Working Days in Charterparty: Laytime, WWD and Demurrage

In ship chartering, the expression Working Days (WD) has a precise commercial and legal function. It is not merely a casual reference to the days on which people usually work. When laytime is expressed in Working Days (WD), the words determine which days are counted against the charterer for loading or discharging and which days are excluded because they are Sundays, Fridays in certain Islamic jurisdictions, public holidays, local rest days, or other days contractually excepted by the charterparty.

The importance of the term is easy to underestimate. A voyage charterparty may provide that cargo is to be loaded or discharged within a fixed number of days, or within a number of working days, or within a number of weather working days. Each phrase produces a different financial result. If laytime expires, the charterer may become liable for demurrage. If cargo operations are completed before laytime is used, the charterer may be entitled to despatch if the charterparty provides for it. Therefore, a few words in the laytime clause can decide whether thousands of dollars are payable by one party to the other.

A Working Day is generally understood as a day of the kind on which cargo work is normally carried out at the relevant port, unless that day is expressly excluded by the charterparty or treated locally as a holiday. The word working describes the character of the day, not the number of ordinary working hours performed by stevedores during that day. This distinction is central. A working day is normally a full calendar day of 24 hours, running from midnight to midnight, unless the charterparty wording clearly provides otherwise.

In practical chartering, the phrase Working Days in Charterparty should always be read together with the rest of the laytime clause. Expressions such as Working Days, Weather Working Days, Weather Working Days of 24 Consecutive Hours, Sundays and Holidays Excepted, Unless Used, Unless Sooner Commenced, and Working Days Weather Permitting do not mean the same thing. A fixture recap that uses one phrase carelessly can create a substantial laytime dispute after the ship has completed loading or discharging.

During charterparty negotiations, experienced shipbrokers, shipowners, charterers, operators, and laytime analysts should define laytime terms with care. The parties should not assume that the port’s ordinary working hours automatically control the meaning of a working day. In many cases, the question is not how many hours the port usually works, but whether the day itself is a working day within the meaning of the charterparty.

What is a Working Day in Ship Chartering?

A Working Day in ship chartering is a day, or part of a day, which is not excluded from laytime by the charterparty and which is not a holiday or customary rest day at the relevant port. The definition can be affected by local law, local practice, port custom, and the exact words used in the charterparty. However, the general principle is that a working day is a day of 24 hours, not a shortened day made up only of the port’s normal working shift.

For example, if a port normally works from 08:00 to 17:00, that does not mean that one working day equals only those nine hours. Unless the charterparty wording expressly ties laytime to working hours, the working day is normally treated as a calendar day of 24 hours. The ordinary working pattern of the port helps identify whether the day is a working day, but it does not automatically reduce the length of the laytime day.

This is why the expression Working Day should not be confused with working hours. Working hours describe the daily period during which labour, equipment, terminal facilities, or cargo-handling operations may normally be available. A working day describes the legal character of the day for laytime purposes. The difference is commercially important because laytime calculations are usually made after the event, when the statement of facts, time sheets, port logs, notices, weather records, and cargo documents are reviewed.

Working Day as a 24-Hour Calendar Day

In principle, a Working Day (WD) is a Working Calendar Day. It begins at midnight and ends at midnight. If the charterparty refers simply to working days, the starting point is that the parties intended to count days by reference to calendar days, subject to the agreed exclusions. The word working identifies whether the calendar day is included or excluded, rather than dividing the day into only those hours during which labour would ordinarily work.

This point is especially important in ports where cargo work is carried out on a shift system. Some ports work one shift, some work two shifts, and some work continuously subject to labour availability, terminal rules, safety restrictions, weather, cargo characteristics, or berth regulations. If a working day were treated as only the actual working shift, the same charterparty wording would produce different results from port to port and even from terminal to terminal. Commercial certainty requires a more stable interpretation unless the contract clearly says otherwise.

Therefore, a charterer should be cautious before arguing that a working day means only the port’s actual ordinary working hours. A shipowner should also avoid assuming that every calendar day counts, because Sundays, Fridays, public holidays, or other excluded days may be outside laytime depending on the clause. The safe approach is to read the laytime clause as a whole and then prepare the time sheet according to the exact contractual wording.

Working Days and Laytime Calculation

Laytime is the period agreed between the shipowner and the charterer during which the ship must be made available for loading or discharging without additional payment beyond the freight. When laytime is stated in working days, only qualifying days are counted. Non-working days are excluded unless the charterparty says that they count if used.

