Charterparty CII provisions in bills of lading

A recent area of activity in charterparty provisions relating to the IMO's operational carbon intensity indicator (CII) regulation1 (the CII Regulation) has led to the emergence of rider terms (ie a CII clause) for time and voyage charterparties, seeking to allocate risk, responsibility and cost of compliance as between owners and charterers. BIMCO published its proposed templates in 20222 and 20233 respectively, together the "BIMCO CII Clauses". A variety of alternatives are used in different trades.

Unlike the attention that CII clauses have attracted in the context of charterparties, there has been very little consideration - either legally or commercially - of their incorporation into a bill of lading (BL). BLs often contain wording that seeks to incorporate into the contract of carriage the terms of an underlying charterparty.