HFW Helps BIMCO Draft New Ship Sale And Purchase Agreement

Global, sector-focused law firm has helped shipping association BIMCO draft a ship sale and purchase agreement that aims to make the authoring, negotiation and execution process faster, simpler and less expensive.

The agreement – called ‘SHIPSALE 22’ – is designed to require fewer amendments and additional clauses than standard claim forms, while retaining the necessary familiarity for users transitioning from other forms used for buying and selling ships. It uses BIMCO’s well-known box layout.

HFW’s Jens Mathiasen, who joined the firm in March, was part of a team of nine shipping industry specialists who drafted the agreement.

The two-year process included an extensive industry consultation that provided the drafting team with more than 800 comments and suggestions on the draft agreement, ultimately resulting in a standard Memorandum of Agreement that closely follows the typical chronological sequence of events that play out in an S&P transaction.

Jens Mathiasen, Partner, HFW: “This really is one of the most important documents in shipping – it will be used in the sale and purchase of virtually every vessel across the industry, comprising many billions of dollars each year. It was an honour to work alongside the other committee members and to continue HFW’s longstanding relationship with BIMCO.”

HFW has helped BIMCO draft several standard contract and clauses, including a recently-published model clause addressing force majeure events occurring under contracts, as well as “game-changing” carbon emissions clauses, the industry’s first standard contract for autonomous shipping, its first cyber security clause, the industry’s first standard offshore decommissioning contact, and two clauses relating to the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 sulphur emission rules.

HFW is widely recognised as the world’s leading shipping and maritime law firm, and has been serving clients in the industry for almost 140 years. The firm has more than 200 shipping lawyers and nine Master Mariners across its global network, specialising in dry shipping, admiralty and crisis management, and transactional work.

HFW has more top-tier rankings for shipping in Chambers and The Legal 500 than any other law firm, and its lawyers have featured in Lloyd’s List’s ranking of the top 10 lawyers and 100 most influential people in the shipping industry for four consecutive years.

The Lawyer’s Litigation Tracker shows that HFW has handled over 60% more shipping litigation cases in the English Courts since 2015 than its nearest rival.