Coffee is put on the table one winter morning in Copenhagen – it is 9 am and and one hour and five cups of coffee later we have written some 14 pages of notes following a “turbo-charged presentation” of BIMCO by its Secretary General Carsten Melchiors. We are more than a little impressed by the knowledge of and expertise in the international shipping industry to be found at BIMCO, which has a great focus on dry bulk shipping.

“BIMCO’s resources are to be focussed on the key areas, which provide the most benefits to members”. This is one of BIMCO’s objectives, while another is: “BIMCO is to consolidate its position as the recognised leader in the production of standard documents for the maritime industry, thus providing a tangible contribution to trade facilitation and harmonisation of the shipping industry.”
Some hard facts about BIMCO: It has 2,550 member companies in 123 countries. Owner members alone control 65% of the merchant fleet, while 1,500 brokers and agents and 100 club and associate members complete BIMCO’s international coverage. BIMCO imparts knowledge to its members by maintaining a collection of shipping materials and periodicals relevant to everyone engaged in shipping operations on a daily basis.
“To comment more on the Copenhagen bulk carrier hub,” continues Melchiors, “operators charter many vessels from others in addition to owning their own. This has been such a great success because intelligent solutions are provided for outsourced operations. Add management expertise, long experience and technical know-how coupled with a favourable tax and legal framework and you have summarised the main reasons for its success. It’s actually quite elementary and simple: Follow the man! The man in this context is AP Møller/Maersk. ’Everybody’ of my generation in the Copenhagen shipping cluster has worked for AP Møller/Maersk, myself included. Look at the CVs of these 20–25 key persons and see where they started - at Maersk.”
“We work very hard at creating benefits for our members and our main focus is on making ‘how to’ publications, checklists and forms. Some examples of these are all the trade documents which are fair to both the ship owners and cargo owners and thus regulate the relationships between the two parties. The BIMCO forms are used in more than 50% of the global shipping trade and this clearly demonstrates the need for having globally recognised forms. For bulk carrier owners, we also issue a newbuilding specification guide that the owners can use to ensure they get a vessel that will be fit for purpose,” says Niels Bjørn L. Mortensen, Master Mariner, Naval Architect and Head of the Marine Department. This guide is also available on CD, as are most of BIMCO’s publications.
“The BIMCO contracts are fair and balanced, and this results in very few disputes and conflicts regarding contractual matters. This is essential for an owner operating in the spot market,” says Melchiors, adding that there is a high degree of clarity. “We look at the ship cycle as well, from newbuilding to recycling - all aspects to be handled by BIMCO contracts. Over the, for instance, 25-year lifetime of a given ship, we have contracts relating to spot trading, time charters, bills of lading, minor repairs, notice of readiness, lifetime, crewmen and shipmen. We work to raise the standards of the trade,” underlines Melchiors. “There are contracts for any need and for any type of tonnage.”
“We run an organisation based on individuals that focuses on two factors of equal importance: Firstly: The customer comes first! Secondly: Know the ships!” That concluded a very interesting presentation by BIMCO Secretary General Carsten Melchiors.
To learn more about BIMCO, please visit www.bimco.org

Date: 07 February 2008