Port-Call Timestamps Explained: NOR, ETB, ATB and What Each One Triggers

Why timestamps matter more than they look like they should

A Statement of Facts is, at its core, a list of timestamps. Laytime calculations, demurrage and despatch claims, and off-hire disputes are all built directly on those timestamps — which means an ambiguous or wrongly recorded one is not a clerical detail, it is a live commercial exposure.

The terms below are the ones that actually appear on a SOF, roughly in the order a port call generates them.

The timestamps, in sequence

Each abbreviation refers to a specific, distinct moment — using two of them interchangeably is one of the more common sources of laytime disputes.

• ETA — Estimated Time of Arrival, given ahead of the port call for planning purposes
• EOSP — End of Sea Passage, when the vessel stops open-sea navigation and enters pilotage/anchorage waters
• NOR (Notice of Readiness) tendered — the master formally notifies that the vessel is ready to load or discharge; whether this starts laytime depends on the charter party's laytime clause and whether the vessel is 'in fact ready' at the time
• NOR accepted — the receiving party's acknowledgement of the NOR; acceptance is not always required for laytime to start, again depending on clause wording
• ETB — Estimated Time of Berthing, a forward-looking estimate, not an event that has happened yet
• ATB — Actual Time of Berthing, the moment the vessel is actually alongside — this is the one 'ETB' is most often confused with
• Commencement of loading/discharging — when cargo operations actually begin, which can be materially later than ATB if there is a berth or equipment delay
• Completion of loading/discharging
• ATD — Actual Time of Departure, when the vessel leaves the berth

Why ETB and ATB get confused, and why it matters

ETB is a forecast; ATB is a recorded fact. They get conflated in casual conversation because both describe 'when the ship got alongside' — but only ATB is a timestamp a laytime calculation can actually use. A SOF that records an ETB instead of the ATB it meant to record is not usable as evidence of when berthing actually happened.

NOR validity is where most disputes concentrate

Whether a tendered NOR is valid — and therefore whether it starts the laytime clock — typically depends on three things the charter party's laytime clause will specify: whether the vessel had arrived at the contractual place (port, berth, or a specific waiting area), whether it was in fact ready in all respects, and whether any notice-period or time-of-day restriction in the clause was observed.

A NOR tendered before the vessel is actually ready, or before it has legally 'arrived' under the charter party's own definition, does not start laytime just because it was tendered — this is the single most litigated point in laytime disputes and exactly where the wording of the specific fixture, not general practice, decides the outcome.

Zeaclub publishes free laytime and laycan calculators for working these timestamps through.