CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that its Maritime Finance business served as sole lead arranger on $26.5 million in senior secured financing on behalf of Queen Esther Shipping Limited. The loan is secured by the Queen Esther, a modern container ship operated by a joint venture led by Lomar Corporation Limited, a longtime CIT client. “We are pleased to arrange this financing for Queen Esther Shipping and extend our long-standing relationship with Lomar Corporation as it continues to build its investments in maritime container shipping to serve growing ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised a leading financial services company regarding a US$25m financing to companies controlled by Union Maritime Limited secured on three dry bulk carriers with a focus on sustainability and, more specifically, the IMO’s aim to reduce international shipping’s carbon footprint through the recent adoption a new operational carbon intensity indicator. The transaction involved drafting of a margin adjustment mechanism based on carbon intensity rating as an incentive for the owners to reduce the carriers’ carbon emissions, which also included disincentives for non-compliance demonstrating our ...

An interesting Singapore case that investigates what relationship there is between contracts of sale and contracts of carriage. In the circumstances, it was impossible for holders of the bills of lading to attribute the traditional characteristics where the sale contract was silent. The facts Cargoes of bunkers were loaded onto bunker barges, including the Luna, at Singapore for on-loading onto oceangoing ships. Bills of lading were issued by the Singapore terminal and subsequently signed by the masters of the barges. After loading the bills were sent to the shippers, who ...

2021 has been a very important year for the Shipping industry with the issue of carbon emissions, radical changes in the supply chain logistics, and with countries and corporations coming together to address larger issues at hand. What is fascinating to a novice to the industry are carriers particularly designed for the carriage of oil cargoes… e.g., Motor Tankers, Oil carriers, crude carriers, FPSO/FSO’s, etc., (will be referred to as Tankers collectively). If you have gasped at the size of the recent Ever Given vessel that halted world traffic at ...

CST has acquired 100% of the shares in Marinvest and its managed fleet consisting of five modern dual-fuel methanol carriers on long term charters of up to 15 years to joint venture partner Waterfront Shipping Limited, a subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest producer of methanol, along with four LR1 ice class 1A product tankers. Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, shipping company Marinvest was founded in 1988 by the late Mr Lars Mossberg, an innovator in the shipping sector who developed and managed one of the world’s first methanol-powered commercial ...

Background This Notice should be read in conjunction with Notice to Members No.7 2021/2022 – Sierra Leone – Carriage of Iron Ore Fines Cargoes – Liquefaction Risk relating to the dangers arising from the carriage of mineral ores from certain jurisdictions which also forms part of this Notice. Mandatory Notification Requirement Whilst it remains the responsibility of the Member to ensure full compliance with the IMSBC Code and to take any measures necessary to ensure the safe carriage of iron ore fines from Pepel, Sierra Leone, Members who plan to ...

We are pleased to announce two new Partner promotions at Ince, which we believe will be of interest to you and your readers: Natalie Jensen in Dubai and Richard Oakley in Hong Kong. Natalie joined Ince in 2016 as a Senior Solicitor and her promotion to Partner in the Dubai office, which will come into effect on 1 October 2021, will bolster the firm’s shipping and marine insurance practice locally and internationally. This appointment reflects the firm’s continued success and growth across the Middle East and its wider international network, ...

Ince Germany Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH is celebrating its 20th anniversary since the opening of its first German office, located in Hamburg. Ince Germany Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH is an independent law firm cooperating with the members of The Ince Group; an international law firm with offices in nine countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Hamburg team advises on both contentious and transactional matters across the firm’s core business areas of aviation, business & finance, commercial disputes, energy & offshore, insurance & reinsurance, international trade and shipping. The team offers the ...

President Joe Biden has issued Executive Order 14036 “Promoting Competition in the American Economy” (“the EO”) which was signed on 9 July 2021. The EO has the goal to promote competition within the U.S. economy to lower prices for families, increase wages for workers, promote innovation and foster economic growth. The EO puts forward 72 initiatives for multiple federal agencies. While it does not establish new requirements, it is a call to action for federal agencies to establish policies in order to address the harmful trends associated with corporate consolidation, ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised DeA Capital Alternative Funds SGR S.p.A. (“DeA Capital”) as creditor in relation to a restructuring agreement with Monteverde di Navigazione S.p.A. (“Monteverde”) and Montegreen S.r.l. (“Montegreen”) pursuant to article 67, paragraph 3, letter (d) of Royal Decree 267 of 16 March 1942. The restructuring plan will allow Monteverde and Montegreen to ensure the ongoing continuity and operation of their Mediterranean-based dry cargo fleets. DeA Capital is Italy’s leading independent alternative asset management platform, with an extensive portfolio of assets under management and offering ...

Diana Wilhelmsen Management Limited (DWM), a Cyprus-based company that operates several commercial vessels, was sentenced today in federal court before U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Norfolk, Virginia, after pleading guilty to violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships that had occurred on the Motor Vessel (M/V) Protefs. DWM pleaded guilty to two felony offenses in two judicial districts – the Eastern District of Virginia and the Eastern District of Louisiana. DWM was sentenced to pay a fine of $2 million placed on probation for a ...

In a recent judgment, Apache UK Investment Limited v Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited¹, the English High Court has provided guidance on decommissioning security obligations of owners and previous owners of oil and gas assets. With the high numbers of mature oil fields in the North Sea, ownership increasingly in the hands of “late life specialists” and many offshore assets reaching the end of their useful life, decommissioning issues are no doubt a sign of things to come. However, for the time being, reported decisions about decommissioning are rare ...

As part of London International Shipping Week, global law firm Reed Smith played host to a panel of shipping industry experts to discuss the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector in a changing world. Dozens of attendees from across the industry tuned in to hear the views of industry experts, Birgitte Barfoed, Attorney-at-Law, Senior Vessel Portfolio Manager, A.P. Moeller – Maersk A/S; Alexander Goulandris, Co-Founder & Co-CEO, essDOCS; and Dr Katrina Kemp, Autonomy Technical Specialist, Maritime Future Technologies. Panel moderators and Reed Smith shipping partners Sally-Ann Underhill and Nick ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Societe Generale on a term loan granted to a Norwegian SPV managed by Clarksons Platou Project Finance AS as borrower to fund the acquisition of two platform supply vessels, the ‘Hermit Fighter’ and ‘Hermit Prosper’, and their conversion to battery hybrid emergency response rescue vessels. Once acquired by the borrower, the vessels will undergo conversion at Ulstein Verft and on delivery will be bareboat chartered to ESVAGT A/S and time chartered to TotalEnergies EP Danmark A/S to be deployed in the Danish North ...

The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) announced on Sept. 15, 2021, that it would move forward with two demurrage-and-detention related initiatives proposed by Commissioner Rebecca F. Dye as part of Fact Finding 29. The first initiative is issuing a “policy statement” concerning FMC private party complaints. Based on the recommendations in Fact Finding 29, the policy statement is expected to address guidance 1) on the scope of the Shipping Act’s anti-retaliation prohibition “for any other reason”, 2) that unsuccessful complainants are not automatically required to pay opposing attorney’s fees, and 3) ...