Notice of Readiness and Loading Demurrage in Turkey: When Laytime Starts and Which Delays Count
A vessel’s arrival does not, by itself, settle the starting time or amount of every loading-demurrage claim. Articles 1152–1157 of the Turkish Commercial Code distinguish a notice of readiness, loading laytime, the additional demurrage period and the money payable for that period. The default ten-day demurrage period applies when the contract refers to demurrage or its payment but does not fix its duration; it is not a universal ten-day allowance added to every shipment.
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This guide addresses loading-port time claims in Turkey-linked sea carriage, principally in the voyage-charter setting where these provisions apply. It does not treat a container line’s equipment-detention tariff, terminal storage or time-charter hire as automatically the same legal claim. The principal source is Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, Articles 1152–1157. Begin with the actual contract, applicable law and relevant parties before applying a default statutory calculation.
1. Identify the contract and the time claim
Read the fixture or freight agreement, incorporated terms, riders and subsequent amendments together. Identify whether loading was agreed to begin on a specified day, how much loading time was allowed and whether demurrage was agreed. An invoice calling a charge demurrage does not establish those contractual facts.
Keep the loading-port claim separate from discharge-port time and other charges. Each calculation should identify the operation, debtor, contractual rate or statutory basis and relevant period. A combined account obscuring storage, container use and vessel waiting should be itemised before responsibility is accepted or rejected.
Where a bill of lading refers to a charterparty, determine whose relationship is in issue. The charterparty and holder-protection guide explains why incorporation against a later holder is a separate inquiry. An original charterer’s obligation should not automatically be attributed to every consignee.
2. Article 1152 identifies when a readiness notice is required
Where the parties have not agreed a specific day for loading to begin, Article 1152(1) requires the carrier or its authorised representative to give a readiness notice to the carriage-contracting party in accordance with the article’s subsequent paragraphs. The agreed commencement arrangement therefore comes before the default notice analysis.
Paragraph 2 connects the notice to arrival at the anchoring place prescribed by Article 1142. Keep the vessel’s location and arrival records with the notice. A message issued before the relevant factual stage should not be treated as effective merely because it uses a familiar notice-of-readiness heading.
Paragraph 3 addresses the waiting-area circumstances linked to Article 1142(2), including the absence of a nominated loading place and specified obstacles to following the instruction. For that provision, the port management’s direction is treated as the carriage-contracting party’s direction. The actual berth, waiting-area and instruction records should be examined rather than replacing them with a general statement that the port was busy.
3. Delivery of the notice to the correct recipient matters
Article 1152(4) provides for notice to another person where the voyage-charter agreement or a later valid instruction requires it. Identify that recipient and the relevant instruction. A notice sent to an address associated with the cargo is not automatically a notice to the contractually designated person.
If that recipient cannot be found or avoids receiving the notice, the situation must immediately be reported to the carriage-contracting party. In that case, the readiness notice is deemed made on the date of the attempted notice. The attempted delivery and immediate report should both be preserved; the exception should not be reduced to a blanket rule that every unsuccessful email is effective.
Under paragraph 5, validity is not tied to a particular form, but the notice must reach its recipient to produce effect, subject to the specified deemed-notice situation. Written and electronically traceable records are practically useful evidence, but the statute should not be rewritten as prescribing one mandatory template for every notice.
4. Loading laytime starts under a separate rule
Article 1153(1) starts loading laytime on the first calendar day following receipt of the readiness notice. If loading has actually begun earlier, it starts from that moment. Record receipt and actual commencement separately. The date printed on the notice and the date it reached the recipient need not be identical.
The paragraph also applies Article 1156 where actual loading has not begun at the moment the period starts. It is therefore inaccurate to assume that the laytime clock always waits until the first physical cargo movement. The reason loading did not begin and the applicable interruption rule must be examined.
Use a chronology which preserves times and time zones. A later spreadsheet should show the underlying event for each entry rather than silently convert every timestamp to a convenient date. The starting point often affects the entire invoice, so it should be supported before individual interruption hours are disputed.
5. No agreed loading period does not mean unlimited free time
Article 1153(2) supplies a default where the loading period has not been fixed by contract: the time needed for loading on the basis of uninterrupted twenty-four-hour work. The assessment considers the loading port, vessel, loading facilities and equipment, cargo characteristics, port rules and local practice.
