In law, there is no prescribed form for tendering NOR. An NOR tendered after this reasonable period has expired would probably still be valid, if all other requirements have been met. If charterers are to arrange for a certain document or certificate before the vessel can carry out its cargo operations they have to do so with reasonable speed to enable owners to tender a valid NOR. This requirement will include:Īll papers necessary for the commencement of the charter service, loading or discharging must be in order for the vessel to be legally ready. In order to tender a valid NOR the vessel (not the cargo) must be legally ready. However, as regards hold cleanliness, see below. It does mean that the vessel has to be ready and able to commence the charter service required of the vessel without delay when charterers give orders to load or discharge. This does not mean, for example, that hatch covers have to be open before a valid NOR can be given. This extends to all equipment required for the cargo operations (such as, hatches, cargo gear and equipment etc.). The vessel generally needs to be ready in all respects to load or to discharge the whole cargo. Other rider clauses often supplement the standard clauses and impose additional requirements. The Baltime form requires by lines 25 and 26 that the ship is “in every way fitted for ordinary cargo service”. In respect of time charter parties for example, on delivery, the NYPE (1946) forms requires that, at the time of its delivery, the vessel is to be “ready to receive cargo … with clean-swept holds and tight, staunch, strong and in every way fitted for the service”. The requirement for the vessel to be physically ready will include that the holds are suitable to receive cargo in accordance with the charter. The vessel must therefore be “physically ready” and “legally ready”. In order to be ready the ship must be prepared in such a way that it is able to commence cargo operations without delay and to comply with charterers’ orders whenever they are given. It is thought that the phrase “whether in port or not” will mean that an NOR can be tendered outside port limits as long as the ship is at the port’s usual waiting area.Īlso, some voyage charters commonly contain other exceptions and will for instance state that the commencement of laytime will start “Whether Customs Cleared or Not” (WCCON) and “Whether in Free Pratique or Not” (WIFPON). (This is because the charter party puts the risk of navigational delays onto owners and of commercial delays onto charterers.) However, this is only when the berth is inaccessible due to congestion and not bad weather. The phrase “whether in berth or not” converts a berth charter into a port charter and ensures that under a berth charter party the NOR can be given as soon as the ship has arrived within the port’s commercial area. The above basic principles can however be varied by the terms “whether in berth or not” (“WIBON”) or “whether in port or not” (“WIPON”). (Gencon for example) extend the waiting place beyond the port. However, if the customary waiting area is outside the limits of the port, then no valid notice of readiness can be served. In this regard, the customary waiting area does not have to be “the commercial area of the port”, but can be the “legal, fiscal and administrative area of the port”. In the case of a port charter when no berth is available, the vessel must normally have reached a position within the port where waiting ships usually lie. In a berth charter, owners can only tender the NOR when the vessel has actually berthed. For example, a charter which describes the destination as “one safe berth, London” is a berth charter, but one which describes the destination as “London, one safe berth” is a port charter (the reference to a berth is to be construed as a safe berth warranty). It is always a matter of construction whether the agreed destination is the port or the berth. In voyage charters in particular it is sometimes hard to determine the place when the charter mentions both the port and a berth. In the most simple case, the place will be the name of a port, dock or a berth. Where that place is depends upon the terms agreed in the charter party. The ship must be at the immediate and effective disposition of the charterer, having come to rest at the place at which she can be described as an “arrived ship”. The charter party will usually state where the vessel must be before a valid notice of readiness can be tendered.
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