Global, sector-focused law firm HFW represented the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) in the landmark UK Supreme Court case of Halliburton v Chubb. The Supreme Court’s judgment, which was handed down on 27 November, clarifies the law on arbitrator appointments and apparent bias in situations of ‘multiple appointments with overlap’, confirming that arbitrators are under a legal obligation to disclose circumstances that might give rise to justifiable doubts as to their impartiality. The LMAA was an intervener in the case, in which Halliburton sought indemnity under an insurance policy it ...

The likely replacement of the LIBOR at the end of 2021 creates difficult technical and practical issues for all sectors of business and finance. The concerns intensify as the projected deadline grows closer against a background of some continuing uncertainty and lack of consensus about the details of the approach to take. Some recent developments are worth noting and putting in context for the shipping industry and ship financiers. There are issues both for loans now being documented – and also for all LIBOR-based deals likely to continue beyond 2021. ...

Ince Consulting (Gibraltar), part of The Ince Group, is pleased to announce the expansion of its consultancy services. Regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC), the extended permissions allow the firm to provide professional trustee services and fund administration, and build on the firm’s extensive experience in incorporation, registered office, secretarial services, accounting and compliance services. The firm works closely with Ince’s Gibraltar based legal specialists in maritime, gaming, finance, payments, technology and company law. The expanded service offering follows the successful application to the GFSC, allowing the business ...

Hill Dickinson announces the appointment of Jonathan Goacher as a partner, as it expands its regulatory practice. He will be based in the firm’s Singapore office and will conduct the practice across Asia. Jonathan is a regulation specialist with around 20 years’ experience at global law firms in Asia. He is primarily known for his expertise in the insurance sector. He joins the firm from DWF, which has announced the closure of its Singapore office. Jonathan advises on a broad spectrum of regulatory matters, including data privacy, senior manager regimes, ...

On 11 November 2020, the UK Government published a National Security and Investment Bill (the Bill), which seeks to introduce a mandatory foreign direct investment (FDI) notification regime in the UK for transactions in 17 key sectors to protect national security. With the Bill comes a consultation, open until 6 January 2021, on the definition of those 17 sectors. These sectors include energy and transport, and the level at which the rules are intended to bite is low. Even deals being negotiated now – in advance of the law coming ...

Australia has a reputation for rigorous inspection and enforcement action in relation to its Port State Control (PSC) activities. In recent years, this reputation has been most clearly illustrated by an ongoing focus on enforcing compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) and the imposition of hard-hitting trading bans for ships on which crew are underpaid. Since 2014, 16 ships have been banned from Australian ports by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). This year alone, four ships have been banned from trading to Australia for breaches of the ...

Bermuda’s Economic Substance Act 2018 and Economic Substance Regulations 2018 (and subsequent amendments) set out the requirements that Bermuda-based entities must adopt with regard to economic substance in the jurisdiction. Bermuda, along with all of the major offshore jurisdictions, passed this legislation in order to remain on the European Union’s ‘white list’ of cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes. This article provides a general overview of economic substance as it applies to shipping entities in Bermuda. Which shipping entities are in scope? Entities within the scope of the legislation (‘registered entities’) ...

“There has been substantial industry lobbying of the EU Commission for an extension to the deadline for compliance to allow for the unprecedented delays caused by Covid-19.” On 30 June 2020, we published an article discussing the additional difficulties the Covid-19 pandemic presented for shipowners in meeting the 31 December 2020 deadline for IHM compliance under the EU Ship Recycling Regulation (“EUSRR”). We referred to anecdotal evidence suggesting there are approximately 35,000 vessels that will be required to comply with the EUSRR by 31 December 2020, a third of which ...

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has extended its partnership with international maritime charity The Mission to Seafarers (MtS) until 2022. MtS provides essential welfare support to the world’s 1.5 million seafarers, from helping them keep in contact with friends and families during long voyages to practical and emotional assistance in the event of a serious incident. It has been the charity partner of HFW’s global shipping group since 2017, with the firm providing a wide range of pro bono legal and practical support. This has included helping MtS develop new ...

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has boosted its market-leading shipping practice with the hire of senior partner Paolo Ghirardani. Paolo joins HFW’s London office on 2 November from Stephenson Harwood, where he had been a partner for almost 30 years, including 15 years as the head of its global Marine and International Trade practice. Paolo spent the first seven years of his career at HFW, having joined as a trainee in 1983. Andrew Chamberlain, Head of Admiralty and Crisis Management, HFW: “I am very pleased to welcome Paolo back to ...

International legal and professional services firm Ince has announced the lateral hire of Eric Eyo as Partner to its world leading shipping team. During his legal career Mr Eyo has been involved in a number of significant shipping disputes. He has particular expertise in handling disputes in relation to the full spectrum of shipping contracts including charterparties, contracts of affreightment, bills of lading, letters of indemnity, bank guarantees, MOAs, shipbuilding agreements and general agency agreements. Having joined from Campbell Johnston Clark where he has practiced since 2013 Mr Eyo’s previous ...

With the maritime industry continually improving anti-narcotics operations around the world, traffickers are finding increasingly novel and ingenious ways of smuggling drugs. Ian Short and Sam Jones explore the indirect legal and commercial consequences to shipowners and charterers arising out of delays and losses caused. A ship’s sea chest in an underwater shell and fitted with a portable strainer plate provides a water intake reservoir from which the vessel’s piping system can draw water. However, in recent cases, space has also been found for other uses: by cutting through the ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised the Tradebe Group (“Tradebe”) on the acquisition of Tanklager Wilhelmsburg GmbH (“TWG”) from BDH Biodiesel Hamburg GmbH, a subsidiary of the Dr Oetker Group. ING Corporate Finance (“ING”) acted as financial adviser to Tradebe. TWG currently consists of 22 tanks with a total storage capacity of circa 74,000 cubic metres located in the port of Hamburg. It offers services for the storage and handling of mineral oils and biogenic liquids among other products and, given its location, is well connected, with transport routes ...

International law firm Wikborg Rein has appointed Ina Lutchmiah (Partner) as the new Managing Director of its Singapore office. The appointment further cements Wikborg Rein’s leading presence in the shipping and offshore sectors. Lutchmiah already heads up Wikborg Rein’s transactional practice in the Asia Pacific region which encompasses both shipping and offshore energy projects (including renewables). In the Legal 500 United Kingdom 2020 rankings, Ina was recommended for oil and gas projects and ranked as a “Rising Star”. A fluent Greek speaker, Lutchmiah works for a large number of international ...

Incisive Law LLC, the Singapore member of The Ince Group, has today announced two new hires bolstering its regional admiral capabilities. Extra Master Mariner Binoy Dubey joins the firm as Admiralty Manager. Binoy has extensive seagoing and onshore maritime and legal claims handling experience and is a recognised expert in ice navigation. Binoy has broad experience in handling all types of marine casualty including collisions, groundings, pollution, salvage, fires, cargo damage, unsafe port and ice damage. He regularly advises clients on both wet and dry shipping matters and he joins ...