The Notice of Readiness (NOR)

The Notice of Readiness (NOR) 

The Notice of Readiness (NOR) is a document issued by the Master of the vessel, to declare that his vessel is ready in all respect, to load or discharge the cargo and has reached specified destination as per charter party.

The NOR is tendered to Charterer, Shipper, Receiver or any other person as required by the Charter Party.

In voyage charter ,it is been agreed by the ship-owner to make the vessel available on the future agreed days (which is also termed as Lay-days).If the vessel do not reach the specified destination on agreed lay-days then the charterer have the right to  cancel charter party.

So when the master tender NOR he shows his presence on agreed Lay-days

It’s only after the NOR is tendered the laytime is started

Laytime is the time allowed to the charterers for loading/discharge cargo, if the time to do cargo operations of loading/discharging exceeds a fine is to be given to the ship owners in the form of Demurrage.

And if the cargo operations of loading/discharging finishes before time then the charterer receives Dispatch money by the Ship Owners.

Demurrage-The charges/fine that the charterers pays to the ship owner for its delayed operations of loading/discharging

Dispatch– If the charterers completes the loading/discharging in a shorter period than is agreed on ,charterer may be entitled to receive dispatch money from the ship owner. Dispatch is half of demurrage.

NOR is very important as only after the NOR is tendered the laytime commence.

(NOR) to be tendered during office hours

The Notice Of Readiness (NOR) tendered must be in accordance with the terms mentioned in the Charter Party and only during office hours, the master may have to re-tender the NOR more than once, as in case he tender it during off office hours

It is Mandatory to tender NOR to all parties involved as per voyage order issued by the Charterers and NOR must clearly read that the vessel is in all respects ready to perform cargo operations of loading/discharging, in case vessel is not ready some extra time is given for making the vessel ready but it is mutually agreed between both the parties

In a case of invalid NOR, the ship might not be considered as arrived ship and therefore all waiting time until berthing will be disprove in the settlement of demurrage claim.

Contents of NOR

The notice of readiness is tendered to the charterer, shipper, receiver or another person as mention in the charter-party that:

1. The vessel has arrived at the specified destination as agreed in the charter party.
2. As per various clauses in the charter party vessel may tender the notice of readiness even though vessel may not have reached to the specified destination.

 WIBON (“whether in berth or not”) means that under a charter party, if the berth is not immediately accessible, the notice of readiness may be given when the vessel is in the port in which the berth is situated. 

 WIPON (“whether in port or not”) means the notice of readiness in certain circumstances to be tendered even if the vessel has not yet entered the port area.

Example of a Berth Charter:

1 good safe berth (1gsb) Brazil indicates Berth Charter

Notice of Readiness may only be tendered when the vessel arrives physically at the xyz berth in Brazil.

In a ‘Berth Charter’ a Notice of Readiness can only be tendered on arrival at the declared berth, unless that berth is occupied.

 If that berth remains available, vessel cannot tender Notice of Readiness from any other place than that fixed berth

Example of port charter:-

Brazil, 1 good safe berth (1gsb) indicates Port Charter

In a ‘Port Charter’ the Notice of Readiness can be tendered at the time of arrival within the port limits which could already be on arrival at the outer pilot station.

Berth is occupied

• If the berth is occupied and vessel has to remain outside at anchorage, the Notice of Readiness can be tendered from the anchorage area.  
• WIBON- Whether In Berth Or Not
• WIPON-Whether In Port Or Not
• WIFPON- Whether In Free Pratique Or Not
• WICCON- Whether In Customs Clearance Or Not

• Master must ensure that it is mention in the statement of fact that the berth was occupied on arrival  and Notice of Readiness tendered from the anchorage accordingly.  This will make it easier to a claim for demurrage. 

For multiple berth cargo operations, an NOR should be tendered for each berth using the time of those disconnection from the previous berth as NOR tendering time for next berth. 

The vessel is ready to load or discharge the cargo means that all the holds of the vessel must be physically ready  to receive the cargo ,which means holds must be washed with fresh water ,swept and dried ,no traces of previous cargo to be present ,the holds must also be free from loose flanges and rust and is ready for any kind of hold inspections.

The mater must ensure that he must satisfy the Shippers/Surveyors before the commencement of loading if the inspections fails then he has to do necessary arrangements to get the holds pass the survey inspection

Important information in a valid Notice of Readiness

The vessel has arrived the specified destination as agreed in the charter party.

1. The vessel is in all respect ready to perform loading or discharging the cargo.
2. The notice of readiness is to be tendered to the person in charge according to the person in charge mention in the charter-party.
3. The notice of readiness is tendered in a contractual manner.
4. The notice of readiness is to be tendered at a time that is allowed by the charter-party.
5. The notice of readiness is to be tendered during official hours only,local office time to be consider prior tender of NOR (usually Monday/Friday    0800-1700 hours
6. Some Charter Parties even stipulate that a valid Notice of Readiness may not be tendered until individual ballast tanks either completely full or completely empty
7. Sometimes until hatch have been removed , NOR cannot be tendered
8. The NOR must be sent by email or telex or with any other mode of communication present onboard with date and hour and signature of the Master. 

The original NOR  which is hand written by the Master of the vessel is to be submitted  and signed by an authorised person when the vessel is reach jetty and moored.

Notice of Readiness(NOR) accepted –

Notice of Readiness accepted- When Master tendered his Notice of Readiness, he declared his ship is ready to load/discharge. The time of tendering and acceptance of the NOR should be the same.

Notice of Readiness(NOR) rejected

Notice of Readiness(NOR) rejected
Charterers/Shippers gets upper-hand rejecting a NOR when hold-survey fails and the vessel has to again undergo hold-cleaning process.

In this case it is Charterers wish to accept the NOR at a later time than when it was tendered.

Beware of second Notice of Readiness(NOR)

Beware of second Notice of Readiness(NOR)

When the hold is rejected, the original NOR is to be considered as null and void. Consequently a new NOR is to be tendered, all the days waiting at the anchorage are considered ‘null and void’.

CONCLUSION– NOR plays a vital role in Laytime (demurrage and dispatch) calculation due regards and due attention must be paid before NOR is tendered.

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