AuctionConnect Terms of Use

This page (together with the documents referred to in it) informs you of the terms of use under which you may make use of our online bunker procurement platform  https://auctionconnect.com/ (the “Site”), as a registered user. Please read these terms of use carefully before you start to use the site.

1. Information About Us

https://auctionconnect.com/ is a platform operated by AuctionConnect A/S (“AuctionConnect”, “AC”, “we” or “us”). AuctionConnect is a website platform for facilitating the buying and selling of marine fuels in an auction, where prices will fall in real time.

2. How AuctionConnect Works

AuctionConnect is a platform that connects people who want to purchase marine fuel for their vessels (“Buyer”) to suppliers and/or traders that can supply marine fuel to their requirements (“Seller”) and then utilize our AuctionConnect platform to obtain the best solution at competitive prices. If the Buyer and Seller agree, they will enter into a supply agreement directly (a “Transaction”). Transactions are made exclusively between Buyers and Sellers. AuctionConnect A/S collects a fixed, pre-agreed fee from the Seller per Transaction as described more fully under paragraph 4.0.

Buyer and Seller share the responsibility for ensuring seamless Transactions made on the platform and they are entirely and solely responsible for the accuracy of the registered company details, vessels IMO numbers and Terms & Conditions agreed upon. AuctionConnect A/S’ sole involvement in a Transaction is as a facilitator by making the AuctionConnect platform available to the Buyer and Seller, and AuctionConnect A/S accepts absolutely no liability for this Transaction, the accuracy of the information related to the transaction or the completion or non-completion of the Transaction. All claims relating to a Transaction will be resolved between the Buyer and the Seller.

Buyers and Sellers are responsible for complying with all laws and regulations applicable to the sale and shipment of marine fuel. The obligation of AuctionConnect A/S is to introduce Buyers and Sellers to one another for the purpose of entering into a Transaction only. AuctionConnect A/S disclaims all liability arising from or related to any Transaction to the fullest extent permitted by law. AuctionConnect’s liability for any claim whatsoever, however arising and whether caused by negligence or not, whether based in tort or contract shall be limited to the value of AuctionConnect’s fixed fee for the Transaction in question.

3. Sellers and Fees

AuctionConnect A/S is not responsible for the conduct of any prospective Buyer during any auctions.

Sellers accept that any decision to provide a service to a particular Buyer is made solely by the Seller without any representation, warranty or statement made to him by AuctionConnect A/S.

If you are a Seller, you make an offer via AuctionConnect to a Buyer who will accept or reject the offer via the platform. If the offer is accepted the Seller will enter into a Transaction with the Buyer under specific terms negotiated between the Seller and Buyer.

By using AuctionConnect A/S ‘s Auction platform, Sellers agree to pay a pre-agreed fixed fee per metric ton of marine fuel supplied to the Buyer that has been introduced via AuctionConnect A/S. Payment is due 30 calendar days after date of delivery unless otherwise stated.

4. Trading Commitment

Both Buyers and Sellers are responsible for agreeing on the marine fuel quality auctioned via the platform, including any additional terms the Buyer or Seller provides before the Buyer accepts an offer made by the Seller.

Unless otherwise agreed, the Buyers commit to purchase the fuel from the Seller and the Seller commits to supply the fuel to the Buyer under the Seller’s terms and conditions as stated in the Seller’s offer (the “Terms and Conditions”).

If you make a commitment as stated above, you enter into a legally binding contract (a “Contract”) with the counterparty and you are obligated to purchase or supply the marine fuel respectively. If either the Buyer or the Seller breaches or fails to perform the Contract, any and all claims and liabilities will have to be settled in accordance with the terms of the contract or as otherwise agreed between the Buyer and the Seller. AuctionConnect A/S may upon request agree to facilitate settlement discussions with a view to resolving any dispute or claim, but AuctionConnect A/S accepts no liability whatsoever in respect hereof.

Both Buyer and Seller agree that the final settlement of the payment of the marine fuel will be conducted directly, without the involvement of AuctionConnect A/S, since AuctionConnect A/S is simply a facilitator for this purchase.

Sellers submit offers under the Terms and Conditions declared by them prior to the auction process. Any change to the Terms and Conditions after the Buyer’s confirmation is considered invalid.

By using AuctionConnect to obtain offers from invited Sellers, Buyers agree that they shall buy marine fuel exclusively through the AuctionConnect platform and shall not accept offers from these Sellers outside of the platform.

Buyers and Sellers are responsible for all insurance of their own property and liabilities. If a Buyer or Seller has any doubt about what insurance is required, they should consult their own insurers or insurance brokers.

