CREWMAN B 2025

Background

The CREWMAN standard crew management agreement was originally drafted in 1994 based on BIMCO’s popular ship management agreement SHIPMAN 1988, primarily to meet the needs of those crew managers who employ crew in their own name as principals and supply them to owners on a lump sum basis. In 1999, following the publication of SHIPMAN 1998, two distinct agreements were drafted to provide flexibility, namely CREWMAN A 1999 (Cost plus fee) and CREWMAN B 1999 (Lump sum). Both agreements are widely used in the shipping industry and a majority of the clauses relating to the provision of crew management services are common to both agreements.

Both agreements were updated in 2009 and continue to be widely used as is the case for the 2009 edition of SHIPMAN. However, changes in ship management practices coupled with the need to include a significant number of freestanding BIMCO clauses as riders warranted an overall review of the SHIPMAN agreement, which began in May 2022 and culminated in March 2024 with the adoption of the 2024 edition of the agreement by BIMCO’s Documentary Committee. Following the publication of SHIPMAN 2024 in April 2024, BIMCO initiated the revision of CREWMAN A and B 2009. 

The revisions made in SHIPMAN 2024, logically amended, have been carried over as appropriate for a crew management services contract. CREWMAN A and B 2025 include a number of clauses which have been developed since the previous editions of the agreements were published in 2009, including the Law & Arbitration Clause 2020, the Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution Clause 2021, the Personal Data Protection Clause for CREWMAN A and B 2009, the Electronic Signature Clause 2021, the Cyber Security Clause 2019 and the MLC Clause for CREWMAN A and B 2009. 

The new CREWMAN A and B, similar to SHIPMAN 2024, now include provisions to address predelivery crew management services to cover the work that crew managers begin performing  before the date of commencement of the full scope of the crew management services, which the parties are able to state as mutually agreed in Box 9(iii) (different from SHIPMAN 2024 in which this is defined as the date on which the managers become the ‘Company’ responsible for the vessel under the ISM/ISPS Code, which does not fit crew management services).

Neither of the crew management agreements includes the Emission Trading Scheme Allowances Clause for SHIPMAN because it is not relevant to crew management services.

BIMCO recognises that some parties prefer to use SHIPMAN even when the agreement is only used for contracting crew management services, hence the crewing provisions in SHIPMAN 2024 and CREWMAN A and B are kept closely aligned to ensure consistency. However, it is not appropriate to use SHIPMAN where the crew management is to be on a lump sum with the managers being an independent contractor and employers of the crew. For crew management on a lump sum basis, BIMCO recommends the use of CREWMAN B 2025. 

Drafting Team

CREWMAN B 2025 is the result of a collaborative and consensual process between owners, crew managers, P&I Clubs, insurance and legal experts. BIMCO is grateful to the drafting team, as follows, for their considerable time, effort and commitment in producing the revised agreement:

Captain Ajay Hazari, Anglo-Eastern (Chairperson)

Graham Prayel, V Ships

Johan Botes, Oldendorff Carriers

Manolis Nicolaou, Columbia Shipmanagement

Steve Davies, Anglo International Shipping Operations

Torkel Børnes, Höegh LNG

Tim Davies, West P&I Club

Tim Howse, Gard P&I Club

Robert Hodge, ITIC

Stephen Mackin, Hill Dickinson

Marcello Pica, FONASBA

BIMCO representatives:

Christian Hoppe

Zehra Göknaz Engin

As part of the development work, the drafting committee consulted a large group of stakeholders engaged in ship and crew management. BIMCO would like to thank them all for their support and valuable input to the process.