Hall Of Fame

Firms To Watch: Shipping: local firms

LVM Law Chambers LLC‘s international trade, shipping, and sanctions team continues to grow with the addition of Mohd Haireez from Incisive Law LLC in August 2022.
PDLegal LLC advises across a range of shipping and admiralty matters for several shipowners, P&I clubs, and corporates and is headed by Peter Doraisamy.

Shipping: local firms in Singapore

Allen & Gledhill LLP

The maritime team at Allen & Gledhill LLP provides a full service which covers advising on the remit of shipping and offshore in both contentious and non-contentious contexts. The firm advises a variety of local and international insurance companies, P&I Clubs, and major financial institutions. In regards to its financing, the team frequently assists in shipping and shipyard transactions and insurance-related matters. The team has also seen a recent uptick in restructuring and insolvency work. Co-heads are ‘leader in the field’ Kenny Yap, who has expertise in international trade and shipping; Yin Soon Yap, who has marked knowledge in maritime, offshore and aviation disputes; and Yin Chuin Soh who focuses on transactions. Vivian Ang and Corina Song also both particularly renowned for their work on contentious cases. Consultant Gina Lee-Wan is also noted for her shipping expertise.

Responsables de la pratique:

Kenny Yap; Yin Soon Yap; Yin Chuin Soh


Autres avocats clés:

Vivian Ang; Corina Song; Michelle Zheng; Erik Widjaja; Gina Lee-Wan


Les références

‘A superb, best-in-class team, with strong partners who deliver quality advice promptly.’

‘Michelle Zheng is absolutely excellent. Prompt and precise advice is delivered quickly and organised. She is an absolute favourite in the ship finance sector.’

‘Excellent team which provides clear and concise legal advice and provide good value for money.’

Principaux dossiers


  • Acting as lead counsel and/or coordinating and managing the court actions and recovery efforts for two major banks – DBS Bank Ltd. (“DBS”) and Natixis, Singapore Branch (“Natixis”) – arising from the $3.85bn insolvency of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd and Ocean Tankers (Pte.) Ltd.
  • Acted for Keppel Offshore & Marine in connection with the restructuring of approximately $880m in delivery obligations/debt owed by Borr Drilling Limited. The deferral and credit restructuring resulted in an estimated liquidity improvement of $190m until the first quarter of 2022.
  • Advised Rimorchiatori Mediterranei SpA with respect to Singapore law on its acquisition of Keppel Smit Towage and Maju Maritime from Keppel and Smit Singapore, and the financing for the acquisition which involved security being granted over the Singapore entities.

Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP

Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP’s well-established shipping practice advises on the gamut of matters across the maritime space. Its workload includes related insolvencies and restructurings; financings; cargo claims; collisions disputes; and marine casualty matters. Clients consist of a range of both local and international financial institutions, P&I clubs, shipowners, charterers, and commodity houses. The team is well-versed in complex cross-border and multi-jurisdictional matters. It is led by Kendall Tan, who has over 20 years’ experience and has advised on a number of high-profile marine, oil and gas insolvencies, alongside disputes-focused V Bala, and shipping finance specialist Chua Choon King. Arbitration and shipping disputes expert Leong Kah Wah and maritime specialist Toh Kian Sing SC are also noteworthy team members.

Responsables de la pratique:

Kendall Tan; V Bala; Chua Choon King


Autres avocats clés:

Toh Kian Sing SC; Leong Kah Wah; Jainil Bhandari


Les références

‘Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP has a good understanding of maritime law and the shipping industry and has considerable experience in handling the cases and guiding the legal advice and compared to other law firms, they sympathize with the client’s needs and seek the solution in the client’s shoes.’

‘I think Leong Kah Wah is one of top negotiators and legal advisors in the world in terms of maritime law. He’s not just someone who gives a textbook answer, he actually explains how to deal with things to reach the ultimate solution.’

‘They are very much the go-to firm for us for all work.’

Principaux clients

Hin Leong Trading (Pte) Ltd


Ocean Tankers (Pte) Ltd


Agritrade International Pte Ltd


Roberto 16 Pte Ltd


ING Bank N.V.


Bank in Singapore


Swiber Holdings Limited


Swiber Offshore Construction Pte Ltd


MS First Capital Insurance Ltd


SP PowerAssets Limited


FIMBank plc


Lemarc Agromond Pte Ltd


Principaux dossiers


  • Advised on a $4bn debt restructuring exercise of Hin Leong group, one of Asia’s biggest oil traders, involving more than 23 creditors from multiple jurisdictions.
  • Acting for various banks in Singapore over US$1 billion suspected massive fraud by Agritrade International.
  • Advised on a dispute arising from a collision between USS JOHN S MCCAIN and ALNIC MC in the Westbound lane of the Singapore Traffic Separation Scheme.

