Time bars: how demurrage claims and disputes die on the calendar
Dispute windows on container invoices and 90-day time bars on tanker demurrage claims — the deadlines that void otherwise-winning cases, and the discipline that protects them.
Two kinds of deadline
On the container side, the deadline runs against the payer: invoice terms commonly give 21–30 days to dispute a D&D charge, after which carriers refuse on timing alone. On the tanker side it runs against the claimant: charter parties typically require the owner's demurrage claim to be submitted with full supporting documents within 90 days of discharge — one day late, or one document short, and a six-figure claim can be void.
These are not soft deadlines. Documented cases exist of portfolios losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single year purely to missed time bars — claims that would have won, submitted late.
The protection is procedural
Diarise the window the day the invoice or the discharge happens, not when someone gets around to the file. Submit complete — a claim 'to follow with documents' usually doesn't stop the clock. And track every open case against its bar date in one place that someone actually looks at.
Marevo puts a countdown on every dispute and every claim automatically — the one failure mode the system makes impossible is silent lateness.
Frequently asked
Can a time bar be extended?
Only by agreement (or specific contract language). Ask early, in writing, before the bar — counterparties sometimes grant extensions for genuine document delays, never retroactively.
Find out what your last quarter owes you
Marevo reads your invoices against your contracts and the terminal data, drafts the disputes, and is paid mostly from what actually comes back. The audit itself is free.
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