Shipping firms critical of BIMCO’s clause that makes charterers accountable for emissions

A group of more than 20 shipping companies has criticised BIMCO’s latest clause in the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating system that makes charters responsible for emissions.

PHOTO: Exhaust gases flow from the funnel of a cruise ship. Getty Images

The signatories to the open letter have slammed the new clause as “imbalanced” and “unusable” for charterers.

Last month, BIMCO published a new clause in the upcoming Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) rating system, which would make charterers responsible for reducing carbon emissions from ships.

The new CII regulation will come into force from 1 January next year. It mandates shipowners to calculate an Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index (EEXI) for each vessel to grant them a CII rating between A-E, wherein A is the best rated.

The group of signatories that includes Danish shipping company A.P. Moller – Maersk, French container shipping firm CMA CGM, commodity trading company Trafigura, and Swedish shipping company Stena Bulk have criticised the new clause.

“Shifting CII requirements disproportionately to charterers is detrimental to achieving a good outcome for each individual vessel with the IMO regulation,” signatories say in the joint letter.

While expressing support for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping, the group says that BIMCO’s clause “removes the important incentive on owners to do their fair share for decarbonisation efforts”.

The signatories argue that shipowners should optimise vessels’ fuel consumption through various retrofitting options and energy-saving technologies. And charterer’s role is to ensure that vessels are operated efficiently.

They have also proposed to collaborate to develop alternative CII clauses that fairly divide the responsibility towards decarbonization between owners and charterers.

Meanwhile, BIMCO has stated that it will continue to seek feedback on its CII clause.

“We have received constructive comments, both positive and negative, from many of our members. This insight is invaluable for already published clauses and the development of future clauses. We will continue to seek solutions to help our members operate commercially in a complex regulatory environment,” BIMCO’s secretary general and chief executive David Loosley says.

By Shilpa Sharma

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