diff --git a/src/3d/parcels/parcel_netcdf.f90 b/src/3d/parcels/parcel_netcdf.f90
index f0fe46a1..9b25f87c 100644
--- a/src/3d/parcels/parcel_netcdf.f90
+++ b/src/3d/parcels/parcel_netcdf.f90
@@ -458,12 +458,12 @@ subroutine read_netcdf_parcels(fname)
                 end_index = min(max_num_parcels, n_total)
                 pfirst = 1
                 n_remaining = n_total
+                n_parcels = 0
 
                 do while (start_index <= end_index)
 
                     n_read = end_index - start_index + 1
                     n_remaining = n_remaining - n_read
-                    n_parcels = pfirst + n_read - 1
 
                     call rejection_method(start_index, end_index, pfirst)