In January 2021, BIMCO will be inviting the industry to view and offer feedback on the new Ship Sale Agreement in the pipeline. The new form is on track for publication in 2021.

Over the last months, BIMCO has been working together with legal and commercial experts on  how best to shape the new Ship Sale Agreement, taking into consideration that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world and the way the industry conducts business to adapt.

While it would be easy to mirror the structure and content of sale and purchase agreements that have been around for decades, BIMCO’s objective is to create a contract that clearly, fairly and comprehensively maps out the sequence of events in a ship sale and purchase process in a new and innovative way.

A sale and purchase agreement is necessarily legalistic, but it must also be a practical document that can be used without significant amendment for the widest possible range of ship sale scenarios around the world. Work on the agreement is progressing according to plan and the next step will be to involve the industry to get valuable feedback.

Recently, we have worked with some of the industry’s most prominent sale and purchase lawyers to “pressure test” the new form and thereby make sure that the new formulation is legally sound.

In January 2021, the industry consultation will begin, and we will welcome and value the feedback. We therefore invite you to keep an eye on the BIMCO website in January.