Watson Farley & Williams advised Taylor Maritime Group Limited (“TMG”) and Temeraire Holding (MI) Limited (“Temeraire”) on the c. US$13.5m sale of Taylor Maritime Management Limited and Tamar Ship Management Limited to a subsidiary of Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd. (“Grindrod Shipping”). The sale is subject to certain closing conditions and closing is expected before mid-October 2023, after which the two companies will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Grindrod Shipping. Hong Kong-headquartered TMG is a private, family-owned ship management company founded in 2013 that provides the full range of commercial, corporate and ...

We have previously discussed the English courts’ supportive powers in LMAA arbitrations through the use of anti-suit injunctions to enforce arbitration agreements and its powers to preserve evidence and property and order the attendance of witnesses. In this article, we consider the courts’ powers under the Arbitration Act 1996 (“AA 1996”) to enforce peremptory orders and awards issued by a tribunal. The tribunal in an LMAA arbitration seated in London has limited powers to enforce orders under section 41 of the AA 1996 and the LMAA Terms 2021 (“LMAA Rules”), ...

A hotly debated topic regarding the extension of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (“EU ETS”) to include maritime emissions, is who should be responsible for submitting emissions allowances on the relevant submission date (the “submission date”) to the relevant administering authority (“ETS obligations”), in particular in instances where a shipowner has delegated the responsibility to comply with the ISM Code to a manager. In such cases, should a shipowner and its manager decide in their bilateral management agreement which of them is responsible for ETS obligations (“Option 1”)? Or should ...

Ship arrest is a unique and powerful feature in admiralty practice, whereby claimants can arrest a ship before judgment is obtained in a suit as a security for the claimant’s claim. This feature follows the same position as in England by virtue of Section 24(b) of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 which grants jurisdiction to the High Court of Malaya the same jurisdiction and authority in relation to admiralty matters as the High Court of Justice in England under the United Kingdom Supreme Court Act 1981 (now known as ...

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 ...