CONTACT BIMCO
Christian Hoppe
General Counsel
Copenhagen, Denmark
- +45 4436 6872
- contracts@bimco.org
BIMCO’s Documentary Committee has approved two clauses and one contract for publication: The much-awaited Emissions Trading System Allowances (ETSA) Clause for Time Charter Parties 2022, the Infectious or Contagious Diseases (IOCD) Clause for Time Charter Parties 2022 and a revised version of GENCON.
The Documentary Committee (DC) meeting, which took place on 18 May 2022 in London, was the first physical gathering of BIMCO’s documentary approval body since the beginning of the pandemic.
“I am delighted that all the members of the DC were able to meet in person. Discussing face to face and in the same room is an important step in finding contractual solutions to the challenges faced by the shipping industry,” says DC Chairperson Nick Fell who is Executive Vice President, Corporate Services and General Counsel at BW Group. Mr Fell took over the chairmanship of the DC during the pandemic.
In addition to the ETSA and IOCD Clauses, the meeting marked the conclusion of a four-year revision process with the Committee’s final stamp of approval for GENCON 2022, the revised version of BIMCO’s most widely-used voyage charter party GENCON 1994. All the new documents will be published shortly, accompanied by explanatory notes.
With respect to the equally much-awaited CII Compliance Clause for Time Charter Parties, the subcommittee in charge of the project was asked to revisit certain aspects of the draft over the coming weeks to make sure that a contractual solution is available soon. This is particularly important for charter parties which extend into 2023, which is when the new rules come into force. Mindful of the urgent need for the clause, which is aimed at providing a contractual solution regarding the MARPOL carbon intensity regulations, it was decided to hold an online meeting of the Documentary Committee in June with a view to adopting the clause.
The DC also heard progress reports about the various ongoing projects that are currently underway, including the revisions of ASBATANKVOY, WRECKSTAGE and SHIPMAN, the development of a new contract – AUTOSHIPMAN – based on SHIPMAN and aimed at providing the contractual framework for the third-party management of autonomous ships, and a new annex to the BIMCO Bunker Terms 2018 dealing with LNG bunkers.