BIMCO's New Addendum Eases Retrofit Deals on Time Charters

A New Contractual Tool for Energy-Saving Retrofits

BIMCO has introduced a fresh contractual mechanism aimed at removing one of the persistent obstacles to installing energy-saving equipment on chartered vessels. According to a report by The Maritime Executive, the organization has formally adopted the Energy Saving Device Retrofit Addendum 2026, a framework built specifically to govern how retrofit projects are handled during the life of a time charter.

The shipping sector is under mounting pressure to lower fuel consumption and emissions while also managing new regulatory requirements and climbing operating costs. BIMCO’s addendum is meant to give owners and charterers a structured but adaptable way to negotiate who pays for a retrofit, how long installation may take, and how the resulting fuel savings get divided.

Why Retrofit Investment Has Stalled

Stinne Taiger Ivø, BIMCO’s Deputy Secretary General and Director of Contractual Affairs, pointed to a persistent commercial mismatch: owners typically bear the capital cost of fitting energy-saving technology, yet charterers often capture much of the operational upside while the charter is in effect. That imbalance has discouraged many retrofit projects from moving forward, even where the potential fuel and environmental gains were substantial.

Rather than imposing one standard commercial arrangement, the addendum lets the two parties tailor the cost- and benefit-sharing structure to the specifics of each project. This flexibility is the document’s central selling point — it doesn’t dictate outcomes, but it gives negotiators a common reference point to work from.

Built to Stay Relevant as Technology and Rules Change

Nicholas Fell, who chairs BIMCO’s Documentary Committee, described the goal as creating a workable tool that helps free up capital for retrofit solutions in support of the industry’s broader decarbonization push. To that end, the addendum was deliberately written in a technology-neutral way, so it can apply to a wide variety of current and future energy-saving devices rather than being tied to one specific system.

The framework also accounts for the fact that environmental regulation is a moving target. It is structured to accommodate both existing compliance schemes and ones that may emerge later, reducing the risk that a retrofit agreement signed today becomes outdated as rules shift.

What This Means for Owners and Managers

For technical superintendents and ship managers, a standardized addendum like this could lower the friction involved in proposing mid-charter upgrades — a process that has often stalled at the negotiating table rather than the engineering stage. If cost and benefit allocation becomes easier to agree on, more owners may feel comfortable greenlighting retrofits such as air lubrication systems, propeller upgrades, or hull-efficiency devices while a vessel is still under charter, rather than waiting for drydock or charter expiry.

That said, a contractual mechanism only addresses the commercial side of the equation. Any retrofit still involves real operational questions: how installation downtime is verified, whether the work is completed to specification, and how performance gains are confirmed once the device is in service. Owners and charterers relying on this addendum will still need independent, documented verification that installation work was carried out correctly and that claimed fuel savings are actually being realized — otherwise disputes over the very cost-and-benefit split the addendum is meant to simplify could resurface in another form.

Looking Ahead

BIMCO frames the addendum as a practical response to a well-known industry bottleneck, rather than a mandate or regulatory requirement. Its success will likely depend on how widely owners and charterers choose to incorporate it into new and existing time charter agreements. For owners weighing a retrofit project, it’s worth having technical oversight in place to confirm that installation work and resulting performance align with what was agreed — services such as ship repair supervision can help verify that retrofit work is completed correctly and that the commercial terms negotiated under the new addendum are matched by the actual technical outcome on board.