That is a contextual calculation, not a universal number of days for every commodity or vessel. Obtain the operational information needed to explain the proposed period. A rate copied from an unrelated shipment does not establish the time required under this statutory test.
Paragraph 3 permits agreement that payment will be made for the loading period. Do not assume that laytime is necessarily unpaid regardless of contract. The distinction between the duration allowed and the price allocated to it should remain visible in the contractual review.
6. The additional demurrage period depends on agreement
Under Article 1154(1), where agreed in the contract, the carrier must wait for loading beyond the loading period; the additional waiting period is the demurrage period. Paragraph 2 makes that period ten days where the contract mentions demurrage, or only demurrage money, but leaves its duration unspecified.
The ten-day rule should therefore be applied only after identifying the contractual reference which triggers it. A contract entirely silent on demurrage should not automatically be treated as granting an additional ten days simply because loading ran late. The consequences of failure to load require their own statutory analysis.
Paragraph 3 starts demurrage when the loading period ends, without a further notice. Keep this separate from the initial readiness-notice requirement and any later written notice needed to exercise a termination remedy. The absence of a second NOR is not, by itself, a defence to the start of an agreed demurrage period.
7. Laytime interruptions are allocated by the cause’s sphere
Article 1156(1) calculates loading laytime continuously by the calendar. Paragraph 2 includes days on which delivery of goods to the vessel is prevented by accidental causes within the carriage-contracting party’s sphere of activity. Paragraph 3 excludes days on which receipt aboard is prevented by accidental causes within the carrier’s sphere.
Identify the actual obstacle and its sphere rather than deciding the calculation solely from the word unavoidable. Cargo availability, vessel-side receipt and a wider event affecting both sides raise different statutory questions. The operational report should explain what could not be done and why.
Paragraph 4 addresses accidental causes affecting both spheres, giving storm, ice and mobilisation as examples. The relevant days are added to loading time, but demurrage money remains payable for them despite their falling within the loading period. This special payment consequence should not be omitted from an explanation that the time was excluded or extended.
8. Resumption and demurrage counting differ from ordinary laytime
Article 1156(5) restarts the interrupted period when actual loading resumes in the situations covered by paragraphs 3 and 4. Retain the actual resumption record, not merely the time a party expected operations to restart. The claimed interruption must be connected to an identifiable event and duration.
Paragraph 6 calculates the demurrage period continuously without being affected by the circumstances in paragraphs 2–5, unless the carrier’s fault caused them to arise. Consequently, the treatment of an interruption can change once laytime has ended. A spreadsheet applying the same exclusion rule to both periods needs legal justification.
Do not replace the statute with an unexplained industry slogan. Identify when the relevant period began, the cause and any carrier-fault allegation. The calculation should disclose those inputs so the opposing party can test the proposed treatment instead of receiving only a final number.
9. Article 1155 distinguishes an agreed rate from necessary expenses
Article 1155(1) provides for demurrage money during the demurrage period. Where the amount is contractually fixed, paragraph 2 prevents a demand exceeding that agreed amount on that basis. Where it is not fixed, paragraph 3 permits the necessary and useful expenses incurred by the carrier because of waiting beyond the loading period.
A claimant relying on paragraph 3 should support the expenses and their connection to the additional waiting. An unsupported daily rate does not become a statutory tariff merely because no contractual rate exists. Conversely, an agreed rate should be identified from the actual contract and amendments rather than reconstructed from a later invoice.
Paragraph 5 makes loading-port demurrage due at the end of the time unit used to calculate the demurrage period and excludes a claim for an unused time unit. Identify the unit and the actual time used. The provision should not be used to conceal assumptions about rounding or partial periods.
10. The debtor and payment-related further waiting have separate rules
Article 1155(4) identifies the carriage-contracting party as debtor for demurrage arising at the loading port. Until payment or sufficient security is provided, the carrier is not obliged to send the vessel on the voyage. The paragraph separately permits recovery of the whole loss caused by further waiting for that reason.
Keep the agreed demurrage calculation separate from a claimed loss arising from additional waiting for payment or security. Identify when the initial amount became due, the request made, any security offered and the additional period alleged. The two claims should not be merged into a demand which cannot be reconciled with the records.
