BIMCO discusses the complexities of regulations and contracts at Posidonia

Published: 11 June 2024

• Print page
• Email page
• Tweet

The panel also assessed the industry's readiness for the changes ahead and offered an overview of the contractual solutions already available and those in the pipeline.

The panel session was introduced by BIMCO President, Nikolaus Schues, and moderated by Stinne Taiger Ivø, BIMCO’s Deputy Secretary General. The panel consisted of Natalie Wong and Carl Lindahl, Maritime Contracts Managers, Contracts & Clauses at BIMCO, Charis Plakantonaki, Chief Strategy Officer at Star Bulk, Eleni Antoniadou, Lawyer at Gard and Giannis Webster, Legal Counsel at Costamare Shipping Company. 

Enjoy some of the BIMCO quotes and pictures from the event: 

“Today’s discussion is important. Never before has shipping faced regulatory demands on a scale that we are facing today, never has the world outside shipping this closely watched our decarbonisation efforts, and never before have we been expected to deliver on such ambitious goals and checkpoints with this level of regulatory uncertainty.”
Nikolaus Schues, BIMCO President, addressing the audience ahead of the panel discussion. 

“The topics of today’s seminar are testament to the fact that we are facing monumental change in the ways we operate and make decisions. They are also testament to the urgency we face in decarbonising our ships, and they are testament to BIMCO’s commitment to help providing certainty when our industry faces uncertainty, change and challenges.” 
Nikolaus Schues, BIMCO President, addressing the audience ahead of the panel discussion. 

“The industry is still trying grasp the practical implementation and getting the EU ETS to work as smoothly as possible, both practically but also in the charter parties. The next big issue to be addressed is FuelEU Maritime.” 
Stinne Taiger Ivø, BIMCO’s Deputy Secretary General on the upcoming BIMCO clause on data sharing. 

“It is becoming increasingly important to have correct data. The topic of data is discussed more than ever because of the close relationship with fuel consumption and the extra cost that is now linked to fuel consumption. Data is important regardless of whether we are talking FuelEU Maritime or EU ETS. Developing a clause on data sharing and energy performance efficiency is important.”
Stinne Taiger Ivø, BIMCO’s Deputy Secretary General on the upcoming BIMCO clause on data sharing. 

“Every ton of CO2 emitted comes with a cost. The cap-and-trade scheme is still somewhat new to the industry. We have therefore tried, from the BIMCO side, to enhance flexibility in the clauses, as much as possible, to accommodate different trades and different business models.” 
Carl Lindahl, Maritime Contracts Manager, Contracts & Clauses at BIMCO, speaking about the development of BIMCO’s carbon clauses. 

“I think it’s very important to emphasise that this clause will try to not only facilitate the sharing of data but bring the owners and charterers together, building a bridge to try and help them make the right decisions. This is important because the charterer has the commercial control, schedules and line up of what is going to happen while the owners are in control of the technical measures.” 
Carl Lindahl, Maritime Contracts Manager, Contracts & Clauses at BIMCO, speaking about the development of BIMCO’s upcoming data sharing clause. 

“Pooling is a very interesting aspect included in the FuelEU Maritime regulation itself and, certainly for the long-term time charters, it would make sense that the time charterers get a say in making these decisions because they are ultimately in control of the fuels. It will be very interesting to see how the industry deals with pooling in the future.” 
Natalie Wong, Maritime Contracts Manager, Contracts & Clauses at BIMCO, speaking about the pooling aspect of the FuelEU Maritime regulation. 

“There are currently various options out there. There has been some discussion on whether it’s going to be more of an over-the-counter type trading for those having a surplus and looking to sell that off, or whether it’s going to be more of a longer-term strategic plan where you make projections and calculations to see whether you can pool a particular group of ships and with whom. There will be a possibility to look at pooling either intra-company or extra-company by finding others in the market.” 
Natalie Wong, Maritime Contracts Manager, Contracts & Clauses at BIMCO, speaking about the pooling aspect of the FuelEU Maritime regulation. 

You can download the seminar presentation below.