The Language of the Fixture — A Working Guide to Charterparty Abbreviations

§1 — Three Axes, One Contract

A charterparty is written in shorthand. The actual contract behind “10,000 MT SHEX UU WIBON ATDNSHINC BENDS” runs to fifty pages — but the abbreviations in the fixture recap encode every material commercial decision. Once you understand the three axes, the shorthand becomes readable.

The first axis is Time: when does the laytime clock run, and what stops it? The second is Place: where does the vessel have to be before it can tender Notice of Readiness? The third is Cost: who pays for loading, discharging, stowing, and trimming? Every abbreviation in the recap is an answer to one of these three questions.

The practical consequence is that the freight rate — the number everyone focuses on — is often less important commercially than the abbreviations. A $1/metric ton difference on a 50,000-tonne cargo is $50,000. A wrong call on SHINC versus SHEX on a single Capesize port call can cost the same amount or more.

§2 — The Time Axis: SHINC, SHEX, UU, EIU

The time axis determines how many days count toward laytime — and how many days trigger demurrage when exceeded. The core choice is SHINC versus SHEX.

SHINC — Sundays and Holidays Included — means every calendar day counts as laytime, including weekends and public holidays. If a vessel arrives on a Friday afternoon and the terminal is closed until Monday, those two days still run against the laytime allowance. SHINC is owner-friendly: the clock never stops, laytime runs out faster, and demurrage begins sooner.

SHEX — Sundays and Holidays Excepted — means the clock stops on excluded days. The laytime count pauses on Sunday and restarts Monday morning. SHEX is charterer-friendly: the clock stops on Sundays and holidays, giving the charterer more effective time before demurrage begins. From the shipowner's perspective, the vessel sits idle during excluded days without earning demurrage.

The UU and EIU modifiers govern what happens when excluded days are actually worked. UU (Unless Used) means if the terminal works on Sunday, that day counts as laytime — the exception is lifted by actual use. EIU (Even If Used) means Sunday never counts, regardless of whether the terminal works. On a Capesize earning $25,000 to $35,000 a day in demurrage, the difference between UU and EIU over two Sundays is $70,000.

ATDNSHINC (Any Time Day or Night, Sundays and Holidays Included) means NOR can be tendered at any hour, and the clock starts immediately. ATDN alone allows round-the-clock tendering without the SHINC qualification — the excluded-day regime applies separately.

§3 — The Place Axis: WIBON, WIPON, WIFPON

The place axis determines where the vessel must be before it can tender Notice of Readiness (NOR) — the formal notification that the ship has arrived and is ready to load or discharge. The location of valid NOR tendering determines when laytime starts.

Standard berth charter: NOR can only be tendered when the vessel is physically at the berth, properly moored. If there is no berth available and the vessel is at anchor in the roads, laytime does not run. The owner absorbs the waiting time.

WIBON (Whether In Berth Or Not): NOR can be tendered from the anchorage as soon as the vessel arrives at the port, regardless of whether a berth is available. If the vessel is waiting at anchor because the berth is occupied, laytime runs anyway. The congestion risk transfers to the charterer. In ports like Port Hedland (iron ore) or Qingdao (coal), where vessels regularly wait days at anchor, WIBON is the difference between demurrage and demurrage protection.

WIPON (Whether In Port Or Not): NOR can be tendered even before the vessel enters the port limits, from the pilot boarding ground or the pilot station. This goes further than WIBON and transfers almost all arrival risk to the charterer.

WIFPON (Whether In Free Pratique Or Not): NOR can be tendered before free pratique has been granted by the port health authority. This removes one more procedural prerequisite before laytime starts.

REACHABLE ON ARRIVAL means the berth must be available when the vessel arrives — if it is not, the owner is entitled to claim damages for delay from the moment the vessel arrives at the loading port. This phrase is distinct from WIBON and has been litigated in English courts multiple times.

§4 — The Cost Axis: FIO, FIOS, FIOST, Liner Terms

The cost axis determines who pays for the physical work of moving cargo: loading it onto the ship, discharging it at the destination, stowing it in the hold, and trimming it flat. There are four operations and half a dozen standard allocations.

Liner Terms: the shipowner pays for all cargo handling — loading, discharging, stowing, trimming. The freight rate includes these costs. Liner Terms is the standard for container shipping, where the carrier controls the terminal operations.

FIO (Free In and Out): the charterer pays for loading and discharging. Stowing and trimming responsibility is not explicitly covered by FIO alone — in practice, dry bulk market custom usually places these costs on the charterer's account as well, but explicit FIOS or FIOST eliminates ambiguity. FIO is the standard in dry bulk — grain, coal, iron ore — where the terminal or charterer's stevedores handle the loading and discharging operations.

FIOS (Free In, Out, and Stowed): charterer pays for loading, discharging, and stowing. The ship is only responsible for trimming — levelling the cargo in the hold.

FIOST (Free In, Out, Stowed, and Trimmed): charterer pays for everything. The freight rate covers sea passage only. In practice, on large bulk trades, the freight rate is often quoted FIOST, with the charterer controlling or paying for all terminal costs.

FI and FO exist as one-sided variants: FI means loading is the charterer's cost (ship pays for discharge, stow, trim); FO means discharge is the charterer's cost. These appear in specific trades and charter forms where the loading and discharging operations are asymmetric.

§5 — The Fixture Recap

Once the commercial terms are agreed, the broker circulates a fixture recap — a condensed summary of the key terms in charterparty shorthand. A recap for a Capesize coal fixture might read:

MV [VESSEL] / [CHARTERER]
CARGO: 75,000 MT 10%MOLCO COAL
LOAD: [PORT] — 50,000 MT PWWD SHEX UU
DISCH: [PORT] — 25,000 MT PWWD SHEX EIU
FREIGHT: USD XX.XX PMT FIOST
LAYCAN: [DATE RANGE]
DEM: USD 32,500 PDPR / DES HALF DEM (DHD)
CP: GENCON 94 AS AMENDED

Reading the recap is reading the commercial agreement. DEM: USD 32,500 PDPR means $32,500 per day, pro-rata, is the demurrage rate. DES HALF DEM (commonly abbreviated DHD) means despatch — the bonus paid to the charterer for completing faster than allowed — is half the demurrage rate. LAYCAN is the laydays/cancelling range — the window within which the vessel must arrive; outside that window, the charterer can cancel.

The recap looks like the contract. But only once the subjects are lifted.

Most fixtures are agreed “on subs” — subject to stem (cargo availability), subject to management approval, subject to Rightship vetting, subject to receivers' acceptance. Until every subject is removed in writing, the recap is not binding. Either party can walk away. English law is clear on this — the presence of even one unlifted subject prevents a binding contract from forming. The Baltic Exchange states formally: “no fixture has been concluded until all subjects have been lifted.” The Pacific Champ [2013], Newcastle Express [2022], and Aquafreedom [2024] cases all confirm: an unlifted subject means no contract. Once all subs are lifted, the recap becomes the contract. Not before.

BENDS (Both Ends) refers to both the loading and discharging port — used to confirm that a particular term (demurrage rate, agent appointment) applies at both ends of the voyage, not just one.

Reading a recap fluently is not a specialist skill. It is the baseline of commercial shipping. The abbreviations are the language in which every fixture is negotiated, confirmed, disputed, and eventually settled.