For example, assume a charterparty allows three working days for discharge and excludes Sundays. If laytime starts at noon on Saturday, the first working day will run only until midnight on Saturday, giving 12 hours of counted laytime. Sunday will be excluded. The balance of the first 24-hour working day will resume at midnight after Sunday ends and continue for another 12 hours on Monday. In that example, the first working day is split because a non-working day intervenes before the full 24 hours have been completed.

This type of calculation is common in laytime disputes. A laytime statement may appear simple until weekends, public holidays, weather delays, strikes, berth congestion, shifting, stoppages, notices, and cargo interruptions are added. The phrase Working Days in Charterparty therefore belongs to the wider discipline of laytime and demurrage calculation, not merely to dictionary interpretation.

BIMCO Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties

The BIMCO Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties were developed to give the shipping market a more consistent vocabulary for laytime expressions. They are particularly useful because many fixtures are concluded through recap messages, amendments, and fixture notes rather than by long negotiation of every printed clause. A common set of definitions helps reduce uncertainty when parties use familiar expressions such as working day, weather working day, holiday, laytime, demurrage, despatch, notice of readiness, and excepted periods.

We kindly suggest that you visit the web page of BIMCO (Baltic and International Maritime Council) to learn more about Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties and to obtain original charterparty forms and documents. www.bimco.org

The BIMCO definitions are not automatically part of every charterparty. They apply when incorporated into the contract or when the wording of the charterparty and the surrounding circumstances support their use. For commercial certainty, parties should expressly incorporate the definitions they intend to use rather than assuming that every laytime phrase will be interpreted in the same manner in every jurisdiction.

Working Day Vs Weather Working Day in Charterparty Laytime

Working Day and Weather Working Day are closely related but materially different expressions. A working day focuses on whether the day is a day on which work is normally carried out and not a holiday or excluded day. A weather working day adds a further condition: the weather must permit loading or discharging, or must have permitted loading or discharging if the ship had been at the berth and ready to work.

In other words, a Weather Working Day (WWD) is not counted in full if weather conditions prevent cargo operations. Rain, snow, fog, high wind, swell, lightning, unsafe visibility, port closure, or other weather-related conditions may interrupt laytime if they would prevent the cargo operation in question. The nature of the cargo matters. Rain may prevent loading of grain, cement, fertilizer, steel products, or other moisture-sensitive cargoes, but the same rain may not prevent loading or discharging of certain liquid bulk cargoes. Whether the weather is an interruption is a question of fact.

This is one reason why the statement of facts is so important. Weather entries should be accurate, specific, and connected to the actual effect on cargo work. A vague entry such as “rain” may not be enough if the parties later dispute whether the weather actually prevented loading or discharging. The laytime analyst may need to examine whether operations were stopped, whether the berth was working, whether the ship was waiting for berth, whether other ships were working, and whether the cargo could safely have been handled.

Weather Working Days of 24 Consecutive Hours

The phrase Weather Working Days of 24 Consecutive Hours is more specific than ordinary weather working days. It refers to a 24-hour period which must be capable of being used for cargo operations without interruption due to weather, subject to the exact contractual wording. If adverse weather interrupts operations during the relevant period, the interrupted time is excluded or the calculation is adjusted according to the clause.

Different formulations create different results. Weather Working Day, Weather Working Day of 24 Hours, Weather Working Day of 24 Consecutive Hours, and Working Day Weather Permitting may look similar to a non-specialist, but laytime law treats the language carefully. The parties should not use these phrases interchangeably. A small difference in wording can decide whether weather time is excluded only during actual working periods or during a broader 24-hour period.

For shipowners, charterers, and brokers, the practical lesson is simple: use the phrase that fits the intended risk allocation. If the charterer is to receive protection for weather delays, the clause must say so clearly. If the shipowner expects laytime to count unless actual loading or discharging is interrupted, that expectation must also be reflected in the wording.

Working Days, Sundays and Holidays Excepted

Charterparties often combine working day language with the expression Sundays and Holidays Excepted, commonly abbreviated as SHEX. This means that Sundays and holidays do not count as laytime unless the charterparty contains additional wording that changes the effect. If the clause says Sundays and Holidays Excepted Unless Used, commonly abbreviated as SHEX UU, then time actually used for cargo work during an otherwise excepted period may count.