Buyers are responsible for satisfying themselves that the request for marine fuel fits their requirements, both as regards to the specific grade of marine fuel and as regards to the quantity. AuctionConnect A/S does not warrant that the marine fuel is fit for the purpose of the Buyer or that the marine fuel is free from any defect.

Sellers are responsible for the validity, accuracy and completeness of the description of all properties and related terms posted on the platform. AuctionConnect A/S disclaims all liability for the validity, accuracy or completeness of any offers submitted by Sellers and in respect of any proposed Transaction that fails to complete for any reason whatsoever.

5. General Terms

AuctionConnect A/S makes no warranty as to any particular result being achieved or obtained, or being achievable or obtainable, from use of the platform or connection of any prospective Buyer to Seller.

Buyers and Sellers accept that AuctionConnect A/S ’s role is limited to no more than that of a facilitator.

6. Accessing our Platform

Access to our site is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw or amend the service we provide on our platform without notice (see below). We will not be liable for any loss or damage if for any reason our site is unavailable at any time or for any period.

From time to time, we may in our discretion restrict access to users who have registered with us.

If you are provided with a user identification code, password, or any other piece as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you must not disclose it to any third party without our prior written consent. We have the right to disable any user identification code or password, whether chosen by you or allocated by us, at any time, if in our opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of these Terms of Use.

You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our site. You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our site from any devices, using your login credentials, are aware of these Terms of Use, and that they comply with them.

7. Intellectual Property Rights

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights on our platform, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved. You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our platform for your personal reference and you may draw the attention of others within your organization to material posted on our platform.

You must not alter or modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of material on our platform must always be acknowledged.

You must not use any part of the materials on our platform for commercial purposes without obtaining our permission in writing.

8. Suspension and Termination

We will determine, in our discretion, whether there has been a breach by you of these Terms of Use through your use of our platform. When a breach has occurred, we may take such action as we deem appropriate.

Failure to comply with our Terms of Use constitutes a material breach of the terms upon which you are permitted to use our platform, and may result in our taking all or any of the following actions:

  • Immediate, temporary or permanent withdrawal of your right to use our platform.
  • Issue of a written warning to you.
  • Legal proceedings against you for reimbursement of all costs on an indemnity basis (including, but not limited to, reasonable administrative and legal costs) resulting from your breach.
  • Further legal actions against you.

We disclaim liability for any actions taken by us in response to breaches of these Terms of Use. The actions listed above are not limited, and we may take any other action we reasonably deem appropriate.

10. Reliance on Information Posted

Commentary and other materials posted on out platform are not intended to amount to advice on which reliance should be placed. We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any visitor to our platform, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

11. Platform changes

We aim to update and develop our platform and may make changes at any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to our platform or close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our platform may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

12. Our Liability

The material displayed on our site is provided without any guarantees, conditions, or warranties as to its accuracy. To the extent permitted by law, we, other members of our group of companies and third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:

All conditions, warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity.

Any liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user in connection with our platform or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our platform, any websites linked to it and any materials posted on it, including:

  • loss of income or revenue;
  • loss of business;
  • loss of profits or contracts;
  • loss or corruption of data;
  • loss of goodwill;
  • wasted management or office time;

whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract or otherwise, even if foreseeable.

AuctionConnect A/S ‘s liability for any claim whatsoever, however arising and whether caused by negligence or not, whether based in tort or contract shall be limited to the value of AuctionConnect A/S ’s fixed fee for the Transaction in question.

13. Information about you and your visits to our Platform

We process information about you in accordance with our Privacy Policy. By using our site, you consent to such processing, and you warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

14. Transactions Completed through our Platform

Transactions completed through our platform or as a result of visits made by you are governed solely by the Contract agreed between the Buyer and Seller.

15. Uploading Material to our Platform

Whenever you make use of a feature that allows you to upload material to our site, or to contact other users of our site, you must comply with the content standards set out in these Terms of Use. You warrant that any such contribution does comply with those standards, and you indemnify us for any loss or damage we or any third party may suffer as a result of any breach of that warranty. 

Any material you upload to our site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose. We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any material posted or uploaded by you to our site constitutes a violation of their intellectual property rights, or of their right to privacy.

We will not be responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of our site. 

We have the right to remove any material or posting you make on our site if, in our opinion, such material does not comply with the content standards set out in these Terms of Use

16. Viruses, Hacking and other Offences

You must not misuse our site by knowingly or recklessly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorized access to our site, the server on which our site is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to our site. You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. 

We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data, or other proprietary material due to your use of our site or to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any website linked to it.

17. Linking to our Platform

You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval, or endorsement on our part where none exists.

You must not establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.

