity, rate, SHEX, reversibility, the NOR rule, demurrage and the time bar from the recap, form and riders.

  • Shows both recap and pro forma, choosing neither
Laytime calculator

Builds the sheet one period at a time and reruns it on a decision.

  • Changes no period without a source line
  • Rounds no money before the end
Charterer's read

Reads the sheet as the charterer's demurrage desk would, including attacks on the notice itself.

  • Calls no notice valid or invalid
  • Forecasts no outcome
Port agent liaison

Drafts requests for documents the charter party names and reads replies' fields and files.

  • Sends nothing without a person's approval
Time-bar watch

Watches each open statement's bar and the documents its clause lists.

  • Assumes no time bar the charter party lacks
Claim writer

Drafts the claim email and the pack.

  • Sends nothing before the checker signs
  • Attaches no privileged document
More screens

The time-bar queue, a counter-statement, documents in and rules kept

Around the claim: the desk's queue, a charterer's counter, incoming documents and the rules the desk keeps.

Laytime statements by stage74 open statements, from agents drafting to agreed and awaiting payment, with 6 within 15 days of a time bar and not yet presented.
A counter-statement behind oursThe charterer's sheet lies behind ours, $29,953.12 apart; each disputed row is kept or accepted with a reason before the answer is signed.
Documents inStatements of facts, notices and counter-statements matched to voyages; a weak match and an unreadable time wait for the voyage operator.
Every document the sheet rests onThe SOF, both notices, stowage records, the recap, the clauses, the deck log and the elevator tally, with who read each and where it is used.
Rules keptThree rules the post-fixture manager approved, each with its count of uses, and one drawn from this decision still awaiting approval.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

The calls that stay with the analyst and the post-fixture manager

Whether a notice of readiness was validThe agents show what the documents hold; the analyst decides which notice the claim rests on.
Whether a claim will succeedNo agent forecasts the outcome or questions the charterer's good faith.
Anything that leaves the companyRequests to the port agent and the claim itself go out only after a person approves or signs.
Privileged materialThe defense club note and counsel's views are never cited, attached or exported.

What demurrage teams ask about laytime calculation

What is laytime calculation?

Laytime calculation works out how much time the charterer was allowed to load or discharge, how much it used, and what is owed in demurrage or despatch. Agents build the laytime statement from the statement of facts, the notices of readiness and the charter party, each row cited, and people decide and sign.

Is this a laytime calculator?

It does the arithmetic a laytime calculator does, from the SOF events and the charter terms, and adds what a calculator leaves to the analyst: the source of each row, the charterer's likely arguments and a checker's signature.

How is the statement of facts read?

Page by page, into timed events matched to the voyage. An unreadable time or a weak match goes to the voyage operator, and no time is invented or rounded.

Does it work despatch as well as demurrage?

Yes. The statements queue carries claims in despatch as well as demurrage, each worked on the same sheet from the charter party's terms.

What happens when the charterer sends a counter-statement?

Their sheet is laid behind ours row by row. Each difference is answered from a document or accepted for a stated reason, then the answer is signed before it goes back.

Who signs the demurrage claim?

The demurrage analyst signs as preparer. Above the threshold, the post-fixture manager checks it after opening the statement and any outside note; below it, a second analyst does. Nobody checks a claim they prepared.

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Bring a statement of facts
you already claimed on.

Bring one closed voyage's SOF, notices and charter party, and we will rebuild its laytime statement row by row.

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