What’s on the agenda at the BIMCO Documentary Committee meeting

Published: 12 May 2022

The BIMCO Documentary Committee (DC) will be meeting on 18 May – it will be the first physical meeting since the start of the pandemic.

Four important projects are up for adoption: ETSA, the CII Compliance Clause, GENCON 22 and the IOCD Clause for Time Charter Parties.

Emission Trading System Allowances (ETSA) Clause for Time Charter Parties

The basic premise of the clause is that the party providing and paying for the actual amount of fuel used is the party that is responsible for providing and paying for emissions allowances. The owners monitor the ships’ emissions and provide the relevant emissions data and the basis of calculations to the charterers.

Using this information, the charterers then transfer the appropriate allowances to the owners. The allowances are tradable in the marketplace, with prices likely to fluctuate during the charter period.

The clause is intended to be used not only for the EU scheme but is broadly applicable as we foresee that other countries may follow the EU and introduce their own emission schemes.

Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) Compliance Clause

The basis of this clause is that both charterers and owners have to acknowledge that the ship shall comply with the MARPOL Carbon Intensity Regulations. They also have to collaborate and work together and share relevant data on the monitoring of the ships’ compliance with the regulations.

The clause is based on CO2 emission values (value for grams of CO2 per DWT mile) equivalent to CII values

The clause stipulates that the parties must agree on a CII value and that the charterer must operate and employ the vessel without exceeding the agreed CII value for the calendar year or the charter period.

GENCON 2022

What started out as a rather light revision of GENCON turned into a major overhaul. A major industry-wide consultation was carried out during the drafting process and all comments were carefully considered.

Specifically, many existing BIMCO clauses have been included, and the opportunity arose to also update CONGENBILL 2016.

Clause 2 (owners’ responsibility clause) in GENCON 94 has been replaced by a clause that mirrors the liability regime in the Hague Visby Rules. BIMCO has endeavoured to make it a balanced charter that will appeal to both owners and charterers, and we hope it will be used in both deep sea and short sea trade.

When GENCON 2022 gets published, roadshows will be organised to explain and promote what is BIMCO’s flagship contract.

Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause (IOCD) for Time Charter Parties 2022

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