The phrase Unless Used is commercially important. Without it, a ship may be worked on a Sunday or holiday without the time counting as laytime, depending on the exact wording. With it, the time actually used may count, even though the day itself would otherwise have been excepted. Some clauses go further and say Unless Used in Which Case Actual Time Used to Count, making the intended result clearer.

The same issue can arise in ports where the normal weekly rest day is not Sunday. In some countries, Friday may be the ordinary rest day. In others, the weekend may be Friday and Saturday, Saturday and Sunday, or another locally recognized pattern. The charterparty should specify the relevant port practice or use flexible wording that captures local law and custom.

Working Days and Holidays in Different Ports

A charterparty may involve ports in different countries, different religions, different labour systems, and different public holiday calendars. A working day in one port may be a holiday in another. This is particularly important in voyage charters covering multiple loading or discharging ports, or in trades where cargo is loaded in one region and discharged in another with different port customs.

Public holidays may be national, regional, religious, municipal, bank-related, or port-specific. A holiday may also be declared after the charterparty has been fixed. If the contract does not define holidays clearly, the parties may dispute whether a newly declared holiday affects laytime. For that reason, carefully drafted charterparties often specify whether local holidays, legal holidays, bank holidays, customary holidays, or holidays at the port are to be excluded.

The problem becomes more complicated when laytime starts shortly before an excepted day. A working day may be partly counted, then suspended, then resumed after the excluded day ends. The laytime statement must record this carefully. A simple daily table may not be sufficient where laytime has to be calculated hour by hour.

Business Day Vs Working Day

Business Day and Working Day are not always identical. In general commercial contracts, a business day often means a day on which banks or offices are open in a specified place, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and sometimes bank holidays. In charterparty laytime, a working day is usually tied to the nature of cargo operations at the port and the words of the laytime clause.

This distinction matters because a business day definition may be suitable for payments, notices, documentary deadlines, banking requirements, or administrative obligations, while a working day definition may be suitable for loading and discharging. A charterparty may contain both concepts. For example, freight may be payable within a number of banking days after signing bills of lading, while laytime may be calculated in working days at the loading or discharging port.

In international shipping, business days also vary by jurisdiction. A Monday-to-Friday business week may be normal in one country, while another country may treat Sunday as a business day and Friday as a weekly rest day. If parties use Business Day for notice, payment, or document deadlines, they should state the relevant location. If they use Working Day for laytime, they should connect the phrase to the port and cargo-operation context.

Working Days and Notice of Readiness

The effect of a working day clause is often connected with the Notice of Readiness (NOR). Laytime does not normally begin until a valid NOR has been tendered and any agreed notice time has expired. If the NOR is tendered before a weekend, public holiday, or non-working day, the clause must be checked to determine whether the notice time runs during excluded periods and when laytime begins.

For example, a charterparty may provide that laytime commences six hours after NOR is tendered, unless sooner commenced. Another charterparty may say that laytime commences at 08:00 on the next working day after valid NOR. These formulations are very different. A shipowner may lose valuable time if the NOR clause delays commencement until the next working day. A charterer may face demurrage earlier than expected if the clause allows notice time to run during a holiday or if cargo operations begin and trigger an “unless sooner commenced” provision.

Therefore, the meaning of Working Days in Charterparty cannot be separated from the NOR clause. Laytime commencement, laytime counting, excluded periods, weather interruptions, and actual time used must be examined together.

Working Days and Demurrage

Demurrage is the agreed compensation payable when laytime has been used up and the ship remains delayed for loading or discharging. Once the ship is on demurrage, the traditional rule is that demurrage runs continuously unless the charterparty contains clear words stopping or interrupting demurrage. This is why laytime wording must be negotiated carefully before the fixture is concluded.

A charterer may focus on excluding Sundays, holidays, or bad weather during laytime, but those exclusions may not automatically apply after demurrage starts. If the parties intend weather, strikes, holidays, port closure, or other events to interrupt demurrage, they should state that expressly. Otherwise, the charterer may discover that exceptions which protected laytime no longer protect the charterer after demurrage begins.

For shipowners, accurate working day calculation helps protect demurrage claims. For charterers, accurate calculation helps prevent premature demurrage demands. Both sides should ensure that the statement of facts, time sheets, berth records, weather reports, holidays, stoppages, shifting periods, and cargo-operation records are collected before final laytime settlement.

Working Days, Despatch and Time Saved

If a charterparty provides for despatch, the charterer may receive payment for completing cargo operations before laytime expires. The method of calculating despatch depends on the wording. Some clauses calculate despatch on all time saved, while others calculate it on working time saved. The difference can be substantial.

