Every charter has a date by which the shipowner must tender notice of readiness to the charterer that the ship has arrived at the port of loading and is ready to load. This date is known as the cancelling date. The charterer may have the option of cancelling the charter if the ship arrives after this date. It may be the second of two dates which comprise the laydays cancelling, for example laydays 25 March cancelling 2 April or, when abbreviated to 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.