5.1 The large expansion of offshore activities connected with oil exploration and production in the early 1970s led to an increased demand for supply vessels and other offshore service vessels. Initially, contracts for the provision of the services of such vessels tended to be concluded on the basis of the in-house form of the larger tug owners or on the basis of an adaptation of one of the standard time charterparty forms. But with the increase in this specialised trade, the need was felt for a uniform contract to form the basis of individual contracts. BIMCO was approached by trade interests and the “Supplytime” form was produced in 1975.