NOR Tendering Hours

What it does

The tendering-hours provisions fix when a notice of readiness may validly be given: the permitted days, the office hours within which it must be served, and the method of service. Because a valid notice is what starts laytime, these apparently mechanical rules directly control the moment the clock can begin, and a notice served outside the permitted window may not take effect until the next opening of office hours.

The clause typically states the hours on working days during which notice can be tendered, how weekends and holidays are treated, and to whom and by what means the notice must be addressed. It works hand in hand with the readiness requirements and any turn time, so that the start of laytime depends not only on the ship being ready but on the notice being given at a permitted time in the agreed manner.

Commercial effect

The permitted hours can move the start of laytime by hours or even days, especially around weekends and holidays, and that shift flows straight through to demurrage or despatch. A notice that just misses the Friday window may not bite until Monday, leaving the owner waiting unpaid over the weekend, so the parties negotiate the hours with the real calendar of the loading and discharge ports in mind.

For the charterer, narrow tendering hours delay the moment it is exposed to laytime and protect it from the clock starting at inconvenient times. For the owner, wider hours and a notice that takes effect on tender bring laytime forward. The clause is therefore a genuine commercial lever, not a mere formality, and it is read together with the notice and turn-time provisions as a set.

Owner's perspective

The owner wants the permitted tendering hours wide and the rules simple, so that a ready ship can start laytime promptly rather than waiting for a narrow daily window or the next working day. Ideally the notice takes effect when given, and the owner resists provisions that defer its effect to a later opening, since each deferral is time the vessel waits without the laytime running in its favour.

The owner also wants certainty about the method and the addressee of the notice, so that a properly served notice cannot be challenged on a point of form. Clear, broad tendering provisions let the master protect the owner's time without the notice being undone by a technical argument that it was served at the wrong hour or in the wrong way.

Charterer's perspective

The charterer prefers tendering hours confined to normal working times and a clear treatment of weekends and holidays, so that laytime does not start at moments when it cannot realistically act on the notice. Narrow hours give the charterer breathing space and prevent the clock running before it has had a fair opportunity to begin or arrange the cargo operations.

The charterer wants the method of service spelled out so there is no doubt about when a valid notice was received, and it aligns these provisions with the readiness requirements and any turn time. It also bears in mind how the hours interact with the once-on-demurrage rule, since protections around the start of laytime do not help once the allowance has been used up.

Negotiation points

• The permitted days and hours within which a valid notice may be tendered.
• How weekends and holidays are treated, and whether a notice given then defers to the next working day.
• Whether the notice takes effect on tender or only on acceptance or at the next opening.
• The method and addressee of service, so that a valid notice cannot be challenged on form.

Common variations

• Notice tenderable during stated office hours on working days only.
• Notice tenderable at any time, taking effect when given regardless of the hour.
• A notice given outside hours deemed served at the next opening of office hours.
• Tendering provisions combined with a fixed turn time before laytime starts to count.