Four editions within 23 years illustrate the importance of this topic. The fourth edition, after the appearance of J. Schofield’s Laytime and Demurrage (1986), and D. Davies’ Commencement of Laytime (1987), confirms the importance of, and the appreciation shown to, Summerskill’s book.

Laytime means the time allowed to a vessel, trading under a voyage charter contract, for loading and discharging the cargo contracted for. The term “laytime” should not be confused with the term “laydays”. The latter denotes the period of time within which a chartered vessel has to present herself for loading, but has nothing to do with the counting of the laytime. In a recent court case on a c.i.f. contract the difference played a decisive role. In many law books these terms are not clearly differentiated; the only clear distinction to be found in the international legal literature is apparently made by Richter-Hannes, Richter, Trotz, Seehandelsrecht (2nd edn., Berlin, 1987, p. 170).

The long-awaited fourth edition of Laytime deals with and explains many judgments which are of extreme interest to the shipping industry and which develop English law. Besides, they are also of value for other national laws, since comparison of law, particularly in an industry