Conclusion on 2nd Section. The ship management agreements govern the relationship between the shipmanager and the shipowner, and may vary in several ways aside from the individual terms and conditions. The XXXXXXX 98 form prepared by BIMCO is a good example of ship management agreements. It is a carefully prepared and balanced document, used by many in the business, and it is an “agreed document” negotiated by both the shipowner and the shipmanager. The importance of XXXXXXX 98 as a standard agreement for third-party ship management cannot be underestimated. The absence of national or international background law covering third-party ship management makes the contract clauses increasingly important, not only in providing contractual clarity, but also in the setting of standards in an industry. However these contractual regulations will in case they are incomplete be supplemented by the governing laws general rules of contract and agency, and other non-statutory rules. Depending on the governing law might be Danish, Norwegian or English, there are a difference in the consequences. For example within Danish and Norwegian law the main remedy of breach of contract is specific performance while in English law it is claim of damages. Danish and Norwegian law however states that in some situations it is not suitable with claim of specific performance. This is the case with ship management agreements, where it would not be logical to claim specific performance.
