SALEFORM 2025
The current Norwegian Saleform: an escrow agent in place of the deposit holder, three payment routes, and new sanctions, EU ETS and FuelEU clauses.
SALEFORM 2025 is the current edition of the Norwegian Saleform, announced by BIMCO in a Documentary Committee update published on 26 February 2026. Copyright remains with the Norwegian Shipbrokers’ Association. It replaces SALEFORM 2012 as the reference Memorandum of Agreement for secondhand sales.
The structural change is to the money. The deposit holder of earlier editions becomes a formal escrow agent under a separate escrow agreement executed alongside the MOA, and the agent must confirm in writing that it can accept the funds before the deposit becomes payable. An optional know-your-customer long-stop lets the compliant party walk away with no liability where checks cannot be completed.
Four clauses are new at 16 to 19: anti-bribery, sanctions, EU Emissions Trading System and FuelEU Maritime. BIMCO had adopted the FuelEU Maritime Clause and the ETS Clause for Memoranda of Agreement at its Documentary Committee meeting of 11 December 2025, ahead of their incorporation.
The full article will cover the clause-by-clause changes from 2012, the notice of readiness and cancelling date mechanics at Clause 5, the loss-of-bargain damages provision at 14(e), and how the escrow redraft answers the problem exposed in the deposit litigation discussed in ship sale and purchase .