The subcommittee set up by BIMCO and the Association of Ship Brokers & Agents (U.S.A.), Inc. (ASBA) to develop a new gas tanker voyage charter party (ASBAGASVOY) has agreed on a final draft which will be presented for adoption by the BIMCO Documentary Committee at its next meeting on 22 September.
Following two rounds of stakeholder consultations, all feedback received from the gas tanker industry on the ASBAGASVOY draft has now been reviewed by the subcommittee. At the online meeting on 9-10 June focus was therefore to make the draft ready to be presented for adoption by the Documentary Committees of BIMCO and ASBA.
“We have come a long way, and I am confident that we now have a form which can stand the test of the market,” says Søren Wolmar, Chairman of ASBA’s Documentary Committee and co-chair of the subcommittee, adding:
“We have carefully considered all the views put forward by stakeholders, mindful of the goal to develop a balanced form which is an acceptable starting point for negotiations for both owners and charterers.”
ASBAGASVOY has been kept as close as possible to ASBATANKVOY, the widely used tanker charter party on which the new form is based, and the charter party which the gas tanker industry is familiar with. It will be accompanied by a document containing additional clauses which are typically included in gas tanker fixtures for possible inclusion in the printed form as part of the negotiations.
“ASBAGASVOY has been prepared as an easy-to-use form, but we can assist owners and charterers even more by making additional clauses available which are often used in the gas tanker trade,” says Stephen Harper, Head of Legal, Shipping at BW Group and BIMCO co-chair of the subcommittee.
The additional clauses document will be discussed at the next meeting of the subcommittee which will take place on 1-2 July. The document will be separate from the printed form, but the aim is to publish them jointly as a “package”.
The subcommittee in charge of the work also includes Elwin Taylor (Petredec), Tommy Baggio (Clarksons), Magne Andersen (Nordisk Legal Services) and Caroline Avgerinou (Thomas Miller P&I (Europe) Ltd.).
Source:BIMCO
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