BIMCO Launches “CO2TIME” Time Charter Party

BIMCO’s new CO2TIME 2026 charter party offers a timely, purpose-built framework for the emerging liquid CO2 shipping market. Familiar in form but tailored to LCO2’s unique risks, it provides a more balanced starting point for future carbon transport projects.

On 30 April, BIMCO announced that its Documentary Committee had adopted a new time charter party prepared specifically for the transportation of liquid CO2 (LCO2), called “CO2TIME 2026”.[1] The development of this charter party comes in response to the growth of carbon capture and the need for contracts governing the transportation of LCO2 from emitters to storage sites. Nordisk was part of the sounding board that BIMCO used in connection with the preparation of CO2TIME and provided comments on an early draft in October 2025.

CO2TIME is based on previous gas time charter parties developed by BIMCO, but with LCO2-specific amendments. For those who are well acquainted with traditional BIMCO time charter parties, CO2TIME will look familiar.  It contains the familiar Part I and Part II: Part I allows the parties to fill in details specific to the charter, while Part II deals with the general clauses. The contents of CO2TIME look like a good starting point for further negotiations. It contains updated versions of BIMCO’s standard clauses that are typically incorporated, including an updated version of BIMCO’s War Clause, CONWARTIME2025, as well as BIMCO’s EU ETS clause from 2022. The sub-committee has, however, not included any provisions regarding FuelEU Maritime, which should be addressed at the negotiation phase where applicable.

Compatibility with Newbuilding Contracts
In today’s market, there are not many LCO2 carriers that operate in the segment above 5,000 CBM   . Furthermore, those vessels that are servicing this market are fixed on long-term contracts. This means that, for most of the charters that will be entered into, it will also be necessary to enter into newbuilding contracts. It is positive to see that Part III of the charter caters for this by introducing certain newbuilding-specific provisions, including:

1. the charterers’ right to attend the yard;
2. provisions establishing the relationship between the owners’ obligation under the charter and the builder’s obligation to deliver the vessel under the shipbuilding contract; and
3. a mechanism by which liquidated damages are split in an agreed manner between the parties to the charter. 

The link between the shipbuilding contract and the charter is heavily negotiated in the LCO2 tenders that we have seen so far. We anticipate that several charterers will want to introduce provisions allowing the charterers to request modifications to the construction of the vessel under the shipbuilding contract. 

Cargo-Specific Risk Allocation
CO2TIME also contains important language dealing with owners’ rights to vent cargo in certain situations. Clause 16(e) allocates the risk of such venting to the charterers if the requirement arises from the charterers’ employment orders. This is an important characteristic of the carriage of LCO2, as certain situations may require venting of the cargo for the safety of the Vessel. Unlike LNG, the cargo cannot be used for propulsion, and the only alternative is therefore simply to release the cargo into the atmosphere. We have seen long and detailed clauses on this subject previously, but the proposed solution in CO2TIME is a good alternative.

The characteristics of LCO2 cargoes are also catered for.  For example, if the vessel loads LCO2 from different sources, it is likely that there will be differences between the technical specifications of the cargoes. CO2TIME allocates this risk to the charterers but specifies that this is “subject to any tolerances that may be agreed between the Parties in the Technical Annex”.[2] Owners are advised to consider the contents of the Technical Annex in close cooperation with their technical team, while also considering the terms of the specifications and tolerances in the newbuilding contract(s).

Our view is that CO2TIME is a fairly balanced template and, in that sense, represents a stark contrast to the LCO2 projects that have materialised so far.  The charter terms in those projects have been heavily influenced by the fact that the market is dominated by a small number of very large energy players, and the shipowners that have been interested in entering this market have been required to agree to fairly charterer-friendly terms, typically based on amended versions of ShellLNGTime 2.

Nordisk has substantial experience in the LCO2 field, including both charter party negotiations and newbuilding contracts. Please do not hesitate to contact Håvard Njølstad, Knut Erling Øyehaug, or Ola Granhus Mediås if you have any LCO2-related questions. 

[1] Press release from BIMCO may be found here: BIMCO publishes time charter party targeting the emerging CO2 trade

[2] Clause 16 (c)