GENCON 2022

GENCON is a standard voyage charter party. It is a general purpose agreement for the services of a ship in exchange for freight and can be used in a variety of trades. It is accompanied by its own bill of lading, CONGENBILL 2022. The latest edition of this contract is GENCON 2022.

Copyright in GENCON 2022 is held by BIMCO.

Background

BIMCO’s general purpose voyage charter party, codenamed “GENCON,” is synonymous with BIMCO contracts. Since it was first developed in 1922, it has been considered BIMCO’s flagship contract, and it is world-wide the most widely used voyage charter party in the dry bulk sector.

The last revision was published in 1994. That revision was, to a large extent, triggered by some significant English court cases that cast doubt on the understanding and intention behind important clauses in GENCON 76 such as the General Strike Clause. The intention then was not to rewrite GENCON 76, but simply to clarify and update it where necessary. However, a lot has happened since 1994. The shipping industry has become much more complex and regulated, with both shipowners and cargo owners being subject to obligations that were never thought of in 1994. The drivers for revising GENCON 1994 were therefore somewhat different to those thirty years ago.

The subcommittee engaged in the revision of GENCON 1994 did, however, spend quite some time considering: should its work be limited to a modest revision, maintaining the familiarity of the charter? Or should it provide for a more prescriptive and comprehensive rewriting of the charter? The subcommittee, with the support of BIMCO’s Documentary Committee, opted for the comprehensive approach. In an increasingly complex shipping environment, it was felt that many shipping companies with no “in house” legal support would find it helpful to have a charter party that addresses most of the relevant issues from the outset.

The result is a new edition of GENCON that provides a solid commercial and legal basis for negotiation. And, as with many other contracts provided by BIMCO, it has been written in the clear and easily understood language that has become our hallmark.

BIMCO would like to thank the drafting committee for their commitment to the project and their considerable time and effort in producing GENCON 2022:

John Weale, Fednav (Chairman)

Stephen Harper, BW Group

Captain Qin Ling, COSCO Shipping/Captain Lin Huoping, COSCO Shipping Bulk Co

Shotaro Aoto, Japan Shipping Exchange

Olaf Schroeder, Oldendorff Carriers

Basil Logothetis, Empros Lines Shipping

Ann Shazell, Cargill Ocean Transportation

Struan Robertson, Clarksons

Paul Hirtle, ASBA

Fulvio Carlini, FONASBA

Magne Andersen, Nordisk Defence Club

Helena Biggs, Gard

Professor Richard Williams, School of Law, Swansea University

BIMCO secretariat support was provided by Søren Larsen, Deputy Secretary General and Mads Wacher Kjærgaard, Project Manager, Standards, Innovation & Research.

As part of the development work, the drafting committee consulted a broad group of owners, charterers, P&I clubs & lawyers. BIMCO would like to thank them all for their support and valuable input.