The Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) has expelled the recently-launched Ukrainian freight and shipping trading platform ShipNext from its membership saying that it “repeatedly and falsely” claimed that BIMCO supported its platform.
According to BIMCO, it has also terminated its agreement with ShipNext that had allowed the use of BIMCO contracts on the ShipNext trading platform.
The termination follows repeated warnings by BIMCO which were ignored by ShipNext, states the organisation.
BIMCO’s secretary general and ceo, Angus Frew, said that the company has on a number of occasions claimed in marketing material that its trading platform is supported by BIMCO, claims which could compromise BIMCO’s market neutral position.
“The claims are a blatant abuse of the licensing and membership agreement that we have with ShipNext and is, in our view, a deliberate policy to mislead ShipNext’s customers. It compromises BIMCO’s position as a neutral and commercially independent association and is totally unacceptable behaviour,” added Frew.
The association has said that it has never supported nor endorsed the ShipNext system, and no longer has any formal licensing agreement with the company. The use of BIMCO standard contracts on this system is no longer permitted.
To date, a request for a response from the organisation that set up ShipNext has thus far not been forthcoming.
