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Our shipping and trade practice comprises an experienced global team with an established track record and reputation. We operate throughout Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East.
We provide a comprehensive range of wet and dry shipping and trade and commodity services for clients across the maritime sector. This includes arbitration, General Average, ship arrest, cargo claims, fine art and specie, jurisdictional disputes, maritime casualties, charterparty disputes, commodity disputes, marine insurance, misappropriation, sale of goods, shipbuilding, third party liability claims for personal injury and property damage, and yacht claims. We also act on ship finance, corporate and transactional work involving the sale and purchase of ships, barges and yachts, and insurance and commercial contract drafting.
Our clients include marine cargo, hull, liability and war risks insurers, P&I Clubs, FD& D insurers/Defence Clubs, shipowners and operators, NVOCCs, time, voyage and slot charterers, shippers and receivers, salvage contractors, financiers, banks and mortgagees, commodity traders, freight forwarders, logistics providers, marine professional services providers, ports and terminals, stevedores, shipyards and warehouse operators.
We advise and represent parties in domestic and international litigation, arbitration, and mediation, across the world before courts and tribunals including LMAA, LOF, LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL, SIAC, HKIAC, DIAC, DIFC, SMA, AAA and JAMS as well as trade bodies including FOSFA and GAFTA.
Our shipping team has capability in the following areas:
- Disputes under common dry bulk and tanker charterparty forms, bills of lading and other contracts for the carriage of goods by sea, road, air and multimodal transport (including CMR, RHA, BIFA), guarantees, incidental offshore, subsea, marine and war insurance, cyber risk, contracts for the sale of goods, commodity contracts, futures and derivatives, and contracts for the construction, sale and purchase of ships.
- Admiralty matters, ship arrest, maritime attachment under US law, limitation of liability, allisions and collisions, groundings, liquefaction incidents, machinery damage, unsafe ports, LOF and common law salvage, General Average, wreck removal and UNCLOS.
- Piracy, including first response to an incident, policy coverage, chartering issues, and international issues of legality, compliance (regulatory aspects and liaison with OFAC and NCA) and general average. We also advise on the legality and regulatory aspects of deployment of armed guards on merchant vessels.
- Personal injury claims including catastrophic injuries and directing and monitoring the handling of claims by overseas lawyers in those jurisdictions where our lawyers are not yet admitted to practice.
- Advice in connection with health and safety investigations, inquiries and the defense of prosecutions by marine agencies.
- Cases involving FPSOs and FSUs, tankers, chemical tankers, bulk carriers, containerships and feeder vessels, cruise ships, heavy lift vessels, offshore support/supply vessels, tugs, small and specialist craft, fishing vessels, superyachts, megayachts and pleasure craft.
- Marine Insurance and reinsurance (across all fields within that sphere) coverage issues, policy advice and drafting for global Marine insurers including Lloyds, Company and international insurers and coverholders.
- Assisting global Traders/logistics providers with advice on trading matters, drafting of terms & conditions of business, general corporate support and jurisdictional matters including issues such as Sanctions
