Why a ship waits

A ship can reach the port on time and still be too early for the work it came to do. The berth may be occupied. The cargo may not be ready. The pilot, tugs and tidal window may not coincide. An arrival time is only one part of a port call.

That makes the familiar question - why did we hurry, only to anchor? - more interesting than it first appears. The answer can involve both an operational bottleneck and a commercial reason for reaching the waiting place. Solving one does not automatically solve the other.

Three clocks, one ship

There is the ship's clock: the passage plan and the time needed to arrive safely. There is the port's clock: when the berth, approach and services can actually receive it. Then there is the contract's clock: when obligations are met and particular time begins to count. These clocks can point towards different decisions.

BIMCO's Laytime Definitions for Charter Parties 2013 distinguishes laytime, the agreed period available for loading or discharge without extra payment beyond freight, from demurrage, the agreed amount payable for qualifying delay after laytime expires. Its definitions apply when expressly incorporated into the contract. The anchorage watch cannot establish a claim merely by counting hours. ^[1]

The same definitions distinguish a notice of readiness from a simple arrival message. The notice concerns arrival at the relevant port or berth and readiness to load or discharge. The contract, facts and applicable law determine whether it is effective. An estimated time of arrival is a forecast; it is not that notice. ^[1]

The commercial reason to arrive

The IMO-backed Just In Time Arrival Guide identifies contractual barriers in voyage chartering. A master may be expected to proceed with due despatch even after learning that a berth will remain occupied. Changing speed can therefore require a commercial agreement as well as a better estimate from the terminal. The guide maps the interdependence of ship, terminal and port services. ^[2]

Some contracts expressly address waiting. BIMCO's Waiting for Berth Clause 2002, for example, provides for a notice at or off the port when the berth is unavailable, subject to its wording and the master warranting actual readiness. It also treats the subsequent movement to the berth separately. This is a published clause that parties may use, not a rule automatically governing every voyage. ^[3]

That difference matters when somebody calls waiting time profitable. Who receives freight, pays for fuel, carries the cost of extra voyage time or owes compensation depends on the arrangement. Even where a claim is available, it does not make the physical delay disappear. Nor does it make the ship's next commitment any easier to meet.

Arrive when the port can receive you

Just-in-time arrival aims to align speed with an assured opportunity to enter: a berth, fairway and nautical services available together. It requires a dependable requested arrival time at the appropriate location, exchanged early enough to influence the passage. Slowing down on an uncertain rumour is a poor substitute for coordinated planning.

A 2022 study commissioned by the IMO-Norway GreenVoyage2050 project examined container voyages using 2019 AIS data. Its modelling found mean fuel savings of 14.16% when optimisation covered the whole voyage, 5.90% over the final 24 hours and 4.23% over the final 12 hours. Those are modelled results for that study, not guaranteed savings for a particular tanker or bulk carrier. ^[4]

The useful finding is that information arriving late can still have value, while earlier coordination offers more room to act. A terminal need not promise impossible certainty. It does need to distinguish a working estimate from an agreed operational request, and make a changed plan visible to the people relying on it.

A new clause, still in development

In August 2026, BIMCO described a draft Virtual Notice of Readiness and Just in Time Arrival Clause for voyage charter parties. The proposal addresses ports where a digital queue can be joined before physical arrival, while conventional notice requirements still depend on arrival at the contractual place. ^[5]

BIMCO says its draft would allow virtual notice where the port facilitates it and charterers consent, with other validity requirements satisfied. It also proposes a framework for requested speed changes, sharing fuel savings and compensating additional voyage time. At the research cut-off, this source describes development and consultation. It does not establish a universally available right to tender notice from sea. ^[5]

The importance is the problem it recognises: cooperation becomes harder when one party saves fuel while another carries uncompensated time or contractual exposure. The instruction to optimise arrival needs an agreement about those consequences.

The bottleneck may be ashore

The IMO ship-port interface portal also identifies pre-clearance of customs, immigration, health and other formalities as a way to reduce waiting. Port-call optimisation includes coordinating services and departure, rather than concentrating only on the ship's approach. Clearing one stage while a critical service remains unfinished merely moves the queue. ^[6]

For the ship, a useful delay record should explain what prevented the next movement, who supplied that information and when the plan changed. Arrival, readiness, service availability and movement are separate events. Recording them separately helps the office examine the cause; a commercial claim still needs its own contractual assessment.

For the office, the better question is precise: what information or agreement would have allowed this ship to use its time differently? A berth forecast? Confirmed pilot availability? Cargo readiness? Authority to alter speed without prejudicing the contract? Each answer points to someone who can change the next call.

The ship waiting at anchor is the visible end of a much larger sequence of decisions. A credible improvement connects the timetable, the operational plan and the commercial terms before the crew receives another urgent arrival instruction.