A claim depends on each event, not the total

People rarely argue about the total at the bottom of a laytime sheet. They argue about the details. Were these six hours lost to weather? Was the notice of readiness (the message that the ship is ready to load) valid when it was sent? Does the charterparty (the contract) count that Sunday?

So the sheet here is a list of events first. Each row is an event with a time and a reason. Time allowed, time used and the difference come from the rows. If two sides disagree about the total, they can both see which row they disagree about.

Upload the statement of facts, do not retype it

A port agent sends a statement of facts as a PDF, often a scan of a signed copy. Retyping thirty events with their times is slow, and it is where mistakes happen.

Upload it, even as a scan, and the software reads the events into the sheet. Every row stays a draft until a broker checks it against the paper. One wrong hour in a demurrage claim costs money, so a person always confirms it.

What it computes

Allowed laytime

Chartering and above

Worked out from the loading rate in the charterparty and the quantity really loaded, as shown on the bill of lading, not the quantity written in the charterparty. On a cargo of 30,000 tonnes with a ten per cent option, that difference is nearly nine hours.

Time used, with exclusions

Chartering and above

Weather working days, SHEX and SHINC periods (Sundays and holidays excluded or included), breakdowns and shifting. Each excluded period shows its reason.

Reversible laytime

Chartering and above

One allowance for both ports when the fixture (the agreed deal) says so. Or each port on its own, so one port can owe demurrage while the other earns despatch.

Demurrage and despatch

Chartering and above

At the rates in the fixture. Despatch (money paid for finishing early) is half the demurrage rate by default, or whatever the fixture says.

The time sheet as a document

Chartering and above

The archive keeps the exact copy you sent. It is not rebuilt from data that changed later, because a dispute is about the document the other side received.

Try the free calculator first

The free laytime and demurrage calculator on this site does the same sum. It runs in your browser and needs no account, but it does not keep the statement of facts, the fixture or the document you sent.

The free calculator, the worked example, or what the desk costs.