Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is pleased to announce that commodities disputes specialist Sumeet Malhotra has joined the firm as a Partner in Singapore. He was previously a Partner at Hill Dickinson in the same city. Sumeet has nearly 20 years’ experience as a lawyer, with particular expertise in advising industrial and agricultural commodity traders on trade disputes, structured trade finance, trade credit insurance and shipping/charterparty matters. Sumeet’s initial experience as a barrister in Mumbai arguing international trade and shipping matters was followed by over 13 years in-house at leading ...

Squire Patton Boggs continues the expansion of its commodities and shipping capabilities with the appointment of partner Robert Parson into its Financial Services Practice in London. He joins the firm from Clyde & Co, where he was head of the Trade and Commodity Finance team, along with senior associates Geraldine Butac and Jennifer Greengrass who specialise in trade and ship finance. Mr. Parson has more than 30 years’ experience in commodities and trade finance law, with a practice focused on structuring deals and complex cross-border financing arrangements for banks, traders, ...

The Maltese Shipping Registry, has qualified into the 14th place in the prestigious Paris Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control ( Paris MoU ), whilst also retaining its place as Europe’s top registry and the sixth best registry in the world. The Paris MoU was initiated in 1982, when fourteen European countries agreed to coordinate their port state inspections effort under a voluntary agreement. Currently 27 countries are members of the Paris MoU and the EU Commission, although not a signatory to the Paris MoU, is also a member ...

Demurrage and detention are charged to cargo owners when the containers they use are not removed from terminals or returned to container lessors within the agreed time frame. With logistics slow-downs, cargo owners can be faced with exorbitant demurrage and detention charges, which may be beyond their control as delays in shipping occur while the containers are in the hands of ocean or motor carriers or marine terminals. On the heels of President Biden’s order, the FMC announced that it would be opening audit programs observing the demurrage and detention ...

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW advised Chinese shipbuilder Shanghai Shipyard on a UK Court of Appeal win relating to a US$170 million payment under a shipbuilding contract. The Court of Appeal overturned an April 2020 decision from the UK High Court that allowed the buyer of an offshore drillship – Reignwood International – to withhold a final payment instalment that was due on delivery of the vessel, pending the outcome of arbitration proceedings. The Court of Appeal unanimously overturned a first instance decision in a preliminary issues trial concerning the ...

As the drive to decarbonise shipping gains increasing momentum, and as incentives and pressure on shipowners to operate more efficient and greener ships mounts, a related spike in early retirement of ships difficult to decarbonise and which are losing favour in the market, may result. Consequently, decarbonisation of shipping may drive a boom in ship disposal. But would this support or detract from the overarching goal of reducing damaging impact to the environment and climate? In this article we consider the past and ongoing environmental issues surrounding ship disposal, provide ...

In a recent judgment of the English Commercial Court, The M/V Smart¹, which will be welcomed by owners, Mr Justice Butcher held that a shipowner could demand direct payment of freight under a bill of lading even though the bill of lading stated that the freight was payable “as per charterparty” and the vessel’s time charterer was not in default. This point was previously undecided, but non-binding comments by the Court of Appeal in The Bulk Chile² suggested the opposite answer. Background The dry bulk carrier M/V Smart was time ...

A court in Lagos sentenced 10 men to 12 years in prison on Friday for kidnapping the crew of a Chinese-flagged merchant vessel last year, the navy said, a verdict that officials hope will help tackle piracy in the waters off Nigeria’s coast. Federal high court Justice Ayokunle Faji, who also fined each man 250,000 naira ($608) for each of the three counts for which they were charged, said their actions in kidnapping 18 crew from the FV HAILUFENG II in May 2020, were “an embarrassment to the nation that ...

Turkey’s geographical location alone makes for a strong maritime industry, no matter what. The shipyards, famous due to their professional and pioneer work caters to administrative and private customers worldwide. Also, since Turkey links Europe and Asia, suppliers of all sectors consider this place a clever option to conduct their trade. The measures taken, especially since the Maritime Health Declaration issued last year, have been effective in the control of the spread of the corona virus and minimize its damage. A particular one being the exemption to truck drivers and ...

As shipping pivots towards greener operations, and opportunities to increase ship efficiency decrease (as they inevitably must), a major issue the industry must get to grips with is fuel transition. Shipping is heavily reliant on fossil fuels, and the huge majority of ships globally are powered today by hydrocarbon based fuel oils, albeit with some variation in grade and specification. Burning this fuel releases large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which significantly contributes to its insulative properties and to global warming and climate change. Fuel oils have found ...

While the bill of lading is ostensibly widely understood, its role as evidence of the contract of carriage holds some hidden surprises to watch out for. Ian Short, Director, Campbell Johnston Clark, explains. The basic functions of a bill of lading (B/L) are widely understood as offering: acknowledgement that the goods have been loaded on board the vessel (the receipt); confirmation that a lawful B/L holder has title to the goods; evidence of the terms of the contract of carriage. Whilst that may sound simple enough, recent guidance has emphasised ...

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has launched a global sustainability challenge using specialist software that allows colleagues across the business to record climate positive lifestyle changes and measure the impact to their individual carbon footprint. The software platform allows colleagues to choose from a range of sustainability ‘challenges’ – from simple actions, such as air-drying clothes or turning off taps while cleaning dishes, to larger changes like choosing a vegetarian diet or cutting out single-use plastics – which each have a corresponding carbon value. Colleagues can choose as many challenges ...

There has been an increasing trend for private equity investments in the shipping sector to take the form of preferred stock in either publicly listed or private companies, rather than through a more traditional method of establishing a joint venture with an established shipowner. Broadly speaking, preferred stock is stock that has whatever features are determined by the company, although typically the stock offers its holders priority dividend and liquidation rights over common equity holders – often with additional features built-in by the parties. The issuance of preferred stock by ...

With over 194 states (representing 97% of global greenhouse gas emissions) having ratified or acceded to the Paris Agreement and an ever increasing number of countries and entities making net zero their 2050 target, anyone not preparing for significant changes in carbon emissions regulation risks missing the boat. Net-zero means achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out. The term is intrinsically linked to the idea of carbon offsets (or carbon credits) which certificate the way projects or activities reduce, avoid, or destroy ...

As a result of the contagious ocean carrier saga, recently the subject of a Presidential Executive Order dealing with anti-competitive developments in ocean shipping, the contagion has now fixated on rail ramps where intermodal deliveries of ocean freight moves has come to a virtual standstill. At least that is the case at Lot W. A supposed well-intentioned rail company on May 26, 2021, issued a public notice intended to assuage container unloading train delays at Logistics Park Chicago (“LPC”) caused by strong volumes, longer dwell times, and chassis shortages. (Emphasis ...