Overview
BIMCO’s Board of Directors has pointed to Nick Fell, Executive Vice President Corporate Services & General Counsel at BW Group in Singapore, to take up the role as chairperson of BIMCO’s Documentary Committee in summer 2021.
Nick Fell is set to succeed Francis Sarre of CMB in Belgium who, after six years at the helm, will step down as chairperson of the largest BIMCO committee - responsible for approving all BIMCO contracts and clauses and for setting the course for the future documentary work programme.
“Nick is the ideal candidate to take over from Francis. He has been involved in various aspects of BIMCO’s contractual work, not least in his capacity as owner-representative for Singapore. He is a keen legal mind with a lot of hands-on experience, which will be invaluable to the committee and to BIMCO,” says Sadan Kaptanoglu, BIMCO President.
BW Group has a longstanding history and tradition with BIMCO with its former Chairman, Dr Helmut Sohmen, acting as BIMCO President from 1987 to 1989. Dr Sohmen was later appointed the only Honorary President in BIMCO history.
Nick Fell is no novice to BIMCO’s contractual work. Apart from representing Singapore on the Documentary Committee he has led the development of SHIPLEASE, the industry’s first standard term sheet for ship sale and leaseback transactions launched in September 2020. A few years ago, he was also actively involved in the drafting of the two term sheets for term loan facilities, SHIPTERM and SHIPTERM S.
“I am honoured to be asked to chair the Documentary Committee which has a key role not just for BIMCO but also for the industry as a whole. Francis has done a tremendous job spearheading BIMCO’s contractual work into a wide range of areas within the maritime business and I look forward to working with all the experts on the committee to find efficient and pragmatic contractual solutions to the many issued faced by the industry during these challenging times,” says Nick Fell.
BIMCO is the worldwide leader in the development of standard contracts and clauses for the shipping industry. Nick Fell will formally stand for election as the next Documentary Committee Chairman at BIMCO’s General Meeting in summer 2021.