Dentons Rodyk

The Dentons Rodyk shipping practice advises a mix of leading financial institutions, major banks, and shipowners in restructurings and insolvencies, acquisitions, construction matters, and in dispute resolution contexts. The team has also seen an uptick in ESG and environmental-related work as a ‘green’ focus becomes increasingly apparent across the sector. Lawrence Teh who is renowned for his work in commercial and maritime international arbitration matters, co-leads the team alongside asset finance specialist Janice Ngeow and Loh Jen Wei, who handles a range of contentious shipping and admiralty cases.

Responsables de la pratique:

Lawrence Teh; Janice Ngeow; Jen Wei Loh


Les références

‘The team is very well-organised and professional.’

‘Janice is the senior partner and she has very vast experience and is good in her domain. She is very attentive and gives the proper advice to clients.’

Principaux clients

Pacific Radiance Ltd.


Enemalta P.L.C.


Bulk Trident Shipping Ltd


Stigma Shipholding Ltd


WEM-3 Pte Ltd


WEM-4 Pte Ltd


WEM-5 Pte Ltd


WEM-6 Pte Ltd


Pavilion Energy Pte Ltd


Navios Maritime Partners L.P.


Skaugen


Hong Leong Finance Limited


Vinmar Overseas (Singapore) Pte Ltd


Principaux dossiers


  • Acted for SGX-listed Pacific Radiance Ltd in its consensual debt restructuring with the ENAV Offshore Mexico S de RL de CV group (ENAV) which involved inter alia the disposal of 33 vessels to ENAV in exchange for consensual discharge of $200m secured indebtedness.
  • Acted for Enemalta P.L.C., a Maltese state-owned entity, which is the sole legal distributor of electricity in Malta. An interconnector linking Malta to Sicily owned by Enemalta was damaged by the vessel “Di Matteo” resulting in a nation-wide power shortage in Malta.
  • Represent Bulk Trident Shipping Ltd, a shipowner whose vessel was arrested in Singapore to obtain security in relation to London arbitration proceedings.

Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP

Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP's shipping practice has a strong presence across Singapore and the East Asian region, namely advising on a combination of wet and dry disputes. The team also has a particular focus on trade finance, cargo cases, and complex and high-value ship sale and purchase matters. Further, the team has extensive experience in assisting clients in complex restructuring and insolvencies, ship registrations, collisions, and casualties. K. Murali Pany, 'industry expert' John Sze, and Danny Chua co-head the team, together bringing a wide array of expertise across the sector.

Responsables de la pratique:

K. Murali Pany; John Sze; Danny Chua


Autres avocats clés:

Rafizah Gaffoor


Les références

‘Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP provides service at the level of international law firms. They deliver excellent service for reasonable fees.’

‘John Sze is extremely knowledgeable and stands out as an industry expert. He is responsive and dedicated to matters which he handles.’

‘The team has a long and respected pedigree in shipping work, with partners who have decades of specialist experience.’

Principaux clients

FTI Consulting (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.


Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.


Petrobras Global Trading B.V.


Ambank Berhad (Labuan Branch)


Grant Thornton Singapore


Singapore Technologies Engineering Marine Limited


PTT International Trading Pte Ltd


Principaux dossiers


Oon & Bazul LLP

Oon & Bazul LLP‘s shipping cohort advises on a broad-range of dry and wet work, and is particularly prominent in the mis-delivery space, having been involved in several cases before Singaporean courts in this context. Alongside this, the team has notable experience in contentious work in the transaction and finance space and the team often acts for a variety of commodity traders, shipowners, and P&I clubs therein. Prakaash Silvam, who specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration in the international commodity trade, is at the team’s helm. Dispute resolution expert and ‘grand master in the space’ Bazul Ashhab, and shipping litigation-focused Kelly Yap are also of note.

Responsables de la pratique:

Prakaash Silvam


Autres avocats clés:

Bazul Ashhab; Kelly Yap; Oon Thian Seng


Les références

‘OB’s shipping practice is probably one of the two shipping practices in Singapore that is able to handle complex shipping disputes. Bazul is the grand master in the space while Prakaash Silvam is the extremely competent apprentice having spent his whole career to date with Bazul.’

‘Prakaash Silvam is extremely commercial and solutions-focused. He will be the future of the shipping industry.’

‘The firm can represent charterers due to its independent set-up and style which is a rarity since most firms act for shipowners. Most times, we are unable to clear conflict and scramble to find a suitable and good law firm that practice in Malaysia, Singapore that competent to advise in English shipping law too.’

