Built for the people who negotiate and live with fixtures (concluded charter deals): charterers, owners, operators and brokers who agree "main terms" and then fight over the detail clauses when the world changes. The BIMCO charter-party clauses that actually allocate risk — war, sanctions, ice, bunkers, emissions, hire — are scattered across the BIMCO library and standard forms. We assembled what each one does, when it bites, and whether it's a voyage or time-charter clause, into one place.
This is the "details" layer that follows the main terms in a fixture — see the end-to-end flow in How to charter a ship.
📖 See also: How to charter a ship · Laytime & demurrage reference · EU ETS & FuelEU cost reference
Contents
- At a glance
- The standard forms
- Risk & security clauses
- Emissions & fuel clauses
- Payment & performance clauses
- Cargo & carriage clauses
- Law, arbitration & boilerplate
- Who bears the cost — voyage vs time
- For developers and operators
- FAQ
- References
At a glance
The short version, if you read nothing else:
- Main terms make the deal; clauses decide what it means when something goes wrong. BIMCO publishes standard, market-accepted wordings so both sides negotiate from a known baseline instead of drafting from scratch.
- War and sanctions clauses are the escape hatches. CONWARTIME/VOYWAR let a ship refuse or deviate from war-risk areas; the BIMCO Sanctions Clause lets a party refuse a voyage/cargo that would breach sanctions — critical in the current environment.
- The emissions clauses are new and load-bearing. The ETS, FuelEU Maritime and CII Operations clauses decide who pays the EU carbon bill and who controls the rating — the EU carbon layer in contract form.
- Hire is protected by the anti-technicality clause. On a time charter the owner can withdraw the ship for unpaid hire, but must give an anti-technicality notice (a short cure period) first.
- A Paramount Clause pulls the Hague/Hague-Visby Rules (the international carrier-liability regime for sea cargo) into the contract, and a General Average / New Jason clause governs shared losses — standard incorporations you'll see in almost every form.
- Know whether a clause is a voyage or time-charter clause — many exist in both flavours (e.g. CONWARTIME for time, VOYWAR for voyage) and using the wrong one is a drafting error.
This is a practical reference, not legal advice. The exact clause wording and its latest revision always govern; consult a shipping lawyer or your P&I club (Protection & Indemnity — the shipowner's mutual liability insurer) on application.
The standard forms
A charter is usually built on a named BIMCO (or industry) pro-forma form (a standard base contract), then amended by rider clauses (the negotiated add-ons appended to it). The main ones:
| Form | Type | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| GENCON 2022 | Voyage | General dry-cargo voyage charter (the default voyage form) |
| NYPE 2015 | Time | Dry-cargo time charter (the dominant TC form) |
| BALTIME | Time | Older dry-cargo time-charter form |
| BARECON 2017 | Bareboat | Demise / bareboat charter |
| SHELLTIME / BPTIME | Time | Tanker time charter (oil-major forms) |
| ASBATANKVOY / SHELLVOY | Voyage | Tanker voyage charter |
| SUPPLYTIME 2017 | Time | Offshore support vessels |
| GASVOY / GASTIME | Voyage/Time | Gas carriers |
The recap (the broker's written summary of the agreed terms) will name the form ("otherwise as per owner's pro-forma NYPE 2015…") — which means you've agreed that entire form as amended by the recap. Read it.
Risk & security clauses
The clauses that let a party say "no" or charge extra when the world turns dangerous:
| Clause | Time / Voyage | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| CONWARTIME | Time | Lets the owner refuse to send the ship into, or order it out of, an area of war/piracy risk; charterer bears additional war-risk premiums and crew bonuses. |
| VOYWAR | Voyage | The voyage-charter equivalent — right to refuse/deviate on war risk, with cost allocation. |
| BIMCO Sanctions Clause | Both | Lets a party refuse to perform a voyage/carry a cargo/call a port that would expose it to sanctions; unwinds the fixture without breach. |
| Designated Entities Clause | Both | Extends the sanctions protection to dealings with listed (designated) counterparties. |
| Piracy Clause | Both | Allocates the cost and routing decisions for high-risk piracy areas (armed-guard engagement is usually a separate GUARDCON contract). |
| Infectious or Contagious Diseases Clause | Both | Post-COVID wording allocating delay/cost when a port is affected by an outbreak or quarantine. |
| Ice Clause | Both | Right to refuse ice-bound ports and the cost of waiting/deviation. |
War and sanctions clauses are the ones most likely to be invoked in the current market — get their cost-allocation right at fixture, not in a dispute.
