Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Snam Group (“Snam”) on the drafting of commercial contracts relating to the floating regasification and storage unit (“FSRU”) “BW Singapore” with BW Fleet Management AS (“BW”). The vessel will be based out of the port of Ravenna, Italy, in the northern Adriatic Sea giving it easy access to potential new LNG flows from North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. The agreements include a contract for the design and construction of works necessary for the mooring of the FSRU and its connection to the gas ...

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised ABN AMRO, as documentation agent and sustainability coordinator for a syndicate of lenders, on a $200m sustainability and gender diversity linked loan to Navigator Gas L.L.C. (Navigator) for the re-financing of ten LNG carriers. The deal, which completed on 28 March, incorporates KPIs linked to both the environmental performance of Navigator’s fleet and – in what is a new development for the shipping industry – the number of women holding leadership roles at Navigator. The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by ...

Governments around the world are advancing carbon reduction goals to help mitigate against concerns arising from climate change. As industries strive to meet the goals set by governments, they will continue to seek alternative sources of power besides traditional fossil fuels. Offshore wind power generation is a promising source of renewable energy and will support global goals in carbon emission reduction. It is worth noting that the proliferation of the industry is giving rise to a myriad of legal issues as marine contracting adapts to the unique characteristics of the ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has been assisting Anglo American with its sustainable maritime transportation strategy, the first phase of which has culminated in January 2023 with the loading of first cargo for m.v. ‘UBUNTU HARMONY’. The vessel is the first in a series of ten 190,000 deadweight LNG dual-fuelled bulk carriers constructed, or under construction, at Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., destined for use by Anglo American. Anglo American, a leading global mining company is targeting carbon-neutrality for its controlled ocean freight, and to halve its Scope 3 emissions, ...

Tonnage tax has now been in place in the UK since 2000 and has benefitted greatly from a generally consistent, stable approach from government with few legislative changes. The current government has often expressed its support for the concept of tonnage tax, especially following Brexit, and has appreciated the benefits the system brings to the UK’s shipping cluster. The announcements in the recent budget were as welcome for repeating that message of support as for the positive changes made. The three new measures are: 1. to allow a new “election ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Navigator Holdings (“Navigator”) on a US$200m loan agreed with a syndicate of lenders, led by ABN AMRO Bank and Nordea and including SEB and BNPP, for the financing of ten vessels. Highlighting the ever-increasing importance of the sector’s focus on achieving its ESG goals, the loan agreement notably included a sustainability-linked margin adjustment with not only a KPI linked to fleet environmental criteria, but a second KPI linked to the number of women in leadership roles at Navigator, one of the first KPIs ...

In February 2021, Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) published The Sustainability Imperative report on the impact of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) considerations on the shipping industry. Two years on, our new report explores how attitudes have evolved, who is shaping today’s ESG agenda and how sustainability squares with new geopolitical challenges such as the war in Ukraine. It then seeks to chart a path forward, looking at the new technologies available, how they will be funded nd potential new regulation in areas like carbon trading. Built around a global ...

A new era in Greek national maritime legislation is set to begin with the enactment of a new Code of Private Maritime Law (the “New Code”). The New Code, which comes into force on 1 May 2023, replaces the existing code which dates back to 1958. “The new aims at enhancing the legal certainty and transparency for transactions regarding the operation and legal status of ships and regulating modern forms of maritime activity that were previously overlooked.” THE NEW CODE’S OBJECTIVES The New Code’s provisions aim at: restoring coherence to ...

In the Pan Ocean Co Ltd v. Daelim Corporation (DL Lilac) [2023] EWHC 391 (Comm) charterparty dispute, the arbitral tribunal found that the charterer was in breach of an implied obligation to have the holds re-inspected without delay after a failed inspection and they were not, therefore, entitled to claim the vessel was off-hire for any of the 12 days between the Master calling for reinspection and when the reinspection eventually took place. On appeal, the Court found that the tribunal should not have found that the vessel was immediately ...

After the June 2022 enactment of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA), the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in October 2022, relating to demurrage and detention billing requirements. The FMC proposed several actions in the NPRM, including adopting a list of minimum information that common carriers must include in demurrage or detention invoices, as mandated in OSRA and codified at 46 U.S.C. 41104(d)(2), and additional information to be included in or with a demurrage or detention invoice; further defining prohibited practices by clarifying which ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised long-standing client Höegh LNG Ltd (“Höegh LNG”) on the refinancing of the Höegh Esperanza and Höegh Gannet floating storage and regasification units (“FSRUs”) that will service Germany’s new floating liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) terminals in the North Sea ports of Wilhelmshaven, Lower Saxony, and Brunsbüttel, Schleswig-Holstein. The FSRUs are two of five vessels contracted by the German government to help achieve its goal of energy independence from Russia. WFW London and Germany advised Höegh LNG on a new ten-year US$685m loan to refinance the ...

Global, sector-focused law firm HFW has continued to support the development of a new Geneva Declaration designed to define and defend the human rights of the global maritime population and those crossing the world’s oceans and seas. HFW previously carried out a joint review of the Declaration on behalf of UK-based NGO Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), which produced the proposed international convention in 2022 following three years of research and drafting by a team of experts in public, international, humanitarian and refugee law. The firm has now translated the ...

As a result of the recent pandemic, maintaining the chain of supply has proven to be difficult for businesses across a wide range of industries. At the peak COVID-19 lockdowns, demand for many products decreased, but as the world returns to normal and demand continues to increase dramatically, the shipping industry finds itself struggling to keep up. Cost per container has increased rapidly from around 1,500 USD in 2019 to 7,600 USD in July of 2022 and peaking at over 10,000 USD in September of 2021, impacting the market for ...

Squire Patton Boggs is pleased to announce that Michael Wray has joined the firm as Of Counsel in the Litigation Practice Group resident in the Houston office and part of the firm’s global Commodities and Shipping Industry Group. Mr. Wray joins from the Houston office of English law firm HFW. Mr. Wray is an experienced maritime litigator, with extensive experience handling shipping litigation and arbitration cases in multiple jurisdictions, as well as energy disputes, commercial litigation, marine environmental matters and maritime insurance coverage matters. He is also experienced in advising ...

Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised BPER Banca S.p.A. (“BPER”) on a US$6.5m loan granted to Bulk Malta Limited (“Bulk Malta”), a Rimorchiatori Riuniti Group company controlled by Crystal Maritime Holding S.r.l.. The main purpose of the loan is to refinance the existing financial debt relating on Bulk Malta’s Hampton Bridge Panamax bulk carrier vessel built in Korea in 2013. BPER Banca, formerly known as Banca Popolare dell’Emilia Romagna S.C., is a commercial and co-operative bank and the parent of BPER Group, one of Italy’s leading banking group. It ...