Shipping requirements; be it import/export or domestic coastal movement are handled by the chartering desk. All the three types of chartering; viz. Time Charter, Spot Charter and COA (Contract of Affreightment) are used to charter ships. Bharat Petroleum transports nearly 15MMT of Crude Oil and Products annually. The process of enquiry through which ships would be chartered is as under:
Process for Chartering Ship
Floating of Enquiry
- Enquiry will be floated to all the Indian Ship owners / Indian Ship brokers registered with BPCL.
- Copies of all enquiries would be sent to DG (Shipping) and Indian National Ship owners Association (INSA), for obtaining mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) / Licenses.
- Enquiries would be floated through e-mail / fax.
Receipt of Offers
Receipt of offers shall be through either of the following modes:
- Dedicated email box with password protection. Separate mailboxes shall be provided for receipt of offers against each enquiry.
- A dedicated fax in a locked room would also be available as an alternate mode.
- Offers received by either of the above modes will be considered.
- The offers will be printed / collated after the email box is opened at the designated time for receipt of offers specified in the enquiry or on the expiry of the extended time as provided in sub-clause (g) of this clause, as the case may be.
- Unsolicited / Mid way offers (offers received after closing time) will not be considered.
- As a standard procedure, bidders will be required to submit hard copy of the offer and other related communications for records.
Evaluation of Offers
- The offers will be ranked on the basis of freight.
- Demurrage rate and Other Terms and Conditions of the Charter Party (CP) will also be evaluated.
Counter Offers / Negotiations
The process of Counter Offers / Negotiation is as under :
- No Indian Ship Owner has quoted :
Negotiation will be held with all the ‘technically acceptable bidders’ indicating their respective ranking. Whereas a ‘Firm Counter’ will be given to lowest (L1) bidder, the counter to all other bidders will be ‘Open’ (i.e. Open 1, Open 2 etc.). During negotiations, original rankings of the bidders can change depending upon their response to the counter (s).
- Indian Ship Owner (s) has also quoted :
If offer (s) are received from Indian ship-owner (s), (Vessels belonging to Indian Ship Owner flying the Indian Flag) , the Indian ship-owner(s) will have the ‘first right of refusal’ vis a vis the lowest offer received from Foreign ship owner, in compliance with government guidelines.
- Indian Ship Owner is L1
The counter shall be offered ‘firm’ to the technically acceptable L1 Indian ship-owner. Open counters would be offered to other technically acceptable Indian ship-owners and all technically acceptable foreign ship-owners. The respective rankings of all the bidders shall be disclosed.
If negotiations are successful with the foreign ship-owner, Indian ship-owner(s) will be asked to match the rate, failing which the ship will be fixed with the foreign ship-owner.
- Indian ship-owner is not L1
The counter will be given ‘firm’ to the technically acceptable L1 Indian ship-owner and ‘open’ to other technically acceptable Indian and foreign ship-owners. The relative ranking of all ship-owners shall be disclosed.
Fixtures on subjects
Once negotiations are concluded, the ship fixture will be confirmed on ‘subjects’ with a time schedule, While the ship fixture is on ‘subjects’ following activities will be undertaken:
- Charterer’s management approval
- Terminal/Supplier Acceptance
- To arrange for license from DG (Shipping) in case of foreign ships
- Obtain record note of negotiations and Fixture Note from the broker / owner for record.
All parties will provide record notes of all telephonic conversations.
Charter Party Agreement
Following Charter Party Agreements apply :
- Voyage Charter Party (VC – for Foreign & Coastal) ASBATANKVOY with BPCL specific (Rider) Clauses.
- Time Charter Party (Foreign Voyages) SHELLTIME 4 / 3 (for LPG)
- Coastal and Time Charter Party. Charter Party agreements developed by BPC and in use.
Procedure for chartering out time charter vessels
For Chartering out vessels by BPCL, Oil Majors, Trading and Shipping companies and Empanelled Brokers registered with BPCL , will be intimated on position list, trading area, cargo grade, laycan etc. Negotiations:
Based on the offers received, BPCL may carry out negotiation with best offer. On successful completion of the negotiations the vessel shall be given on subjects to the charterer for their approval. Charter Party Terms: Standard ASBATANKVOY Charter Party agreement shall be followed and finalized along with the rider clauses (after negotiations) with charterers.
For any queries or clarifications, kindly contact the under noted email ids:
Mr. Sunil Advani : advanisl@bharatpetroleum.in
Mr. K.V. Suresh : sureshkv@bharatpetroleum.in