June, 2019 - BIMCO Publishes Cyber Security Clause
As cyber crime is becoming an ever more prevalent risk for the shipping industry, BIMCO have published a Cyber Security Clause for use in charterparties and other contracts. The clause has been drafted in general terms so that it can easily be adopted into any contract and also, for instance, in a chain of charterparties to ensure that the various parties’ obligations are back to back.
Background
With the industry’s increased reliance on technology comes greater exposure to cyber risk. Ships and shipping systems are potentially vulnerable to cyber attacks which are becoming ever more sophisticated and can have highly detrimental impacts. A spate of attacks on high profile shipping companies has recently brought this issue to the fore. The IMO has given shipowners and managers until 2021 to include cyber security management procedures in their Safety Management Systems, as defined in the ISM Code. Cyber security guidance has been issued by various key bodies including the IMO, BIMCO and Intertanko, which can be provided upon request.