World News
BIMCO Developing Standard Bunker Purchasing Contract
At the request of a group of ship owners, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) says it is developing a standard marine fuels purchasing contract that it hopes will harmonise terms and conditions of bunkering agreements.
BIMCO said it has attempted to create such standard language in the past, but previous contracts it developed, including FUELCON Marine Fuels Purchasing Agreement in the 1990s and the Standard Bunker Contract in 2002, failed to win over enough of the market to become true industry standards.
"There is no lack of interest in such an initiative, but the stumbling block has always been finding common ground between suppliers and purchasers, as well as between the suppliers themselves operating in different regions," the organisation said.
For the new version, BIMCO is bringing together bunker interests from Singapore and Western Europe and hopes to develop a standard that can be adopted globally.
BIMCO said work on the project started in Copenhagen this week and will continue in Singapore later in the year, with the goal of having a first draft ready for the group's Documentary Committee to review at their meeting in Dubai next spring.
BIMCO says it represents shipowners controlling 65 percent of the world tonnage, and earlier this year it became the first international shipping group to open an office in China.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 627.00 | 2.00 | 737.00 | 5.00 |
| Rotterdam | 579.00 | 1.50 | 753.50 | 14.00 |
| Houston | 587.50 | 7.50 | 764.50 | 2.50 |
| Fujairah | 622.00 | 6.50 | 881.50 | 3.00 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 646.00 | 0.50 | 825.50 | 1.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 604.00 | 2.50 | 784.00 | 4.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 700.00 | 3.50 | 883.00 | 3.00 |
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