ABSTRACT
With the recent adoption of a standard shipbuilding contract the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) now has a standard form of agreement available for every aspect of a ship’s lifespan from construction to recycling. The production of standard forms and clauses remains one of BIMCO’s most successful and well-known activities. The development of a new time charterparty, or the revision of an existing one, follows the same procedure that all BIMCO standard forms and clauses follow. BIMCO produces a wide variety of standard forms, which are published in the Forms of Approved Documents – this annually updated portfolio of documents contains over a hundred separate charterparties, bills of lading and other forms issued or supported by BIMCO. In 2001, BIMCO launched its online charterparty editor, idea, which makes a wide range of BIMCO’s most popular forms available in an editable electronic format over the internet.