If despatch is payable on all time saved, non-working days may be included in the time saved calculation. If despatch is payable only on working time saved, Sundays, holidays, and excluded periods may not benefit the charterer. Therefore, the phrase Working Days may affect not only demurrage exposure but also the amount of despatch payable.

Parties should avoid vague despatch wording. A charterparty should state whether despatch is payable at half demurrage, whether it applies to loading, discharging, or both, whether it is calculated on all time saved or working time saved, and whether excepted periods are included.

Common Mistakes When Using Working Days in Charterparties

One common mistake is treating a working day as the port’s ordinary working shift rather than a 24-hour day. Another mistake is assuming that weekends are automatically excluded, even though the charterparty may not say so. A third mistake is using weather working day wording without identifying how bad weather time is to be recorded and calculated.

Parties also make mistakes when using abbreviations without understanding them. Expressions such as WD, WWD, WWD SHEX, SHEX, SHINC, UU, and WP should not be inserted into a recap casually. A recap is often the binding contract. If the recap is unclear, later printed terms may not cure the problem.

Another frequent issue is failing to consider local holidays before fixing the ship. If a ship is expected to arrive just before a major holiday period, the laytime clause may allocate that delay to the shipowner or the charterer depending on the wording. This can affect freight economics, demurrage risk, port rotation, and the ship’s next employment.

Practical Example of Working Days in Laytime

Assume a voyage charterparty allows 2 Working Days for loading, with Sundays excluded. The ship tenders valid NOR at 06:00 on Saturday, and the charterparty provides that laytime starts six hours after valid NOR. Laytime therefore begins at 12:00 on Saturday. From 12:00 Saturday to 24:00 Saturday, 12 hours count. Sunday is excluded. From 00:00 Monday to 12:00 Monday, another 12 hours count. At 12:00 Monday, the first working day is completed. The second working day then continues from 12:00 Monday to 12:00 Tuesday, unless another excluded period or interruption applies.

If the same clause were expressed in Weather Working Days and heavy rain prevented loading between 06:00 and 10:00 on Monday, the treatment of those four hours would depend on the precise weather working day wording. If the weather interruption is excluded, laytime may be extended by the relevant period. If the rain did not prevent the cargo operation, or if the cargo could safely have been loaded despite the rain, the charterer may not receive the exclusion.

Working Days in Dry Bulk Chartering

Working day clauses are particularly important in dry bulk chartering because cargo operations are often exposed to weather, port congestion, labour availability, berth restrictions, and local holiday rules. Cargoes such as grain, coal, iron ore, fertilizers, cement, steel products, sugar, rice, petcoke, salt, and minerals may have very different operational sensitivities. A rain stoppage that is irrelevant for one cargo may be critical for another.

Dry bulk fixtures often use standard forms such as GENCON, NYPE-related structures, commodity-specific charterparties, rider clauses, and recap amendments. The parties should ensure that the laytime clause is consistent with the cargo, port, berth, loading method, discharging method, seasonal weather pattern, and intended risk allocation. A laytime clause copied from another trade may create unnecessary disputes.

How Shipowners and Charterers Should Draft Working Day Clauses

Shipowners and charterers should draft working day clauses with precision. The clause should state the quantity of laytime allowed, the unit of time, the excluded days, whether holidays are local or national, whether time used on excluded days counts, whether weather interrupts laytime, whether weather interruptions apply while waiting for berth, when laytime starts after NOR, and whether the same exceptions apply after demurrage begins.

A practical clause should also match the commercial trade. If cargo operations are expected to run continuously, SHINC wording may be more appropriate than SHEX. If weather is a serious cargo risk, weather working day wording may be necessary. If the ship is likely to wait at anchorage, the parties should consider whether weather while waiting for berth is relevant. If the port has unusual holidays, the parties should define them.

Why Working Days Matter in Charterparty Disputes

Working days matter because they translate directly into money. A ship delayed by a weekend, holiday, or weather event may appear to be waiting for only a short period, but the contractual effect can be very different depending on whether that time counts as laytime. The same port stay may produce no demurrage under one wording and a substantial demurrage claim under another.

For that reason, Working Days in Charterparty is not a minor drafting topic. It is a practical laytime and demurrage issue that affects voyage economics, freight negotiations, port planning, cargo readiness, documentary evidence, and dispute resolution. A clear working day clause reduces argument, improves time-sheet accuracy, and helps both shipowners and charterers understand the financial consequences of delay.