Principaux clients

Fastfreight Pte Ltd


Ocean Light Shipping Inc.


Yasa Shipmanagement and Trading S.A.


Drydocks World Dubai LLC


Winson Oil Trading Pte Ltd


ICICI Bank Limited


Global Tradewell Pte Ltd


Zen Shipping and Ports India Private Limited


Visa Resources Pte Ltd


PT Adidaya Energy Mandiri


Integra Petrochemicals Pte Ltd


Batavia Eximp & Contracting (S) Pte Ltd


Excel Exports Co (S) Pte Ltd


Principaux dossiers


Virtus Law LLP

Partner firm of Stephenson Harwood LLP, Virtus Law LLP, has a shipping practice which is has strong capabilities in related finance and litigation matters in international trade, shipping and offshore contexts. It advises banks, leasing companies, P&I clubs, shipowners and commodity groups, and is well-placed to assist clients across the full spectrum of financings and transactions, disputes, and restructurings, both domestically and internationally. Daryll Ng and Colin Jarraw co-head the practice; Ng has considerable experience on the disputes side, as does practitioner Lauren Tang. Jarraw and team member Jason Yang focus on financing and leasing transactions, in particular.

Responsables de la pratique:

Daryll Ng; Colin Jarraw


Autres avocats clés:

Lauren Tang; Jason Yang


Les références

‘They have deep understanding and knowledge on the Japanese client and maritime market. Furthermore, their advice is very persuasive for us and our clients because they provide legal advice with reasons based upon the accurate theory of the Singaporean law not just the lawyers’ personal opinion.’

‘Practical, no nonsense advice on all Singapore maritime law-related matters, both finance and dispute related.’

‘The go-to firm in the country in my opinion for thought leadership on any matter touching maritime.’

Principaux clients

Seapeak LLC


ABN AMRO Bank


ANZ Bank


StraitNZ Limited, Ferry Lines Limited


Global Loan Agency Services Australia Pty Ltd


E.SUN Commercial Bank Ltd (ESUN)


Principaux dossiers


  • Advised Seapeak LLC on a $700m all-cash acquisition of Evergas from Jaccar Holdings.
  • Advised a syndicate of lenders – comprising ABN AMRO Bank, ING Bank, TIAA FSB, and Clifford Capital – on a sustainability-linked loan.
  • Advised ABN AMRO N.V., acting out of its head office in Amsterdam, in relation to a senior secured multi-currency revolving and term loan to Peacock Asset Company Pte. Ltd. and Peacock Euro Assets Pte. Ltd.

Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC

The shipping team at Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC is active throughout the region, and represents numerous shipowners, traders, insurers and logistics companies, among others. While the team has broad capabilities in transaction work, the Singapore practice is especially notable for its prowess in disputes and arbitration. Whether these surround international trade, commodities, offshore, or at-sea collisions, the team is well-versed to assist in such shipping matters, both wet and dry. Team lead Wendy Tan is noted as 'diligent and hands-on.'

Responsables de la pratique:

Wendy Tan


Les références

‘Their advice is always grounded and practical, and they have strong commercial consideration.’

‘Wendy Tan has a good understanding of the market and the different contractual relationships.’

‘Able to know the bunker and oil trade practice. They appreciate the legal aspects and are also able to manage commercial needs.’

Principaux clients

PetroChina International (Singapore)


Chimbusco International Petroleum (Singapore) Pte Ltd


COSCO Group – Cosco Petroleum Pte Ltd and Sinfeng Marine Services Pte Ltd


Prime Star Transportation group of companies


Coastal Energy Solutions Pte Ltd


Clean Marine AS


Integr8 Fuels Europe Ltd


Starryway Trading and Shipping Company Limited


PT OKI Pulp & Paper Mills


AIG Insurance Asia Pacific


Principaux dossiers


Resource Law LLC

Resource Law LLC‘s shipping practice handles ship finance matters, transactions, and numerous wet and dry disputes, including those involving collisions and loss of cargo. The group advises an array of clients and benefits from a Formal Law Alliance with Reed Smith LLP. The team has considerable expertise in litigation and arbitrations, areas of specialism for team lead Bernard Yee and director Adrian Aw. Collin Seah is also noted for his considerable experience in shipping casualty and disaster cases.

Responsables de la pratique:

Bernard Yee


Autres avocats clés:

Collin Seah; Adrian Aw


Les références

‘They are professional and can provide us service and answers for all kinds of enquiries.’

‘Mr Bernard is professional and efficient, and his service can meet our requirements.’

‘Well-rounded practice.’

Principaux dossiers