The Law of Tug and Tow and Offshore Contracts has established itself as a leading text and is written by Simon Rainey KC, one of the foremost shipping practitioners with unrivalled experience in the field. It is the only modern work on the law of towage and offshore vessel services, providing a comprehensive and extensively researched account of the general law coupled with a detailed clause-by-clause commentary and analysis of all the major standard contracts used in the international offshore, towage and heavylift sectors.

The book provides expert coverage of the BIMCO Towcon, Towhire, Supplytime and Heavylift forms, the full suite of BIMCO Wreck Removal forms and the BIMCO Bargehire form, as well as the ISU Salvcon and Salvhire forms in their latest versions. Given the continued use of older forms, a comparison of the previous with the latest forms is an essential characteristic of the work. This fifth edition has been fully updated and revised to take into account the new BIMCO Towcon/Towhire 2021 contracts with a detailed analysis of the changes since the forms were last revised in 2008; the new UK Standard Conditions for Towage, revised at the end of 2024, again with a detailed analysis of the changes and updating of the old form, and also the revisions to the Bargehire form (2021) and the Wreckstage form (2024), together with a consideration of the recent Supplytime 2017 “Special Task Annexes” and the new 2021 ASVtime for accommodation support vessels, modelled on Supplytime 2017.

For all legal practitioners dealing with this section of shipping law, this book is an essential and invaluable addition to their library.