Lloyds List: Stasco to launch time charter party specifically designed for LNG sector: "SHELL International Trading and Shipping Co (Stasco) is about to unveil a time charter designed specifically for liquefied natural gas shipping.": Monday 10 October 2005

Tony Gray
Oct 10, 2005

SHELL International Trading and Shipping Co (Stasco) is about to unveil a time charter designed specifically for liquefied natural gas shipping.

Stasco said the LNG shipping community currently bases its short- and medium- term charters on industry standard oil charter forms such as ShellTime4 with 'logical LNG amendments'.

Now Stasco, in co-operation with Holman Fenwick ' Willan, has developed ShellLNGTime1, a LNG specific charter document based on the widely used ShellTime4.

Richard Towell, one of Shell's global LNG shipping advisors commented: 'Shell's main objective with ShellLNGTime1 has been to produce a time charter party that contains all the fundamentals of ShellTime4 but addresses the specific issues involved in the shipment of LNG in a form that remains balanced between both owners and charterers.'

ShellLNGTime1 will be launched next month on the Bimco charter party editor and it will sit alongside ShellVoy6 and ShellTime4.

'The initiative to use Bimco's internet based charter party editor enables easy and editable access to the charter from any computer that can connect to the internet.'

The charter party will be released on-line on the BIMCO website (www.bimco.dk) under its IDEA (Internet Document Editing Application).

Stasco's new time charter for LNG shipping comes against a backdrop of expanding spot and short-term business in what has traditionally been a long-term industry.

Shell explained: 'The LNG shipping market has come a long way since the first commercial cargo on the Methane Princess some 41 years ago and although much of the industry still leans towards project based shipping solutions, the last few years has seen the development of a more flexible approach to the shipment of LNG.'

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