shipping disputes

Our widely respected team can assist with all shipping disputes whether through pre-action advice and negotiation or in arbitration, litigation or mediation.

Clients include ship owners, charterers, P&I Clubs, oil companies, cargo owners and underwriters, plus ship classification societies and cargo inspection agencies.

We can obtain security by the attachment or arrest of assets both in the UK and abroad and have considerable experience of jurisdiction disputes allowing us to ensure that our clients' disputes are submitted to the most advantageous forum. In addition to the expertise available in our own offices, we have an extensive network of contacts with other specialist lawyers across the world.

We routinely handle charterparty and bill of lading disputes, problems and claims arising from damage to cargo, unseaworthiness, general average, transhipment, unsafe ports, dangerous cargoes, bunker contamination, off hire, detention and demurrage, speed and performance, oil pollution, limitation of liability, personal injury and piracy. We can assist with all aspects of debt recovery and also regularly undertake repossession and enforcement work for major lenders in relation to marine assets. All members of the team put great emphasis on understanding our clients' business and commercial objectives. We combine that understanding with our dispute resolution experience to offer guidance on risk avoidance so that, where possible, disputes do not arise in the first place.