A major meeting at BIMCO has produced numerous updates that will affect international shipping.
BIMCO is a global shipowner trade association known for its work on producing global contract clauses and documents for shipping. Following widespread industry consultation, a final draft of the new voyage charter party contract “GENCON” is expected next year and will be up for adoption in May 2021.
In the gas tanker trades, BIMCO and the U.S. Association of Ship Brokers & Agents have approved a voyage charter party, ASBAGASVOY for publication.
“Over the past 10 years, the gas tanker sector has experienced a significant expansion with a doubling of the cargo carrying capacity in the liquefied petroleum gas trade. The timing is therefore ideal for the sector to get a dedicated form which reflects commercial practice, sets out the necessary terms in a clear and concise way, saves time and reduces the risk of contractual disputes,” said BIMCO President, Mrs Sadan Kaptanoglu, CEO of Kaptanoglu Shipping.
The new contract includes a clause describing how the cargo tanks and lines are to be presented for loading of a ship upon arrival at a terminal.
A new term sheet, “SHIPLEASE”, has also been developed with the aim of easing the negotiation of sale and leaseback deals and making the process cheaper.
Sabrina Chao, President Designate of BIMCO and Chairman of Wah Kwong Shipping Holdings, said: “In turbulent times, it is important for shipowners to be able to free up capital while maintaining the ability to operate a vessel and trade as owners under a long-term lease”.
The new term sheet is said to provide a “better starting point for the parties” to begin negotiations.
A new memorandum of agreement for the sale and purchase of ships has been agreed, which will lead the way to industry-wide consultation before finalisation and publication of a new standard next year. Updates to the sale and agreement document include extra banking days to lodge a deposit along with sanctions and anti-corruption clauses.
BIMCO has also unveiled version four of its “Shipping KPI” system, which aims to provide users with ways to benchmark this ships and fleets.
“Relying on an accurate way to measure and compare the performance of ships and fleets is invaluable to shipowners for monitoring and sharing ship performance information with potential charterers,” Mrs Kaptanoglu said.
BIMCO notes that the new system embraces a conceptual shift from “rating to ranking” so that users will be able to rank ship or fleet performance against a range of indicators.
Finally, in other BIMCO news, Nikolaus Schües, CEO of Reederei F. Laeisz (Germany) has been put forward for election to President Designate at the BIMCO General Meeting in mid-2021. BIMCO Presidents serve a two-year term with the incoming president (the President Designate) sitting on the Board for two years prior to being nominated for election.
The Outgoing President remains on the Board for an additional two year term as the Immediate Past President. BIMCO’s current president is Mrs Sadan Kaptanoglu, CEO of Kaptanoglu Shipping. She will succeeded by the current President Designate, Mrs Sabrina Chao, Chairman of Wah Kwong Shipping.