Notice of Readiness

The Notice of Readiness is a small document with large commercial consequences, because it is the trigger that starts laytime running under a voyage charter. When a chartered ship reaches the port or berth and is genuinely ready to work the cargo, the master tenders the NOR to the charterer or its agent, declaring that the vessel has arrived and is ready in all respects. Only a valid NOR, given in accordance with the charter party, can set the laytime clock ticking, and from that point the counting of time used against the allowance (and ultimately any demurrage or despatch) flows.

For a NOR to be valid, several conditions generally have to be met. The ship must have arrived at the place specified in the charter, which may be a berth, or a port, or simply within the port limits depending on whether it is a berth or port charter. The vessel must be physically and legally ready to load or discharge, holds clean and available, equipment working, and any required free pratique and customs clearance obtained. The notice must be tendered in the manner and during the hours the charter allows. A NOR given prematurely, when the ship is not truly ready, may be invalid and fail to start laytime, which can cost an owner dearly.

Because of its financial importance, the NOR and the events around it are recorded carefully in the statement of facts, and disputes frequently turn on whether and when a valid NOR was given, especially where a ship waits at anchor for a berth. Charter parties often address these situations with clauses on when notice may be tendered and whether waiting time counts, and doctrines such as the arrived-ship requirement have generated a substantial body of case law. Getting the NOR right is a core skill of ship operators and masters, since it underpins the whole laytime and demurrage calculation.