BIMCO, GSF launch readymade container volume contract

BIMCO and Global Shipping Forum have joined forces to promote readymade container volume contract for shippers and carriers. The two organisations have produced a webcast aimed primarily at small to medium sized shippers, who may not have the resources to develop their own service agreement.

The webcast features GSF’s Chris Welsh and Marfret’s Erwann Merrien in discussion with Grant Hunter from BIMCO. All three were involved in the development of SERVICECON. They discuss the benefits of using SERVICECON from a shipper’s and a carrier’s point and highlight the key features of the contract.

According to Chris Welsh, Secretary General at the GSF, SERVICECON has been written by a team of shippers and carriers, so it’s a cross industry initiative.

    “It’s a simple, fair and easy to use readymade contract that covers all the main issues that need to be dealt with in a service agreement. It’s an ideal starting point for negotiations for any small to medium sized shipper.”

BIMCO sees real value for shippers and carriers, as there are currently a lot of very unnecessarily long and overly detailed service contracts in circulation, noted Grant Hunter, Head of Contracts and Clauses at BIMCO.

    Erwann Merrien, General Counsel at Marselles based Marfret, added: “We have used SERVICECON ourselves. It really helps that the contract comes from two big representative organisations of shippers and carriers – that makes it much more acceptable to shippers. And it’s a really straightforward contract to use – it just has the basics of what’s needed.”