Arbitration – Holiday Exceptions (BIMCO Calendar) and Notice of Readiness at CJK Sep 27, 2025 3 min read Summary prepared by Prokopios Krikris, FCIArb, Arbitrator The dispute arises under the terms of a GENCON form of Charter Party, with these issues for determination:   a)    Whether Good Friday was to be counted as a holiday under the Charter Party since it was not listed as one in the BIMCO Holiday Calendar for the State of New York. b)    Whether the Port of Nanjing is considered within the “Shanghai area” as stipulated in the Charter Party … and as a consequence … c)    Whether Notice of Readiness (NOR) can be tendered/accepted at the CJK anchorage at the mouth of the Yangtze River and outside the Port of Shanghai … or … upon reaching the anchorage (or berth) at the nominated discharge port of Nanjing   The holiday period   Clause 20 of the charterparty stated, “ It is understood the word ‘holidays' as it appears throughout this Charter Party includes local and/or national and/or public and/or stevedore holidays.”   The owner argued that the BIMCO Holiday Calendar should apply notwithstanding that there was nothing to that effect in the Charter Party. The BIMCO Holiday Calendar did not list Good Friday as a holiday in the State of New York. However, it was well known in chartering circles that cargoes of scrap loaded in New York Harbour were actually loaded at piers in the State of New Jersey, for which the BIMCO Calendar clearly lists Good Friday as a holiday. Besides being a well-known fact in tramp shipping circles that Good Friday was a recognised labour holiday in New York harbour, it was also a Wall Street and bank holiday, which was widely reported every year in the international press.   The panel denied the Owner's claim and also noted that the Owner has overlooked the Saturday after Noon excepted provisions of Clause 18 when preparing its Load Port Laytime Statement [ Editor's comme