The presentation clause is paramount when concluding business in the gas spot market as it describes how the gas tanker must present at the load port. The ASBAGASVOY drafting committee set up by BIMCO and the Association of Ship Brokers & Agents (U.S.A.), Inc. (ASBA) has developed tailormade presentation clauses for use with the new gas tanker charter party.

The ASBAGASVOY Optional Additional Clauses include presentation clauses for the petrochemical gases ethylene, propylene and butadiene. These clauses are meant to be used when the two options available in ASBAGASVOY – one mainly for LPG and the other mainly for pressurised gas tankers – are not suitable considering the last cargo carried and next cargo to be carried on board the ship.
 

“When we developed ASBAGASVOY, it was important to make it an easy and straightforward charter party without too much complexity. The Optional Additional Clauses represent a comprehensive set of clauses which we hope will be useful to everyone using ASBAGASVOY,” says Elwin Taylor, Chartering Manager at Petredec who has spearheaded the development of the presentation clauses.

The Optional Additional Clauses also include other clauses which are commonly used and rarely subject to negotiation in gas fixtures, such as an LPG warm cargo clause and an ethane clause. As a novelty, it also includes a first example of a clause relating to the usage of LPG as fuel.

ASBAGASVOY was published in September 2020 and there has already been significant interest in the new form. At BIMCO’s Documentary Committee meeting on 25-26 January, at which the Optional Additional Clauses were approved, it was reported that a fixture had already been made on ASBAGASVOY.

The drafting committee in charge of developing ASBAGASVOY and the Optional Additional Clauses was co-chaired by Stephen Harper (BW Group/BIMCO) and Søren Wolmar (Quincannon/ASBA) and, in addition to Elwin Taylor, also consisted of Tommy Baggio (Clarksons, recently retired), Magne Andersen (Nordisk Legal Services) and Caroline Avgerinou (Thomas Miller P&I (Europe) Ltd.).
 

The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.