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The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) - an international shipping association representing shipowners - has published its new standard bunker contract – the BIMCO Terms 2015.

According to BIMCO, the objective of the BIMCO Terms 2015 is "to provide the industry with carefully thought through terms and conditions for the purchase and delivery of marine fuels that are fair to both parties and provide a comprehensive starting point for negotiations".

"Harmonisation will help bring certainty to these negotiations and assist parties to a bunker contract to manage their risk and reduce the likelihood of disputes occurring," BIMCO said.

The maritime association added: "Creating a globally acceptable set of terms and conditions for the purchase of bunkers has been a challenging task, an essential part of which was finding common ground between sellers and buyers while taking into account different regional practices. The BIMCO Terms 2015 is the product of a year-long effort by representatives of sellers and buyers to strike a balance in a bunker purchase agreement. The result is an easy-to-read, yet comprehensive, boilerplate contract which provides a solid contractual platform for bunker purchases."

The BIMCO terms are available for everyone in the shipping industry to use, including non-BIMO members.

"We believe that they cover all the important aspects of a bunker purchase transaction and delivery, so you shouldn’t need to add anything or amend the standard text in most cases, but you are certainly free to do so if you wish," BIMCO said.