Laycan: laydays and cancelling
Laycan combines two dates with different contractual functions. Reading the window correctly is essential to cargo readiness, cancellation rights and schedule risk.
Updated 26 July 2026
What laycan means
Laycan is short for laydays and cancelling. It is the window agreed in the charter party within which the vessel must present herself at the load port and tender a valid notice of readiness.
It is not an estimated time of arrival, and it is not a guarantee that the ship will be there on any particular day. It is a pair of contractual dates that allocate risk between owner and charterer.
The two dates do different jobs
- The first date, laydays
- The earliest date on which the vessel may tender notice of readiness and start laytime running. It protects the charterer: an owner cannot arrive a week early and begin counting time against a cargo that is not due yet.
- The second date, cancelling
- The date after which the charterer has the option to cancel the charter. It protects the charterer against an owner who cannot get the ship there in time, and it caps how long a cargo has to wait on a ship that is running late.
Between those two dates the owner is free. The vessel may arrive on the first day or on the last, and both are performance.
Narrowing and notices
On fixtures made well in advance, the laycan is often agreed as a wide spread and then narrowed as the date approaches, under a clause that says by when and by how much. A typical arrangement gives the owner an obligation to narrow to a shorter window a set number of days before the first layday.
Alongside that, the charter party will require approach notices: fixed notices of the estimated time of arrival at agreed intervals before the vessel reaches the port. Those notices are what let the shipper and the terminal plan, and missing them is a breach in its own right.
When the vessel is late
If the vessel has not tendered a valid notice of readiness by the end of the cancelling date, the charterer may cancel. Two points are worth holding on to.
- Cancelling is an option, not an automatic consequence. You can accept the vessel late, and if the market has moved in your favour you often will.
- Owners will usually invoke an interpellation clause, requiring you to declare in advance whether you intend to cancel. Answer it carefully: a declaration that you will accept the ship is generally binding.
Cancelling on its own does not give you damages. Whether the late arrival is also a breach entitling you to compensation depends on the charter party and on why the ship was late.
Choosing a laycan
The window you ask for shapes the rate you get. A wide laycan brings more ships into the competition and prices better. A narrow one buys certainty and you pay for it.
The discipline is to fix a window your cargo can genuinely meet. If the stem is not confirmed until the middle of the month, do not fix laydays at the start of it, because the vessel is entitled to tender on the first day and laytime will run whether or not the cargo has arrived.
When you send us an enquiry, tell us whether your dates are firm or indicative. It changes which owners we approach and what we can negotiate for you.
Common questions
What does a laycan of 10 to 15 September actually give me?
It gives the owner a window: the vessel may not tender notice of readiness before 10 September, and if she has not tendered a valid notice by the end of 15 September you have the option to cancel. It does not promise she will arrive on any particular day inside that window.
Can I cancel automatically if the ship is late?
No. Cancelling is an option, not an automatic result. If the vessel misses the cancelling date you choose whether to cancel or to accept her late, and owners will normally ask you to declare your intention before then.
Does a wide laycan get a better rate?
Usually yes. A wide window lets more ships compete for the cargo, and an owner who can fit your cargo around another fixture will price it more keenly. A narrow window buys certainty and costs money.
What if my cargo is not ready?
That is the charterer's problem, not the owner's. If the vessel tenders a valid notice within the laycan and the cargo is not there, laytime runs anyway and the exposure is demurrage. Fixing a laycan the cargo cannot meet is one of the more expensive mistakes a charterer can make.
This guide describes general market practice and is not legal advice. The signed contract, charter party and transaction-specific advice take precedence.