Meet BIMCO CII Operations Clause Obligations with Vessel Insights API

The shipping industry experienced a significant change earlier this year when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) launched its Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) regulations on January 1. To reflect the new rules, the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) also added a new operational clause to its time charter parties contract.

With charterers and ship owners looking to shore up their compliance, the CII calculations in Vessel Insights API from DTN can help facilitate clause implementation. Here’s how the solution can help keep you on the right side of the rules and meet your CII obligations.

The BIMCO CII clause

The BIMCO clause helps ship owners and charterers comply with these critical but complex CII rules.

It contains some key CII-related calculations:

“C/P Attained CII” means the CII value in gCO2/(dwt.nmile)* attained by the Vessel, applying any regulatory correction factors and voyage adjustments applicable to the Vessel and excluding fuel consumed and distance travelled during off-hire periods in excess of [___] accumulated days (if left blank, zero (0) days shall apply), measured in the relevant calendar year from the start of the calendar year to date or, if the Charter Party begins during a calendar year, from date of the Vessel’s delivery under the Charter Party to date.

“Delivery Attained CII” means the CII value in gCO2/(dwt.nmile)* attained by the Vessel for the calendar year to date as calculated at the time of delivery into the Charter Party.

“Projected Attained CII” means the C/P Attained CII extrapolated over the remainder of the relevant calendar year (or the charter period should redelivery be sooner than the end of the calendar year) and used to demonstrate the trajectory of the Vessel’s C/P Attained CII.

The clause states:

(iv) Upon delivery, the Owners shall provide the Charterers with the Delivery Attained CII together with details of the types and quantities of fuels consumed and distance travelled to date for the current calendar year. The data provided to the Charterers pursuant to this subclause shall, to the best of the Owners’ knowledge, be accurate and complete.

(2) [The Charter is entitled] not permit the C/P Attained CII to exceed the Agreed CII by the end of each relevant calendar year or, if the charter period or period remaining under this Charter Party is less than a full calendar year, by the time of redelivery, but always subject to the provisions of subclause (g).

(g) If, at any time, based on the data shared in accordance with this Clause, the trajectory of the C/P Attained CII is deviating from the Agreed CII, the Owners shall give the Charterers advance warning of this.

(2) [The Owner is entitled] to reduce the Vessel’s speed or, where a speed reduction is anticipated by the Owners to be insufficient, to require the Charterers to provide all requisite instructions, orders and sailing directions to the Vessel which bring the C/P Attained CII in line with the Agreed CII for the relevant calendar year (or the charter period should redelivery be sooner than the end of the calendar year).

This means that under the BIMCO CII operational clause:

The charterer needs a way to validate the delivery attained CII and consumption and distance provided by the owner upon delivery.
Both the owner and charterer need to continuously monitor C/P attained CII.
Both parties must also estimate the impact of operational decisions, like reducing speed, on the CII rating.

What ship owners and charterers must do is clear. But how can you do it?

An all-in-one data solution

Vessel Insights API is at the forefront of shipping performance innovation, supporting the creation of custom solutions without the need to manage or maintain multiple connections with different data sources or monitor data quality. It also provides advanced technology, like digital twin models.

For any vessel in a merchant fleet, Vessel Insights API delivers:

Normalized AIS tracks, updated every 15 minutes.
Hindcast weather along the track, updated hourly.
Performance speed, main engine, auxiliary engine, and boiler consumption estimates along the track.
CII calculations, including year-to-date, voyage, CP attained, delivery attained CII, and what-if scenarios.
Voyage summaries with total consumption, emission, ECA and non-ECA distance, etc.

The solution also provides:

Digitalized noon data
Automated data quality-check flags on noon report data
Noon-to-noon performance analysis results
CII calculations based on reported noon data, including year-to-date, voyage, CP attained, delivery attained CII, and what-if scenarios
Voyage summaries based on reported noon data, including total consumption, emission, etc.

Analysis results are based on both digital twin models and reported noon data. Noon reports are sent to DTN using an Insert Noon API endpoint or by email through our EasyNoon html file. Other industry-standard noon report formats are also accepted.

Helping you meet your CII obligations

As you navigate BIMCO’s new clause and IMO’s CII regulations, Vessel Insights API is by your side. It offers dedicated queries for various vessel performance-related use cases.

Query	Use Case
listEvents	Get continuously quality-checked vessel performance-relevant data from multiple sources (AIS, noon report, weather, digital twin model) along the vessel’s track.
trackSummary	Generate voyage and performance summaries for any vessel in the entire merchant fleet (calculations use a library of vessel performance models).
noonSummary	Generate voyage and performance summaries for your own fleet (calculations use quality-checked noon report data).
trackCII	Monitor CII ratings for any vessel in the entire merchant fleet. Can be used to estimate year-to-date, voyage, CP attained, delivery attained, etc., and investigate what-if scenarios. (Calculations use a library of vessel performance models).
noonCII	Monitor CII ratings for any vessel in your own fleet. Can be used to estimate year-to-date, voyage, CP attained, delivery attained, etc., and investigate what-if scenarios. (Calculations use quality-checked noon report data).
getEvent	Get data for a single noon or AIS event.

With Vessel Insights API, data is accessible through one of these GraphQL queries using a single endpoint.

Here is an example of its noonCII query and response.

Making the complex simple

Having the right data is critical to compliance, and this level of operational intelligence can also drive smarter decisions that support more prosperous voyages. Vessel Insights API streamlines complex processes, serving data via a flexible GraphQL API endpoint.

Better meet today’s challenges and tomorrow’s goals — from emissions regulations to improved performance and more profitable margins. Through detailed, continuously updated, and quality-checked data, DTN empowers vessel operators to make the most of their maritime assets.

Try Vessel Insights API for yourself and see how it can revolutionize your operations and support your CII obligations.

About the author

Karan Bhawsinka is a shipping product manager and naval architect with a Masters in Engineering and a keen interest in digital solutions. He brings more than 12 years of maritime industry experience to his role and a deep understanding of vessel performance models and the intricacies of voyage planning. Previously, Bhawsinka worked closely with master mariners, harbor masters, regulatory authorities, and technology providers to enhance the safety and efficiency of maritime operations.