Following widespread criticism from a host of shipping heavyweights this week over its Carbon Intensity Indicator operations clause for time charter parties, international shipping organisation BIMCO has said it will take the advice onboard.
The BIMCO CII clause has been developed to help address the commercial complexities of the CII regulation entering into force on January 1.
In an open letter this week, shipowners and charterers, including Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), A.P. Moller – Maersk, Oldendorff Carriers, Trafigura and Vitol, strongly criticised the clause, which makes charterers contractually responsible for the CII performance of their hired ships.
The BIMCO clause was described as “imbalanced” and “unusable,” which will “likely lead to a wide variety of “homegrown” CII clauses or – to the owners’ detriment – no clause being agreed.”
Responding, David Loosley, BIMCO’s secretary-general and CEO, said: “We have received constructive comments, both positive and negative, from many of our members. This insight is invaluable for already published clauses and the development of future clauses. We will continue to seek solutions to help our members operate commercially in a complex regulatory environment.”
BIMCO conceded that many stakeholders are still struggling to interpret the complexities of the CII regulation. BIMCO is offering training along with free webinars to explain how the clause works in practice and how to understand the CII regulation.
“BIMCO will continue to monitor developments as the CII regulation enters into force,” the Danish-based organisation stated in a release.
