A turbulent 2024 for shipping

Published: 18 December 2024

By Nick Fell, Chairperson of the Documentary Committee

Reflecting on 2024, I think we can agree that “status quo” would not be an accurate way to describe the environment in which we, the shipping industry, has been operating. We are facing a rise in the demand for decarbonising the world fleet, and at the same time, we are operating in a world of rising geopolitical tensions and risks.

To meet those challenges, BIMCO’s Documentary Committee has been focused on providing new clauses, and updating existing ones, to ensure that the industry is equipped with the best possible contractual solutions to navigate the changing environment and new regulations.

Throughout 2024, we have managed to strengthen BIMCO’s portfolio of carbon clauses and have continued the work to update the war risk clauses. All of these clauses are crucial to meeting the current and future challenges.

Last month, we adopted the BIMCO FuelEU Maritime Clause for Time Charter Parties 2024. It is no secret that this clause has been widely anticipated and that we were very pleased to see it go through. The clause helps stakeholders align their contractual frameworks before the FuelEU Maritime Regulation comes into force on 1 January 2025.

Another addition to BIMCO’s carbon clauses portfolio was released in May when the Documentary Committee adopted a standard mandate for use when parties to a ship management contract agree to mandate the ship manager to comply with obligations under the European Union Emission Trading System (ETS).

Also, in June, we added to the library of ETS clauses by adopting three ETS Clauses for Contracts of Affreightment (COAs) which address Emission Trading Schemes such as the EU ETS, within the COA framework. The subcommittee drafting the clauses dedicated considerable time and effort to ensuring that the industry has flexibility to choose which of the three clauses best suits their needs and business models.

At the very start of the year, the Documentary Committee published a DP Annex for SUPPLYTIME 2017 which establishes a standardised framework for the use, maintenance, and operations of DP systems in the offshore sector. And in February, two standard Quiet Enjoyment Letters (QELs) were published, which in fact are the first standard form QELs available to the industry. The letters offer a tool that can ensure the charterers’ uninterrupted use of a ship if the owner defaults under its financing facility.

The following month, SHIPMAN 2024, the updated version of SHIPMAN, which is BIMCO’s widely used ship management agreement, was adopted by the Documentary Committee at its meeting in Hamburg. The adoption followed a two-year review process involving shipowners, managers, P&I Clubs, insurance and legal experts. And in the autumn, the committee adopted the AUTOSHIPMAN agreement in anticipation of a growing number of remotely controlled ships.

Another project launched in 2024 is the concept of regional workshops. The first workshop was held in Madrid in June to facilitate live consultation and allow for in-depth discussions while offering market insights on selected documentary work. The next will be held in Singapore in January 2025 where DC delegates from South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Singapore will participate together with local BIMCO members and experts. We are very much looking forward to expanding the regional workshops in 2025.

So, 2024 has been a busy year for the documentary committee and 2025 is not expected to slow down. As I already mentioned, our industry is facing a rise in geopolitical uncertainty and in a bid to meet those challenges, we expect to finalise the revisions of BIMCO’s CONWARTIME and VOYWAR War Risk Clauses next year. We expect the revised clauses to be adopted by the Documentary Committee in 2025 to ensure that the provisions are in line with commercial needs and insurance requirements.

In the spring, the committee is due to meet for two days to discuss the prioritisation of several projects. Already scheduled is a revision of HEAVYLIFTVOY and the development of an ETS Clause for bare boat charter parties (BARECON). The appetite for a revision of the BIMCO shipbuilding contract NEWBUILDCON, with participation of Chinese yards, will also be explored, and we will be finishing our revision and update of the widely used ASBATANKVOY charter party.

Another decarbonisation initiative that we are excited about is the work underway to create a standard time charter party, WINDSEACON, for the transport and installation of wind turbines in offshore wind farms. We are also looking forward to working on the project we have started to develop a new time charter party, CO2TIME, for the maritime transportation of carbon dioxide (CO2). This will in fact be an “industry first”.

These are projects that seeks to meet the demands of the future in an efficient way, and throughout 2025, our documentary work will remain focused on three main themes: decarbonisation, offshore and renewables and alternative fuels. This will be in addition to the updates of the war risk clauses and the revision of RECYCLECON, as I have already mentioned.

There is not enough space to take you through all of the documentary work ongoing, but the BIMCO secretariat will, as always, keep you informed and up to date on current and future projects as they progress, get adopted and become available for the industry to use.

With both the EU and the IMO producing rather complex regulations, the global expertise in our more than 90-member strong Documentary Committee is more critical than ever. I will take this opportunity to thank the committee, our subcommittees and the BIMCO secretariat for the support that helps us develop and ultimately adopt the BIMCO contracts and clauses that are the backbone of the shipping industry.

Best wishes for the holiday season and for 2025,

Nick Fell
Chairperson of the BIMCO Documentary Committee

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