weather working day
WEATHER WORKING DAYS
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By Per Zerman, Assistant Vice President, Skuld Copenhagen
Published 03 November 2010
Legal news
The term ”weather working days” often forms part of the definition of laytime . Although the meaning should, at first glance, be straightforward, it continues to be a source for dispute: The intention is that where weather conditions make it impossible to load or discharge, then that day (or period of a day) should not count as laytime. This carries with it a fairly broad scope for disagreement on whether the weather in fact does make loading or discharging really impossible.
Weather working days have been be considered on several occasions: One of them was in London arbitration 10/04 (LMLN 0639) where the vessel was chartered under a C/P on the Gencon form. This particular vessel was loading not one but various and different cargoes (amongst others both timber and steel cargo). Loading was disturbed by the weather including snow and rain.
The particular problem was that some of these cargoes were more sensitive to the weather than other cargoes, the different cargoes were loaded by different shippers and whatever the weather, some cargoes could be loaded where others could not. The C/P provided only for a single laytime allowance which measured laytime in weather working days.
The arbitrators held that a weather working day (or part of a day) was a day where cargo could be loaded (or discharged) without interference from the weather. Laytime would run if any of the cargoes could be loaded even if others could not. This would change if there was only one type of cargo left which was in fact sensitive to the weather and if only this type of cargo was left and the weather was bad (affecting loading of this particular cargo), then laytime would not run.
This particular decision illustrates the difficulties which can arise (in this case where several types of cargoes of different sensitivity are involved), but also demonstrates the fact
By Per Zerman, Assistant Vice President, Skuld Copenhagen
Published 03 November 2010
Legal news
The term ”weather working days” often forms part of the definition of laytime . Although the meaning should, at first glance, be straightforward, it continues to be a source for dispute: The intention is that where weather conditions make it impossible to load or discharge, then that day (or period of a day) should not count as laytime. This carries with it a fairly broad scope for disagreement on whether the weather in fact does make loading or discharging really impossible.
Weather working days have been be considered on several occasions: One of them was in London arbitration 10/04 (LMLN 0639) where the vessel was chartered under a C/P on the Gencon form. This particular vessel was loading not one but various and different cargoes (amongst others both timber and steel cargo). Loading was disturbed by the weather including snow and rain.
The particular problem was that some of these cargoes were more sensitive to the weather than other cargoes, the different cargoes were loaded by different shippers and whatever the weather, some cargoes could be loaded where others could not. The C/P provided only for a single laytime allowance which measured laytime in weather working days.
The arbitrators held that a weather working day (or part of a day) was a day where cargo could be loaded (or discharged) without interference from the weather. Laytime would run if any of the cargoes could be loaded even if others could not. This would change if there was only one type of cargo left which was in fact sensitive to the weather and if only this type of cargo was left and the weather was bad (affecting loading of this particular cargo), then laytime would not run.
This particular decision illustrates the difficulties which can arise (in this case where several types of cargoes of different sensitivity are involved), but also demonstrates the fact