Shipping & Ship Finance

Our Shipping Team has a long and positive reputation for dealing with all aspects of both contentious and non-contentious shipping-related work. We advise across a wide range of coverage disputes and in subrogated recovery actions. Our key areas of expertise include builders’ risks, cargo, charterers’ liability, on and offshore construction, hull & machinery, loss of hire, mortgagees’ interest, political risks, P&I, war risks and yachts. Our extensive experience in ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ shipping law and wide contacts in the shipping industry enables us to call on suitable technical experts within a broad network of international maritime law firms.

Areas of contentious expertise include:

• Bill of Lading and Charterparty Disputes
• Unsafe Port and Berth Disputes
• Collisions and Groundings
• Marine Insurance and Re-insurance Policies and Disputes (including P&I)
• Salvage, Towage, Wreck Removal and General Average
• Ship Building and Ship Repair
• Personal Injury (Crew and Passenger) and Industrial Disease
• Ship Arrest and Release
• Environment and Pollution Claim for Damage received by any ship or sea-going vessel
• Claim for Necessaries supplied to any ship
• Claim for the Building, Equipping or Repairing of any ship
• Claim for the Possession or Ownership of a ship
• Admiralty (including Arrest and Limitation Proceedings)
• Hire and Off-hire Claims

Areas of non-contentious expertise include:

• Ship Building Contracts
• Ship Management Agreements
• Issues arising from Corporate Structures and Share holdings
• Joint Ventures, Agency and Distribution Agreements
• Port Infrastructure, Re-organisation and Funding
• Regulatory Issues
• Ship Purchase or Sale
• Advice on Vessels’ Insurances
• Charterparties

Our shipping team also has a dedicated ship finance group which deals with transactional work including but not limited to syndicated debt financing transactions as well as ship sale and purchase work.

Areas of expertise include:

• Debt and Equity Financing
• Pre and Post-delivery Financing of New Buildings including Assignment of Ship Building Contracts and
• Refund Guarantees
• Joint Venture Agreements
• Financing of Second-hand Vessels and Sale and Purchase work
• Refinancing
• Formation, Acquisition and Investment in shipping companies worldwide
• Commercial, Technical or Management and Agency Agreements