FuelEU tops agenda of Documentary Committee meeting

Published: 10 October 2024

At its meeting on 9 October in Copenhagen, BIMCO’s Documentary Committee adopted a new standard agreement and reviewed ongoing drafting projects, including work to develop clauses addressing FuelEU Maritime.

The Chairperson of the committee, Nick Fell of BW Group, highlights the main outcome of the meeting.

The following is a full overview of all you need to know about the meeting and the status of our current projects.

New contract for remote controlled ships

An industry-first standard ship management agreement for maritime autonomous surface ships (MASS) was adopted by the DC. The agreement, AUTOSHIPMAN, is based on BIMCO’s popular ship management agreement, SHIPMAN, which was published in an updated version in April this year. Read our press release on the adoption of AUTOSHIPMAN. The agreement will soon be made available for use in SmartCon, accompanied by explanatory notes setting out the subcommittee’s reasoning behind key clauses.

Updated versions of BIMCO’s widely used war risks clauses for time and voyage charter parties, CONWARTIME and VOYWAR, are also in the final stages of development. While initially planned for adoption at this week’s DC meeting, the subcommittee in charge of the project was asked to consider a number of comments received before the drafts can be presented for adoption in the coming months. The War Cancellation Clause 2004 will not be revised at this stage as it is considered effective in its current form.

All about decarbonisation

One of the most important areas of work on the DC agenda concerns the various contractual solutions being developed in response to the FuelEU Maritime Regulation which will enter into force on 1 January 2025. Two subcommittees in charge of developing clauses for time charter parties and ship management agreements have been meeting on a frequent basis to prepare clauses for the DC’s review.

The DC reviewed the draft time charter clause and, also, commented on the proposed content of the clause for ship management agreements which is expected to be finalised for consultation before the end of October. The intention is to finalise both clauses in the coming months and present them for adoption at an online meeting of the DC to be held as soon as possible and, in any case, before the end of the year. BIMCO is keeping a close eye on other contractual developments related to FuelEU Maritime such as pooling and bunker supply agreements and whether any contractual solutions should be developed to further assist the industry. Any such projects will begin as soon as the current drafting work has been finalised.

Another project relating to decarbonisation concerns the clause addressing sharing of vessel data. The aim of the project is to provide a balanced framework for owners and charterers to collaborate in a time charter context to improve data sharing practices via the use of sensors on board the vessel. The draft was presented for a first review at the meeting, and the DC had a number of comments for consideration. The subcommittee will be meeting again at the end of October to continue its work, and the clause is planned for adoption in early 2025. Once the subcommittee has finalised the clause, work will begin on a retrofitting cost/benefit clause intended to incentivise owners and charterers in a long-term time charter context by setting out a balanced cost/benefit sharing scheme.

An update was provided on the project to develop a methanol annex to the BIMCO Bunker Terms 2018. The annex is close to completion, pending publication of the new ISO Standard 6583 which is expected in late 2024. A number of comments were made on the draft and these will be considered by the subcommittee at its next meeting.

Topical projects well underway

A number of other projects were up for review by the DC, including the revised version of the standard voyage charter party ASBATANKVOY which BIMCO is working on together with copyright holders the Association of Ship Brokers and Agents (USA), Inc. (ASBA) to update. The revised charter party, which has not been updated since originally published in 1977, is close to completion and is expected to be published in early 2025. The subcommittee in charge of the project will be meeting again at the end of October to consider all comments received by the DC.

Following the publication of the new SHIPMAN 2024, BIMCO is also revising its two popular standard crew management agreements CREWMAN A (Cost plus fee) and CREWMAN B (Lump sum). An industry consultation on the CREWMAN A draft took place in August/September. This consultation gave rise to a limited number of comments, which have been considered by the subcommittee, and focus is now on revising CREWMAN B. A consultation process on this agreement is expected to be launched before the end of the year. The intention is to finalise and publish both agreements in the coming months and by the latest at the next DC meeting in April 2025.

Wind and CO₂

While discussions at the DC meeting are focused on projects which are up for adoption or sufficiently mature for review, the DC is informed about other projects via written reports. Two of the key projects where first drafts are still being finalised are WINDSEACON and CO2TIME. The first of these is a time charter party for the transport and installation of wind turbines in offshore wind farms; and the second is a time charter party for transportation of CO₂ in a Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) context. The dedicated subcommittee working on CO2TIME is working towards finalising a first draft for consultation in the first half of 2025.

Following the publication of WRECKSTAGE 2024 a few months ago, work will soon begin to revise the other standard contracts in the suite of BIMCO wreck removal agreements, WRECKFIXED and WRECKHIRE, which were last revised in 2010. The subcommittee in charge of the project will be meeting in December and the revised contracts are planned for publication in 2025. RECYCLECON, BIMCO’s standard contract for the sale of ships for recycling in a safe and environmentally sound manner, is also being reviewed in light of the entry into force of the Hong Kong Convention in June 2025. A first draft is planned for review by the DC at its next meeting in April 2025.

Stay tuned

Following the extraordinary DC meeting to be held before the end of the year, the next regular meeting of the DC will be held on 23 and 24 April 2025. You can always see updates on individual projects at What we are working on.

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