BIMCO - Ship Management Contracts

Published: May 2021

Author: BIMCO

In the 1980s shipping went through one of the biggest structural changes the industry has ever seen which was the development of third party ship management services. A weak freight market forced many shipowners to explore new avenues to reduce their operational costs and one such avenue was the outsourcing of commercial and technical ship management to companies financially independent from the ship owning company and structured to carry out that kind of services as agents for and on behalf of owners; the so-called third party ship managers.

While the ship management industry evolved with an increasing part of the world fleet being placed under third-party ship management there was no standard management agreement that it could rely on as a basis for individual contract negotiations. This prompted a number of shipowners and ship managers to approach BIMCO in the mid 80s asking BIMCO to take the lead in the development of a standard ship management agreement striking a fair balance between the owners’ and managers’ rights and obligations. A few years later BIMCO launched what became known as SHIPMAN Standard Ship Management Agreement; perhaps one the most successful contracts within its area. Today SHIPMAN is an indispensable contractual tool for any shipowner and manager engaged in third party ship management – even banks.

This publication compiles BIMCO’s ship management related contracts and explanatory notes into a handy and useful reference book. The latest edition of each contract is included.

This publication provides information on the following contracts and explanatory notes:

• CREWMAN A 2009
• CREWMAN B (LUMP SUM) 2009
• LAYUPMAN
• SHIPMAN 2009
• SUPERMAN

Table of Contents

CREWMAN A 2009 1

Standard Crew Management Agreement (Cost Plus Fee) 3

Explanatory Notes 21

CREWMAN B (LUMP SUM) 2009 51

Standard Crew Management Agreement (Lump Sum) 53

Explanatory Notes 69

LAYUPMAN 99

Standard Contract for the Laying up of Vessels 101

Explanatory Notes 123

SHIPMAN 2009 135

Standard Ship Management Agreement 137

Explanatory Notes 157

SUPERMAN 199

Standard Agreement for the Supervision of Vessel Construction 201

Explanatory Notes 217