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L

Laydays - Days allowed by the shipowner to the voyage charterer or Bill of Lading holder in which to load and / or discharge the cargo. See also laytime.

Laycan or L/C - Laydays Canceling - Period during which the shipowner must tender notice of readiness to the charterer that the ship has arrived at the pod of loading and is ready to load, This period is expressed as two dates, for example laydays 25 March canceling 2 April or, when abbreviated as laycan, laycan 25 March/2 April. The charterer is not obliged to commence loading until the first of these dates if the ship arrives earlier and may have the option of canceling the charter if the ship arrives after the second of the dates, known as canceling date.

Laytime - Time allowed by the shipowner to the voyage charterer or Bill of Lading holder in which to load and / or discharge the cargo. It is expressed as a number of days or hours or as a number or tons per day. There is normally a provision in the Charter-Party for the commencement of laytime, which is often at a certain hour after notice of readiness has been tendered by the master, a provision for periods when laytime does not count, for instance during bad weather, weekends or holidays or a provision for laytime being exceeded, when demurrage or damages for detention become payable, or not being fully used, when despatch may be payable.

Laytime Saved - Charter-Party term used to define one method by which despatch money is calculated, that is, by deducting laytime used from laytime allowed. If for example, a Charter-Party provides for 6 laydays for loading and the charterer uses 3 days, he is entitled to 3 days despatch money. Also referred to as working time saved.

Laytime Statement - Portion of a time sheet, which details the amount of laytime used by a voyage charterer.

L/C - Letter of credit.

LCL - Less than Container Load - Consignment of cargo, which is insufficient to fill a shipping container. It is grouped with other consignment for the same destination in a container at a container freight station.

Letter of Indemnity - Written statement in which one party undertakes to compensate another for the costs and consequences of carrying out a certain act, for example, a shipper who has been delayed in sending an original Bill of Lading to the receiver may instruct the master of the ship or the shipowner to release the goods to a named third party without production of an original Bill of Lading. The master or owner, if they agree, may require a letter of indemnity from the shipper for the consequences of complying should it turn out that the named party is not entitled to take delivery of the goods. It should be noted that, as a rule, any such letter that seeks to indemnify against an act, which is intended to defraud an innocent third party, is unenforceable in a court of law.

Lien Clause - Clause in a voyage Charter-Party which entitles the shipowner to exercise a lien on the cargo, that is, to retain control of the cargo until any freight, deadfreight or demurrage which is owing is paid. This provision is often incorporated into the cesser clause, which seeks to relive the charterer once the cargo has been shipped.

LIFO – Liner In Free Out - Qualification to freight rate denoting that it is inclusive of the sea carriage and the cost of loading. It excludes the cost of discharging, which is payable by the shipper or receiver, as the case may be. There may be a laytime and demurrage arrangement at the port of discharging since the carrier has no control over the discharging.

Liner Bill of Lading - Bill of Lading containing the terms and conditions of carriage of a shipping line.

Liner Waybill - Document, issued by a shipping line to a shipper, which serves as a receipt for the goods and evidence of the contract of carriage. In these respects it resembles a Bill of Lading but, unlike a Bill of Lading, it is not a document of title; it bears the name of the consignee who has only to identify himself in order to take delivery of the cargo. Because it is not negotiable, the liner waybill is not acceptable to the banks as collateral security; the purpose of the liner waybill is to avoid the delays to ships and cargoes that occur when bills of lading are late in arriving at the discharge port. The liner waybill is also referred to as a sea waybill or an ocean waybill or simply waybill.

Linertime - Deep sea time Charter-Party published by BIMCO, used when ships are chartered for liner operation.

Loading Broker - Company that represents a shipping line at the port of loading. Its duties are to advertise the line's sailings, to obtain cargoes and co-ordinate their delivery to the ship and to sign bills of lading on behalf of the master.

- Company that represents a shipping line at the port of loading. Its duties are to advertise the line's sailings, to obtain cargoes and co-ordinate their delivery to the ship and to sign bills of lading on behalf of the master.

Loose - Said of a consignment, which consists of single pieces not bundled together.

LONL — Lost or Not Lost - Term which may be used in contracts of carriage in which the freight is prepaid: often, freight is not returnable whether the ship and/or the cargo are lost or not once having commenced the voyage. Many charter-parties provide that brokerage commission is payable whether the ship is lost or not.

LS - Lump sum.

LT - Liner Terms - Qualification to a freight rate which signifies that it consists of the ocean carriage and the cost of cargo handling at the Loading and discharging ports according to the custom of those ports. This varies widely from country to country and, within countries, from port to port: in some ports, the freight excludes all cargo handling costs while in others the cost of handling between the hold and the ship's rail or quay is included.

Lump Sum Charter - Voyage charter for which the freight is payable as a lump sum rather than per ton or other unit of cargo. The shipowner guarantees to lift a certain quantity of cargo but the charterer pays the same amount for freight irrespective of the quantity loaded.

LWONT - Low Water Ordinary Neap Tides.

LWOST - Low Water Ordinary Spring Tides.

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