---

The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) - an international shipping association representing shipowners - was present at the recent Singapore Bunker Conference (SIBCON), which took place between October 14 and 17, and was attended by over 1,600 bunker suppliers, traders and buyers.

At the event, BIMCO hosted a panel discussion on the practicalities of buying bunkers and announced a new set of standard terms and conditions for bunker purchases.

"The new contract, called the BIMCO Standard Bunker Contract (SBC), is an easily understood 'boilerplate' agreement that is comprehensively worded to reflect current commercial practice and is, more importantly, fair to both parties. Parties can use the BIMCO terms and conditions in their unamended form, but may also adapt the contract to suit a specific commercial relationship. The real benefit of the SBC is that it provides the industry with an opportunity to harmonise basic terms and conditions for buying bunkers by relying on one common form," BIMCO said on its website last week.

The shipping association added: "The Conference learned from shipowners on the discussion panel that the draft Standard Bunker Contract was already being successfully used with a number of suppliers. The feedback from those suppliers has been positive and encouraging and suggests that there is growing support for harmonisation of terms and conditions. The new edition of the Bunker Contract will be submitted to BIMCO’s Documentary Committee on 7 November for approval for publication. If approved it will be published some time in December along with detailed explanatory notes.

If you would like to read a pre-publication copy of the BIMCO Standard Bunker Contract, please click on the link below.

BIMCO Standard Bunker Contract 2015 - Draft Copy