Our site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our site other than the home page. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice. The website from which you are linking must comply in all respects with the content standards set out in these Terms of Use.

If you wish to make any use of material on our site other than that set out above, please address your request to info@auctionconnect.com

18. Links from our Platform

Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

19. Data use Policy for AuctionConnect

AuctionConnect strongly values the privacy and security of user data and is dedicated to ensuring its safety. This paragraph of the Terms of Use sets out our data use policy in outlining the measures implemented by AuctionConnect to ensure that data is handled, stored, and processed securely. By utilizing AuctionConnect, you are agreeing to comply with the data use policy contained in these Terms of Use.

20. Security Measures

AuctionConnect employs robust security practices to protect user data. The following security measures are implemented:

  1. Two-Factor Authentication (2FA):

    • AC requires users to enable 2FA for accessing their accounts. This additional layer of security ensures that only authorized individuals can log in.

  2. Automated Data Backups:

    • AC performs regular automated backups of critical data. These backups are securely stored and can be restored in casa of data loss or system failure.

  3. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):

    • AC uses RBAC to manage user permissions. Access rights are assigned based on roles (e.g. admin, company, account, observer), limiting unauthorized access to sensitive data.

  4. Regular Security Audits and Compliance Checks:

    • AC conducts periodic security audits to assess vulnerabilities and compliance with industry standards. Any identified issues are promptly addressed.

  5. Early Threat Detection:

    • AC employs advanced threat detection mechanisms to identify and mitigate potential security risks. Anomaly detection, intrusion prevention, and real-time monitoring are part of our strategy.

  6. SSL Encryption:

    • All data transmitted between AC and users is encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocols. This ensures data integrity and confidentiality during communication.

​21. Data Usage and Retention

      i. Purpose of Data Collection

  • AuctionConnect collects user data solely for the purpose of providing services related to bunker fuel auctions. Data is used to facilitate transactions, improve user experience, and comply with legal requirements.
  1. Data Retention
  • AuctionConnect retains user data only as long as necessary for the specified purposes. Retention periods are determined based on legal obligations and business needs.

22. User Rights and Consent

  1. User Consent:

    • By using AC’s services, users consent to the collection, processing, and storage of their data as outlined in these Terms of Use.

  2. User Rights:

    • Users have the right to access and rectify their personal data. Requests can be submitted through AC’s designated channels.

23. Sanctions, Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption

The Buyer and the Seller undertake and warrant that, in connection with this Agreement and each Transaction, they are in all respects in full compliance with the various export controls and economic sanctions regulations, including but not limited to any economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes administered or enforced  by various European Governments and the EU, Switzerland, the US Government as enforced by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, the US Department of State, and the US Department of Commerce, and various UN sanctions as implemented into local laws, or other applicable sanctions authority (“Sanctions Laws”).

Furthermore, The Buyer and the Seller represent and warrant to:

(i) have considered the risks of, and have in place reasonable controls and prevention measures against, tax evasion and the criminal facilitation of tax evasion.

(ii) have complied at all times with, and will comply with, all applicable laws, rules and regulations including, without limitation, sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption, anti-money laundering and tax laws.

(iii) have not offered, promised, paid or otherwise given, directly or indirectly, any financial or other advantage to or for the use or benefit of any public official or any private individual, (a) for the purpose of inducing or rewarding that person’s improper performance of their relevant function, or (b) that would be a breach of any applicable law; and

(iv)  neither of them nor its affiliates, beneficial owner(s) and directors have been prosecuted in any jurisdiction for corruption, economic sanctions, export control or money laundering related offences.

(v) neither of them nor its affiliates, beneficial owner(s) and directors have any link to Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, Cuba, Russia, Crimea or other territories occupied by Russia, Venezuela, or their corresponding governments.

If at any time AuctionConnect A/S becomes aware or have reasonable grounds to believe that the Buyer or Seller is in breach of the warranty as aforesaid, AuctionConnect A/S shall have the option in its complete discretion to immediately cancel the auction. Under such circumstances, the breaching party shall be liable to indemnify the AuctionConnect A/S against any and all claims, including return of any payment, losses, damages, costs and fines whatsoever suffered by AuctionConnect A/S resulting from any breach of warranty as aforesaid.

24. Jurisdiction and Applicable Law

The English courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to our site.

These Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

25. Variations

We may revise these Terms of Use at any time by amending this page. You are expected to and we are entitled to assume that you will visit this page from time to time to take notice of any changes we may have made, such changes being legally binding on you. Some of the provisions contained in these Terms of Use may also be superseded by provisions or notices published elsewhere on our site.

26. Your Concerns

If you have any concerns about material which appears on our site, please contact info@auctionconnect.com