Paragraph 6 states that freight rules do not apply to loading-port demurrage even by analogy. The freight and consignee-liability guide concerns related but distinct questions. A conclusion about who owes freight should not automatically replace the specific debtor rule here.
11. Early completion does not automatically create a despatch payment
Article 1157 recognises an agreement under which the carrier pays the carriage-contracting party for unused time when loading finishes before the agreed loading period ends. The entitlement therefore requires the relevant agreement. Finishing early alone should not be presented as a universal statutory right to a bonus.
The article applies the loading-time calculation rules to determining the relevant period. Compare the agreed allowance, actual completion and any excluded or adjusted intervals. A claimed saving should be calculated from the same legally supported timetable rather than a different start selected only for the bonus.
Paragraph 2 withholds the paragraph 1 treatment where the agreement aims to circumvent the specified administrative, financial or criminal provisions governing freight determination at the loading or discharge port. The existence of a payment label does not make every arrangement valid irrespective of its purpose and applicable rules.
12. Reconcile the statement of facts with the legal calculation
| Calculation stage | Supporting record | Main provision |
|---|---|---|
| Readiness and recipient | Vessel location, notice, receipt and designated-recipient instruction | Article 1152 |
| Starting point | Receipt date and actual loading commencement | Article 1153(1) |
| Allowed loading period | Contract or supported statutory default assessment | Article 1153(2) |
| Interruption | Cause, responsible sphere, start and resumption | Article 1156 |
| Demurrage period | Agreement, duration or triggering reference | Article 1154 |
| Amount and debtor | Rate or expense evidence, time unit and party identity | Article 1155 |
| Despatch | Agreement and supported unused-time calculation | Article 1157 |
A statement of facts records operational events; the laytime calculation applies a legal rule to them. Preserve both, including disputed entries and amendments. Do not describe a signed operational record as automatically accepting every legal treatment later inserted into an invoice.
For overseas parties, identify the Turkish connection and send the complete fixture, relevant terms, NOR, statement of facts and calculation through a confidential channel. The proper forum, applicable time limit and any procedural prerequisite must be assessed for the actual claim. A cargo-damage deadline should not automatically be imported into a loading-demurrage dispute.
Frequently asked questions
Does vessel arrival alone start loading laytime?
Not under an unexplained universal rule. Check the contract, Article 1152 notice requirements and Article 1153’s receipt and actual-loading starting points.
Must every NOR use one prescribed written form?
Article 1152(5) does not prescribe a particular form, but requires the notice to reach its recipient, subject to paragraph 4’s specified deemed-notice situation. Preserve reliable evidence.
When does the default loading period start after receipt?
Article 1153(1) uses the next calendar day; if actual loading began earlier, it uses that commencement. The applicable contract and interruption rules still require review.
Does every shipment receive ten days of demurrage time?
No. Article 1154(2) applies where the contract mentions demurrage or demurrage money but does not specify the period.
Is a second notice required when demurrage starts?
Article 1154(3) starts demurrage on expiry of the loading period without another notice. That does not remove separate notices required for other remedies.
Do the same interruption rules always apply during demurrage?
No. Article 1156(6) provides continuous demurrage counting despite the circumstances in paragraphs 2–5 unless the carrier’s fault caused them.
What if no demurrage amount was fixed?
Article 1155(3) concerns the carrier’s necessary and useful expenses caused by waiting beyond loading time. It does not create an unsupported universal daily tariff.
Who owes loading-port demurrage?
Article 1155(4) identifies the carriage-contracting party. Establish that party rather than automatically naming the consignee.
Does early loading completion automatically produce a despatch bonus?
No. Article 1157 recognises the relevant agreement and applies loading-time calculation rules to the unused period.
Is container detention automatically the same claim as voyage-charter demurrage?
No. Identify the service, contract, period and debtor. An invoice label does not make distinct charge regimes interchangeable.
Primary legal sources
Ministry of Justice legislation record for Law No. 6102; the Ministry’s statutory text, Articles 1152–1157 on PDF pages 228–229, read with Article 1142 and the relevant contract. The hosted reproduction is not presented as a separately certified 2026 consolidation. The Turkish statutory text and applicable contractual law govern.
Ask about a loading-time or demurrage calculation
State the loading port, contractual role, period claimed and amount in dispute. Provide a non-sensitive outline initially and arrange a confidential channel for the fixture and operational records.
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