Emissions & fuel clauses
The newest and most commercially live family — the EU carbon rules turned into contract mechanics:
| Clause | Time / Voyage | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| ETS — Emission Trading Scheme Allowances Clause | Both | Shifts the cost of EU (and UK) ETS allowances to the party that controls the voyage/buys the bunkers — usually the charterer — via allowance transfer or reimbursement, with reconciliation. |
| FuelEU Maritime Clause | Both | Allocates the FuelEU compliance cost/penalty and the data needed to compute it; handles pooling and who keeps a surplus. |
| CII Operations Clause | Time | Gives the owner visibility and some control over speed/routing so the charterer's operation doesn't wreck the ship's annual CII rating; sets data-sharing and cooperation duties. |
| Marine Fuel Sulphur Content / Bunker Quality Clauses | Both | Warrant that supplied bunkers meet the applicable sulphur cap (ECA 0.10 % / global 0.50 %) and quality spec; allocate off-spec-fuel liability. |
| Slow Steaming / Virtual Arrival Clause | Both | Permits reduced speed to save fuel/emissions or to match a berth window without breaching the "utmost despatch" duty. |
Because the ship's operator/charterer controls speed, routing and bunkering but the owner often holds the compliance obligation, these clauses are where the money and the blame get assigned.
Payment & performance clauses
| Clause | Time / Voyage | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hire payment clause | Time | Hire is paid in advance (e.g. every 15 days). Late payment triggers the owner's remedies. |
| Anti-technicality (withdrawal) clause | Time | Before withdrawing the ship for unpaid hire, the owner must serve a notice giving a short cure period (typically a few banking days) — protects against withdrawal over a clerical slip. |
| Off-hire clause | Time | Suspends hire when the ship can't perform (breakdown, drydocking, deficiency of crew/stores) — the charterer doesn't pay for time they can't use. |
| Speed & consumption / performance warranty | Time | The owner warrants a service speed at a stated fuel consumption; a shortfall (in good weather) grounds a performance claim. |
| Laytime & demurrage clause | Voyage | The time allowed for cargo ops and the overrun rate — see the laytime & demurrage reference. |
| Deviation clause | Both | Permits justified deviation (saving life/property, bunkering) without breaching the contract voyage. |
The anti-technicality point is the single most litigated TC event — a valid withdrawal is a powerful owner remedy in a rising market, but only if the notice is served correctly.
Cargo & carriage clauses
| Clause | What it does |
|---|---|
| Clause Paramount | Incorporates the Hague / Hague-Visby (or Hamburg) Rules into the charter and bills of lading — the carrier's liability regime. (The regimes and their package limits are compared in the bill of lading reference.) |
| General Average / New Jason Clause | Applies the York-Antwerp Rules to shared losses (jettison, salvage), and (New Jason) preserves GA contribution even where the loss stems from a navigational error. |
| Both-to-Blame Collision Clause | Reallocates the cargo interest's recovery in a both-to-blame collision so the shipowner isn't indirectly stuck with cargo's claim. (Note: held void under US law for common carriage, so its effect depends on the governing law.) |
| Himalaya Clause | Extends the carrier's defences and liability limits to its servants, agents and sub-contractors (stevedores, terminals). |
| Cargo exclusions / Solid Bulk Cargoes that Can Liquefy Clause | Excludes named dangerous cargoes and manages moisture/liquefaction risk (IMSBC Group A) — the owner's protection against a cargo that can shift or liquefy. |
| Bill of Lading clause | Governs how B/Ls are issued and that they don't impose terms beyond the charter — see Bill of lading types. |
Law, arbitration & boilerplate
- BIMCO Law & Arbitration / Dispute Resolution Clause — picks the governing law and forum. The market defaults are English law + London arbitration (LMAA), with New York (SMA) and Singapore (SCMA) as common alternatives; small claims run under the LMAA Small Claims Procedure.
- BIMCO Notices Clause / Electronic Signatures Clause — how notices are validly given and whether e-signature binds.
- ISPS / ISM clauses — allocate the cost and delay of security (ISPS) and safety-management (ISM) compliance.
