Software company, Nautilus Labs, and international shipping association, BIMCO, have released a white paper calling on the maritime industry to rethink prevailing charter party frameworks.
Using data from live charter agreements, the white paper aims to demonstrate how the “sail-fast-then-wait” behaviour can produce substantial excess fuel consumption and emissions even on a single voyage.
“With regulations such as the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) and the impending European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), there is an urgent need for the industry to address the inefficiencies causing excess greenhouse gas emissions”, explained BIMCO.
The white paper outlines the potential for 15-20 per cent of the industry’s emissions to be eliminated by changing current approaches to charter party frameworks without a negative impact on fleet capacity.
As BIMCO pointed out, for an industry that emits approximately 1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions annually, these savings equate to approximately 150-200 million metric tonnes of emissions and tens of billions of dollars in fuel.
The white paper hence proposes changes in charter party terms with the aim of driving better alignment of incentives between owners and charterers, thereby removing the focus on claims and encouraging collaborative ways of working towards vessel efficiency.
BIMCO reported that the progress made in machine learning software and the availability of high-frequency data from ships has paved the way for a groundbreaking strategy in charter parties and dynamic performance tables.
With these technologies in place, the industry can then optimise berth planning to reimagine “first-come, first-served” port operations that drive operators to race to queue up for a berth, leading to fuel waste and unnecessary emissions.
“In the age of decarbonisation, traditional key charter party clauses are no longer fit for purpose and need to be reviewed to address these systemic inefficiencies,” said Grant Hunter, Director of Standards, Innovation and Research at BIMCO.
“BIMCO is committed to helping our industry achieve its Net Zero targets.
“By realigning incentives between owners and charterers and removing the barriers to collaboration, we can ensure we’re all on course towards a more sustainable future for the maritime industry,” Hunter added.
This announcement comes less than a year after BIMCO published its latest electronic bill of lading (eBL) to improve adoption of digital trade documents in shipping.
