Free Pratique
Free pratique is the clearance granted by a port's health authority permitting a vessel to enter the port and have contact with the shore — landing crew, working cargo, taking stores — after the authority is satisfied the ship carries no quarantinable disease. Until free pratique is granted, the vessel is effectively in quarantine and cargo operations cannot begin.
Free pratique is usually obtained by the ship's agent submitting the Maritime Declaration of Health and the crew list ahead of arrival, and in many ports is granted radio/electronically before berthing. It is one of the conditions of a valid Notice of Readiness — a NOR tendered before free pratique is granted may be challenged — which ties it directly to when laytime can start.
Free pratique is the gate between "arrived" and "allowed to work". Because a valid NOR generally requires it, delays in obtaining pratique delay the start of laytime and cargo operations — so the agent arranging it promptly, ideally before berthing, keeps the call on schedule.
Health filed
permitted
can begin
What is free pratique?
Health clearance from the port authority allowing a vessel to have contact with the shore, granted once the authority is satisfied no quarantinable disease is aboard.
How does free pratique affect the NOR?
It is normally a condition of a valid Notice of Readiness — a NOR tendered before free pratique is granted can be challenged, delaying the start of laytime.