These are "boilerplate" only until a dispute — then the law/forum choice decides where and how you fight, and under whose rules.
Who bears the cost — voyage vs time
The same event lands on different parties depending on the charter type (background in How to charter a ship):
| Event | Voyage charter | Time charter |
|---|---|---|
| Extra war-risk premium (VOYWAR/CONWARTIME) | Usually charterer, per clause | Charterer |
| EU ETS allowances / FuelEU penalty | Priced into freight or a surcharge | Charterer (via ETS/FuelEU clauses) |
| Bunkers | Owner | Charterer |
| Time lost in port | Charterer pays demurrage | Charterer already pays hire; may claim off-hire if owner's fault |
| Slow/underperforming ship | Owner's risk (poor TCE — the voyage's net daily earnings) | Owner (performance claim / off-hire) |
| Sanctions making the voyage illegal | Sanctions clause unwinds it | Sanctions clause unwinds it |
The drafting takeaway for a recap: for every risk that matters (war, sanctions, EU carbon, off-spec bunkers, performance), name the clause and the paying party — silence is where disputes are born.
For developers and operators
- Model the cost the clause allocates: the voyage-economics calculator folds EU ETS, FuelEU, CII and the ECA bunker premium into TCE with an explicit payer input — so both sides can see their net position before agreeing the ETS/FuelEU clause.
- Stress the demurrage exposure a laytime clause creates in the demurrage calculator before fixing.
- Match cargo and tonnage on the chartering, cargo and tonnage boards, then negotiate the detail clauses on the agreed pro-forma.
FAQ and common confusions
Q: What's the difference between CONWARTIME and VOYWAR?
A: Same purpose — the right to refuse or deviate from war-risk areas and to pass on the extra cost — but CONWARTIME is the time-charter version and VOYWAR the voyage-charter version. Using the wrong one for the charter type is a drafting error.
Q: Which clause decides who pays the EU ETS bill?
A: The BIMCO ETS — Emission Trading Scheme Allowances Clause, which transfers the allowance cost to the party controlling the voyage (usually the charterer under a time charter), with reconciliation. FuelEU has its own clause.
Q: Can an owner really withdraw a ship for one late hire payment?
A: Yes, in principle — but a modern time charter's anti-technicality clause requires the owner to first serve a notice giving the charterer a short cure period. Withdraw without it and the withdrawal itself can be a breach.
Q: What is a Clause Paramount?
A: A clause that incorporates the Hague / Hague-Visby (or Hamburg) Rules into the charter and bills of lading — fixing the carrier's liabilities and the package/weight limitation. See Bill of lading types.
Q: What does the CII Operations Clause do on a time charter?
A: It manages the tension that the charterer controls speed and routing while the owner carries the ship's annual CII rating — setting cooperation, data-sharing and sometimes rating expectations. See the CII reference.
Q: Is off-hire the same as demurrage?
A: No. Off-hire (time charter) suspends hire when the ship can't perform. Demurrage (voyage charter) is what the charterer pays for overrunning laytime in port. Different charters, opposite directions.
Q: What law and forum govern a charter dispute?
A: Whatever the Law & Arbitration clause says — most commonly English law + London (LMAA) arbitration, with New York and Singapore as frequent alternatives.
Q: Do I have to use the exact BIMCO wording?
A: No, but starting from the current BIMCO clause is safer than free-drafting — the wordings are market-tested and courts/arbitrators know them. Amend on the record, and always use the latest revision.
References
- BIMCO — standard forms (GENCON 2022, NYPE 2015, BARECON 2017…) and the clause library (CONWARTIME/VOYWAR, Sanctions, ETS/FuelEU/CII, Ice, Bunker, Anti-technicality, Infectious Diseases).
- Hague-Visby Rules (and Hamburg / Rotterdam Rules) — carrier liability regime incorporated via the Clause Paramount.
- York-Antwerp Rules — General Average.
- LMAA / SMA / SCMA — arbitration procedures.
- rynda chartering · cargo · vessels boards and the voyage-economics calculator.
Document version
- 2026-07 — first public version. The BIMCO standard forms and the risk, emissions, payment, cargo and boilerplate clause families in one frame. Clause wordings are revised periodically; always use the latest BIMCO version and confirm application with a lawyer or P&I club.