Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) acted as special maritime counsel to SEACOR Holdings Inc. (“SEACOR”), through its subsidiary Seabulk Tankers, on the formation of a joint venture with Crowley. The joint venture will integrate SEACOR and Crowley’ liquid energy and chemical transportation vessels, operations and related services into a new, independent U.S. Jones Act service provider, Fairwater Holdings LLC (“Fairwater”). Fairwater will provide transportation solutions across the petroleum and chemical trades, as well as related third-party ship management services. It will include 20 ocean-going, articulated tug-barges and 11 tankers, many ...

A panel of industry experts delved into the pressing issues facing the global supply chain as part of Reed Smith’s London International Shipping Week (LISW) event. The speakers engaged in a discussion that focused on the biggest challenges facing the sector, including geopolitical uncertainty, the complexities of sanctions, and the adoption of decarbonisation. A packed audience from across the shipping industry joined to hear the views of Aimee Nolan, Cargo Line Underwriter at Hiscox London Market, Mark Jackson, Chief Executive Officer at The Baltic Exchange, Faye Thompson, Legal Counsel at ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Global Ports Holding Plc (“Global Ports Holding”) on its successful bid in a Europe-wide competition for the contract to manage bremenports GmbH & Co (“bremenports”), the operating company for the Bremerhaven cruise terminal in Bremen, Germany. WFW advised Global Ports Holding throughout the process on procurement, regulatory and contract law as well as on setting up a German operating company. The concession of current operator, Columbus Cruise Center Bremerhaven, expires end 2024. Istanbul-based Global Ports Holding is the world’s largest independent cruise port operator ...

The lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing geopolitical conflict, a challenging economic climate, and ever-growing environmental concerns have made 2023 a challenging year in the shipping industry. The legal landscape, much like the political one, has also seen many important changes since the end of 2022 including a commercial settlement in 2023, which permitted the Court of Appeal the last word in The Eternal Bliss litigation holding that demurrage liquidates the whole of the damages arising from a charterer’s failure to complete cargo operations within the laytime allowed. These ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Banca Popolare di Sondrio (“BPS”) on a US$ 10m ship finance loan granted to Malta’s Pimlico Shipping Limited (“Pimlico Shipping”), which is owned by Italian shipping company Fratelli Cosulich S.p.A. (“Fratelli Cosulich”). Notably, the loan cancels all the outstanding debt owed to BPR by Fratelli Cosulich’s subsidiary Vulcania S.r.l. had relating to the purchase of the Maltese-flagged bulk carrier Saturnia from Ocean Trader V LLC. The Saturnia is now registered to Pimlico Shipping and destined for time charter to Lauritzen Bulkers. It is ...

A Greek shipping company has admitted smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, US court documents unsealed on Thursday showed. The case against Empire Navigation, which faces three years of probation under the plea agreement, marks the first public acknowledgement by US prosecutors that the US seized some one million barrels of oil from the tanker Suez Rajan. The saga surrounding the ship escalated tensions between the US and Iran even as they work towards a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian ...

A Greek shipping company has admitted smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, US court documents unsealed on Thursday showed. The case against Empire Navigation, which faces three years of probation under the plea agreement, marks the first public acknowledgement by US prosecutors that the US seized some one million barrels of oil from the tanker Suez Rajan. The saga surrounding the ship escalated tensions between the US and Iran even as they work towards a trade of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian ...

London handled more than 85% of the world’s maritime arbitration in 2022 according to the findings of a comprehensive new report published today by global law firm HFW, cementing the capital’s position as the overwhelming forum of choice for international shipping arbitrations. The report – The Maritime Arbitration Universe in Numbers – analyses the latest figures from leading maritime arbitration associations and institutions, including those not yet publicly available. London was revealed to have maintained its position as the global centre for international maritime and transportation arbitration cases in 2022, ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Hamburg Commercial Bank (“HCOB”) on a US$50m loan facility provided to an intermediate holding company of MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC”). The loan facility was used to finance part of the purchase price of the 2,200 TEU Queen Esther (2016) and the four 1,750 TEU London Trader, Trieste Trader, Madrid Trader and B Trader (all 2019) from the UK’s Lomar Shipping. HCOB is a private commercial bank headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, with a strong market position in international shipping. Besides shipping, HCOB offers high ...

With the accessions of Bangladesh and Liberia as contract parties, the Hong Kong Convention (“HKC”) will enter into force in 2025. The HKC applies to ships flying the flag of a contract party and ship recycling facilities (“SRFs”) under the jurisdiction of a contract party. Bangladesh, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Japan, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Portugal and Turkey are among the contract parties to the HKC. The EU had already taken on a pioneering role with the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (“SR Regulation”) in 2013. Among ...

Following the enactment of the Omnibus Law (Law No. 11 of 2020 on Job Creation) on November 2, 2020, the Government of Indonesia issued various implementing government regulations to regulate a wide array of sectors, including the shipping sector. On February 2, 2021, the Government of Indonesia issued Government Regulation No. 31 of 2021 dated February 2, 2021, regarding the Implementation of the Shipping Sector (“GR 31/2021”), which introduced a significant change relating to the registration of vessel ownership in Indonesia. While there are a number of updates relevant to ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is pleased to announce that highly respected dispute resolution and international arbitration expert Guy Hardaker has joined the firm as a Consultant in Singapore. He was previously a long-standing partner at HFW in Hong Kong prior to relocating to Singapore. With more than 40 years’ experience practising in London, Singapore and most recently Hong Kong, Guy’s practice focusses on the commodities and trade finance, shipping, energy, telecoms and pharmaceuticals/animal health sectors. He is the latest notable addition to WFW’s Asia-Pacific dispute resolution offering, with Partner ...

A significant new judgment issued by the Hong Kong SAR Court of Final Appeal (CFA) is likely to add new impetus to tactical considerations for parties where a collision results in wreck removal. The question before the court in Perusahaan Perseroan (Persero) Pt Pertamina v Trevaskis Ltd and Others [2023] HKCFA 20 (STAR CENTURION c/w ANTEA 13 January 2019) was whether the owner of a vessel involved in a collision can limit liability for claims in respect of the other ship’s wreck removal costs under the Convention on Limitation of ...

The Havila case This case involved the sale and leaseback of four newbuilding vessels (the Vessels). HKO, a subsidiary of Havila Group based in Norway, entered into four shipbuilding contracts with a Turkish shipyard. Upon delivery, the Vessels would be sold by HKO respectively to four subsidiaries of Russian leasing company GTLK (the Lessors), and the Lessors would charter the Vessels on finance lease terms respectively to four subsidiaries of Havila group (the Lessees) pursuant to four bareboat charters (the BBCs). As pre-delivery security, HKO assigned its rights under the ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has settled with CMA CGM, the world’s third largest shipping container company, over claims of violations of EPA’s Vessel General Permit issued under the Clean Water Act. Under the terms of the settlements, CMA CGM will pay $165,000 in penalties for claims of violations by four of the company’s ships involving ballast water discharge, recordkeeping, inspection, monitoring, and reporting. “The Vessel General Permit is a key element of the Clean Water Act. When companies and their ships don’t comply with this permit, the quality ...