BIMCO TOWCON and TOWHIRE
The two BIMCO ocean towage forms: lump sum against daily hire, knock for knock, and what the 2021 third editions changed.
TOWCON is BIMCO’s lump sum ocean towage contract and TOWHIRE its daily hire equivalent. Both were adopted by the BIMCO Documentary Committee on 25 January 2021 as third editions, replacing the 2008 forms, alongside a new edition of BARGEHIRE.
Knock for knock remains the cornerstone of both, with the Tugowner Group and Hirer Group definitions broadened to take in each party’s other contractors and a revised excluded losses provision. The 2021 editions replace rider clauses with standard clauses for war risks, piracy, and infectious or contagious diseases, and add anti corruption and sanctions provisions. TOWCON gained a box for the tugowner to state an estimated average towage speed as the basis for compensation for extra time from slow steaming or deviation, a requirement for daily reports, provision for bunkering the tug mid voyage, and a single delay rate in place of separate at sea and in port rates. Adoption runs slowly: BIMCO reported that of 1,040 TOWCON fixtures in 2021, almost 90 percent were still on the 2008 form.
The full article will work through both forms clause by clause, compare the lump sum and daily hire risk allocations, and cover the interface with salvage and with the marine warranty surveyor’s approval.