New Shipman agreement published
The third edition of BIMCOs successful standard ship management agreement, SHIPMAN, has been published by the organisation. The new and updated edition replaces SHIPMAN 98 and is code named SHIPMAN 2009.
Given the importance of Shipman to the ship management sector BIMCO has undertaken a sensitive revision of this important agreement. According to Grant Hunter, head of BIMCOs documentary department, The fundamental principles that Shipman established when it was first issued in 1988 and which have become in many respects the law of ship management have been carefully preserved in the new edition but are spelled out with greater clarity.
In the 10 years since Shipman 98 was published BIMCO says that there have been many developments in the ship management industry most notably the coming into force of the ISM and ISPS Codes. While Shipman 98 touched upon responsibilities under ISM, much more has been learned about the interplay between the owners and the managers in respect of the Code in the intervening years. SHIPMAN 2009 more clearly reflects these developments.
According to Grant Hunter, One of the most notable changes to Shipman concern the crew management services section of the agreement. We know that some parties prefer to use Shipman even when the agreement is only for crew management purposes, although we would always recommend the use of the specialist standard crew management agreement, Crewman A (on an agency basis). To assist in this and also to make Shipmans crewing provisions more comprehensive when its used for crew management purposes together with other management services, we have harmonised the crewing provisions and made them more comprehensive by streamlining the crewing provisions of Shipman 2009 with those of Crewman A (cost plus fee) 2009.
Other changes include amendments concerning the validity of medical certificates. The previous three month validity requirement has been replaced with a requirement that crew medical certificates should be valid at the time the crew member joins the vessel and remain valid for the period of service. In addition, the revised agreement introduces an option for the parties to agree a higher medical standard than that required by the flag state.
In addition, Shipman 2009 emphasises that a command of the English language for every crew member is not a strict requirement. In the revised edition there is a common working language on board the vessel, which need not be English. However, this is qualified by a requirement for that crew to have a sufficient command of the English language to enable them to perform their duties safely, e.g., those who are involved in ship to ship and/or ship to shore communications.
Visually, Shipman has been modernised with a new and clearer box layout. The two-column layout has been replaced with a single column using a larger and easier to read font size. The new design will also make the agreement easier to work with electronically using BIMCOs idea document editing system.
A special BIMCO publication containing the new agreement and detailed explanatory notes is available to purchase from the products section of the BIMCO website at a cost of 25 (40 for non-members). A sample copy of the new edition plus explanatory notes can be downloaded from the Documentary/Sundry other forms section of the website. Shipman 2009is now availableon BIMCOs idea as a fully editable Word document that can be filled in and amended by the parties with final copies exchanged as locked PDF files by e-mail.
Source:motorship