BIMCO adds new ice region reports and provides winter navigation advice
Overview
This year, BIMCO has expanded its ice reporting to cover the Northern Chinese, Japanese and Greenland sea areas, and can advise on contractual issues related to ice clauses.
The ice reports include, where available, up- to- date ice charts, indicating the coverage and thickness of the sea ice for the Northern Chinese, Japanese and Greenland sea areas.
“The BIMCO ice information coverage is expanding along with the growing availability of national and regional ice information services,” says Peter Lundahl Rasmussen, head of Maritime Information.
BIMCO has an established online ice information section for members, providing a wide array of services ranging from general information on understanding ice navigation for novices to advanced navigation guidance for the various ice regions in the world. Furthermore, during the winter and local ice seasons, BIMCO provides bi-weekly, ice reporting for the Baltic and Canadian regions – the service which is now being expanded.
Remember your ice clause
In addition to checking the background information and the actual reports covering the area in question, BIMCO also strongly recommends that the contractual terms are considered in detail. Many, but certainly not all, standard charter parties contain ice clauses, but some are better than others and contract negotiators should always pay attention to this.
It happens that owners accept a contract without an ice clause, or even delete the ice clause already contained in the charter party, and that may be a very costly decision if the vessel encounters ice during the charter. This can be costly, because without the protection that the ice clause will offer, the vessel is forced to proceed towards the contractual destination and the owners will be liable for any potential delays and damage to the vessel caused by the ice.
For further details, we urge readers to refer to the free-standing ice clauses (BIMCO Ice Clause for Time Charter Parties 2005 / BIMCO Ice Clause for Voyage Charter Parties 2005) along with the explanatory notes.
Additional questions about ice clauses may be directed to Support and Advice on advice@bimco.org and more information can be found in this article: Ice clauses
Furthermore, BIMCO, in collaboration with Witherbys, has published an Ice Navigation and Seamanship handbook which members can enjoy a discount with its purchase.
Feedback or a question about this information?
Posted:
16 February 2021
VPS Bunker Alerts
Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) publish regular Bunker Alerts based entirely on fuel samples and have kindly permitted BIMCO’s Members to access this information.
The Bunker Alerts are not intended to be an evaluation of overall bunker quality in the port or area concerned, but usually highlight a specific parameter within the fuel which has raised a quality issue.
Latest ice reports for members
Latest piracy reports
Latest industry releasable threats
Related event
15+15 webinar: The future of agents – where are they heading?
- 11 December, 2024
Port agency is an ever-changing space, with recent consolidation across the industry, what does the future hold, and what is driving this change? This sessio...
Related publication
BIMCO Bulletin (discontinued)
The archive of BIMCO's digital magazine which was published quarterly until mid-2021.
ELSEWHERE ON BIMCO
Contracts & Clauses
All of BIMCO's most widely used contracts and clauses as well as advice on managing charters and business partners.
Learn about your cargo
For general guidance and information on cargo-related queries.
BIMCO Publications
Want to buy or download a BIMCO publication? Use the link to get access to the ballast water management guide, the ship master’s security manual and many other publications.
About a new business partner
We can help members check new business partners. We also help to recover millions of USD (undisputed) funds every year.
