Final draft of the GUARDCON contract by BIMCO
The final draft of the GUARDCON contract is now in the hands of BIMCO’s 60-strong Documentary Committee which is ultimately responsible for the vetting and approval for publication of all new and revised BIMCO contracts and clauses. The Committee’s primary task is to assess whether the draft agreement for the employment of security guards on vessels meets the standard expected of a BIMCO contract.
This is the third and final phase of development. It follows two months of intense drafting work by a specialist Sub-committee with legal, insurance, P&I and ship operation expertise. The second phase involved consultation on the draft with several reputable international private maritime security companies and a number of leading marine insurance underwriters. The whole development process has also been followed closely by the International Group of P&I Clubs.
BIMCO’s Documentary Committee have been given until 7 March to review the draft contract. After that the GUARDCON Sub-committee will reconvene to consider any comments received and then prepare the draft for the approval for publication by the full Committee. Depending on the volume and extent of comments received, this means that GUARDCON may be available to the industry during the second half of March.
GUARDCON has been developed in response to a growing concern by shipowners and their P&I Clubs of the seemingly ever-growing number of private maritime security companies, each with their own widely varying set of terms and conditions of employment. A recent count of such companies stood at more than 200. There is very little regulation governing the activities of these companies and no formal recognised accreditation system to ensure minimum standards. GUARDCON aims to raise the bar in terms of the standards to which these companies must reach in terms of providing adequate insurance to cover their risks and ensuring that they have in place the necessary permits and licences to allow them to lawfully transport and carry weapons.
The insurance requirements alone are set at such a level as will, in some cases, potentially exclude smaller companies from being able to offer GUARDCON if they lack the necessary financial resources. This is deliberate and is intended, along with the permits and licences provisions, to weed out operators who may potentially place shipowners and their crews at risk. However, it should be clearly understood that GUARDCON is not in any way intended to be a substitute for the proper exercise of due diligence by shipowners when selecting a security company to provide armed guards for a ship as part of the pre-contractual process.
Source: BIMCO
