Upcoming Contracts and Clauses
Overview
Using feedback and experience from members and the industry, BIMCO keeps all its clauses and contracts under review. Currently, we are working on the following updates or new projects.
Upcoming Contracts and Clauses
| CLAUSE OR CONTRACT | DETAILS | EXPECTED PUBLICATION DATE |
| GENCON 2022 | GENCON 94 is the industry’s most used voyage charter party for bulk trade. It is currently being updated to reflect changes in industry practice and legal developments. Among the key changes is the introduction of a new Clause 2 – the Owners’ Responsibility Clause. Overall, the new GENCON will be more comprehensive and detailed than the current edition and require fewer amendments and rider clauses | May 2022 |
| ASBATANKVOY | The ASBATANKVOY charter party is widely used in the tanker trade but has not been updated since 1977. BIMCO is working together with the Association of Shipbrokers and Agents (ASBA) in New York to refresh and modernise this popular form. | H1 2023 |
| LNG Bunker Terms | To reflect the increasing use of and interest in alternative fuels by the industry, BIMCO is developing an LNG bunker purchase annex for the BIMCO Bunker Terms 2018. | H1 2022 |
| Ship Conversion Contract | The conversion contract is primarily intended to be used for larger ships. The liability regime will depend on the parties’ insurance arrangements and the contractors are responsible for the ship and property until redelivery. | Adopted February 2022, to be published May 2022 |
| AUTOSHIPMAN | AUTOSHIPMAN will be the first ship management contract for autonomous ships. It is modelled on BIMCO’s SHIPMAN agreement. It is being developed in parallel with the revision of BIMCO’s suite of ship management agreements (SHIPMAN, CREWMAN A and CREWMAN B, SUPERMAN and LAYUPMAN). | 2023 |
| Charter Party Guarantee | BIMCO’s Charter Party Guarantee caters for situations where the owners wish to have a second guarantor in addition to the charterers. The wording of the revised guarantee currently under development has been clarified considering recent case law. It places the nature of the guarantee as a “see to it” guarantee beyond any doubt. | May 2022 |
| Wreck Removal Agreements | Revision of the suite of BIMCO’s wreck removal agreements, WRECKSTAGE 2010, WRECKHIRE 2010 and WRECKFIXED 2010 is well underway. The main objective is to introduce an optional clause applying quantitative risk assessment (QRA) methods. | H2 2022 |
| SHIPMAN | CREWMAN | LAYUPMAN | SUPERMAN | Revision of this suite of third-party management agreements | 2023 |
| Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause for Time and Voyage Charter Parties (IOCD clauses) | The existing IOCD clauses (Time Charter, Voyage Charter) were drafted back in 2015 during the Ebola epidemic. Experience during COVID-19 has shown that the clauses are not ideally suited to a pandemic. The updated clauses will address both pandemics and epidemics and reflect industry practice in dealing with such situations. They will address both the human element to protect the crew against an infection and the commercial element of delays to the ships. | May 2022 |
| CII Clause | BIMCO’s top priority is to develop contractual solutions to enable parties to comply with MARPOL’s EEXI and CII regulations which come into force on 1 January 2023. One clause will deal with the transition towards EEXI compliance and how modifications to ships are managed. Other clauses for time charter parties will focus on the more challenging aspect of complying with Carbon Intensity regulations and the ongoing obligation to improve a ship’s efficiency and reduce emissions on an annual basis. Work on the EEXI clause was completed in December 2021, the CII clause work is continuing. | May 2022 |
Related Help & Advice
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