Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised TUI Cruises GmbH (“TUIC”) on the financing and implementation of its acquisition of Hapag-Lloyd Cruises (“HL Cruises”) from TUI AG for US$1.3bn, excluding net debt. The transaction was approved, subject to conditions, earlier in the year and involved the financial and commercial arrangements relating to the acquisition by TUIC of the HL Cruises’ business, including its luxury and expedition fleet, consisting of two five-star plus category luxury vessels and three expedition cruise ships. TUIC was established in April 2008 as a joint venture ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Cassa Depositi e Prestiti S.p.A. (“CDP”) on a €10m financing to Sanlorenzo S.p.A. (“Sanlorenzo”), a company listed on the STAR segment of the Electronic Equity Market. The funding, provided by the European Investment Bank, will be used for new investments in research, development and innovation planned by Sanlorenzo for 2020-2022. Sanlorenzo is a world leader in the design, production and marketing of high-end yachts and superyachts. CDP is a prominent Italian financial institution, founded in 1850 in Turin to promote economic development through long-term ...

The EU Ship Recycling Regulation (the “EU Regulation”) was adopted in 2013 and is in essence an early implementation in the EU of the Hong Kong Convention for the safe and environmentally sound recycling of ships (adopted in 2009); both of which aim to reduce the negative impacts on human health and the environment arising from the recycling of end of life ships. Under the EU Regulation, from 31 December 2020 all EU flagged and non-EU flagged vessels that call at a port or anchorage in an EU member state ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has assisted the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (“LISCR”) in developing revisions to the Liberian Business Corporation Act (“BCA”) and the Limited Liability Company Act (“LLC Act”). The legislation was revised in an effort to continue to make those laws more liberal, customer-friendly and reflective of the corporate laws and standards of the State of Delaware and other US states. The revisions include, among other matters: Adoption of non-statutory law of Delaware and other U.S. states with substantially similar legislative provisions to interpret the ...

America’s sanctions on Venezuela are nothing new. For more than a decade now, the US has imposed sanctions in response to activities of the Venezuelan government and Venezuelan individuals. But the situation has escalated this month with the Trump Administration significantly expanding sanctions in response to what it terms the “authoritarian leadership” of disputed president Nicolás Maduro. As of June 1, 2020, the US Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on at least 144 Venezuelan or Venezuelan-connected individuals, and the US State Department had revoked the visas of hundreds of individuals ...

Maritime Law specialist Hill Dickinson’s position at the centre of the Hong Kong shipping services sector has been further emphasised by the reaffirmation of its place on an important maritime board. Edward Liu, Hill Dickinson counsel in Hong Kong, has been reappointed by the Secretary for Transport and Housing as a co-opted member of the Hong Kong Maritime and Port Board (HKMPB), the advisory body of the Transport and Housing Bureau of the HKSAR Government, and will serve for a two year period. HKMPB provides a high-level platform for the ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised long-standing client Globus Maritime Limited (“Globus”) in connection with a public offering, raising approximately US$12m. In the offering, which priced on June 18, 2020, units consisting of one common share (or pre-funded warrant) and Class A warrants were sold in an underwritten public offering registered with the SEC on Form F-1 for gross proceeds of approximately US$12m, not including any exercise of the underwriter’s overallotment option, which was also partially exercised. Each Class A warrant is immediately exercisable for one common share at ...

This article, written by Ian Teare and Matthew Dow of Law Firm, Wikborg Rein, discusses the judgment handed down in the Admiralty Court on the case of the Stema Barge II, and looks in detail at the scope and meaning on the Limitation Convention 1976. In determining the meaning of ‘Operator’, it was necessary for the Court to also examine the meaning of ‘Manager’. This is the first time that the English Court has been called upon to consider this issue which it did in some detail. The Background In ...

The U.S. Government has been working hard to close a weakness in its global sanctions web by focusing on illicit shipping practices and sanctions evasion. As the bad actors misusing the shipping industry have been increasingly identified and sanctioned by the U.S. Government, it would be wise for both governmental and private sector participants in the industry to take note and adapt to this new reality sooner rather than later. Recently, the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued a new advisory ...

Norwegian shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Ocean AS pleaded guilty to charges of criminal cartel conduct in Australia’s Federal Court on Thursday, following an investigation by the country’s competition regulator. The charges relate to the transportation of vehicles, including cars, trucks and buses, to Australia between June 2011 and July 2012, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement. Wallenius Wilhelmsen was charged with cartel conduct in August last year and is the third international shipping company to plead guilty after two Japanese firms were prosecuted for similar ...

Winson Oil Trading Pte Ltd has started legal proceedings against Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Ltd to claim at least $30.4 million in payment for a diesel cargo it sold to Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd, court documents showed. The case is among several disputes between counterparties of Hin Leong and banks on payment issues arising from oil deals with the Singapore-based trader, which has been placed under judicial management to restructure billions of dollars of debt. The publicly available court documents show that Winson Oil sold an ultra-low sulphur diesel ...

We look at the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across commodity markets globally and how this is impacting financing arrangements including ‘MAC’ clauses, financial covenants, ‘corona clauses’, events of default and force majeure as well as recent guidance from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) on electronic trade documentation and flexibilities under the ICC rules. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on international trade. The World Trade Organization has estimated world trade will fall by up to 32% in 2020 as the pandemic disrupts the economy. ...

On May 18, 2020, the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) published its Final Interpretive Rule on Demurrage and Detention Under the Shipping Act (“Demurrage/Detention Rule”), 85 Fed. Reg. 29638, 29638 (May 18, 2020). This final rule, nearly six years in the making (as detailed in the Background section of the Final Rule), was the culmination of “years of complaints from U.S. importers, exporters, transportation intermediaries, and drayage truckers that ocean carrier and marine terminal operator demurrage and detention practices unfairly penalized shippers, intermediaries, and truckers for circumstances outside their control.” Id. ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised long-standing client Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (“Royal Caribbean”) on matters of Liberian law in connection with concurrent private offerings of notes worth an aggregate principal amount of US$2.15bn, consisting of US$1bn of 9.125% Senior Guaranteed Notes due 2023 (the “Senior Notes”) and US$1.15bn of 4.250% of Convertible Senior Notes due 2023 (the “Convertible Notes”). The Senior Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean that owns certain vessel-owning subsidiaries. The Convertible Notes ...

The consolidation of Ince & Co Singapore LLP with Incisive Law LLC on 1 June 2020, together with a number of senior lateral hires signals a bright future. Incisive Law LLC and The Ince Group are pleased to announce that as a result of this consolidation, the internationally recognised law and business solution provider is now able to offer expert legal advice and assistance on English as well as Singapore law matters with the ability to call and capitalise on the 150 years of global expertise and know-how which Ince ...