Services - Virtus law

Maritime and international trade

We offer a breadth of services to clients in the shipping, offshore and commodity sectors. Our clients include many of the world’s largest shipowners, shipyards, major ship finance banks, marine insurers and IG P&I clubs, energy services companies, oil and gas business and commodities traders.

We advise on all issues on the carriage of commodities including the drafting of charterparties and contracts of affreightment for both tanker and dry commodity cargoes, joint ventures, ship management agreements and shipping structures for traders and provide regular and continued advice on the shipment, carriage, discharge and delivery of all commodity cargoes. We regularly advise on, draft, review and negotiate building and conversion contracts for LNG, vessels, FPSOs, rigs and ships and operating and sale / purchase thereof.

We act in the most complex and high profile shipping disputes relevant to commodity traders, their financiers, and insurers. We work on disputes in the vast majority of maritime jurisdictions. This includes disputes over bills of lading, charterparty and contract of affreightment performance, cargo loss and damage, conversion and wrongful delivery, fires and explosions, general average, unsafe ports and berths.

Experience

Hin Leong Trading
Advising and acting for a major secured lender on the collapse of a well-known Singapore oil trader (Hin Leong Trading), its related vessel ownership group (Xihe Holdings) and its related bareboat charterer (Ocean Tankers), with an exposure of well over US$500 million. This matter has been the subject of headline news in Singapore and in international industry press, with allegations of fraudulent trading, and is one of the largest debt restructuring exercises in Singapore.

Rig owners
Acting for rig owners in complex multi-million dollar disputes under with errant charterers under ICC, LMAA and ad hoc arbitration proceedings. These included the repossession or early redelivery of the rigs due to the inability of the charterers to pay hire in the challenging oil and gas market.

Offshore construction dispute
Acting for a EPC contractor in a US$800m offshore construction dispute concerning a deep water oil and gas production and storage platform.

Multi-national shipyard
Advising a multi-national shipyard in respect of its US$123 million contract with a major shipping group with the end user being a national science agency, in respect of the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a dynamically positioned blue water research vessel.

Bank of Communications Financial Leasing
Advising on a landmark ships-for-shares deal for a fleet of 29 ships chartered to Trafigura, and sold to Scorpio Tankers and Frontline Ltd for US$668 million and US$675 million respectively. (Marine Money The Editor’s Choice Deals of the Year – Ships for Shares 2019)

Experience: Hin Leong Trading
Advising and acting for a major secured lender on the collapse of a well-known Singapore oil trader (Hin Leong Trading), its related vessel ownership group (Xihe Holdings) and its related bareboat charterer (Ocean Tankers), with an exposure of well over US$500 million. This matter has been the subject of headline news in Singapore and in international industry press, with allegations of fraudulent trading, and is one of the largest debt restructuring exercises in Singapore.

Rig owners
Acting for rig owners in complex multi-million dollar disputes under with errant charterers under ICC, LMAA and ad hoc arbitration proceedings. These included the repossession or early redelivery of the rigs due to the inability of the charterers to pay hire in the challenging oil and gas market.

Offshore construction dispute
Acting for a EPC contractor in a US$800m offshore construction dispute concerning a deep water oil and gas production and storage platform.

Multi-national shipyard
Advising a multi-national shipyard in respect of its US$123 million contract with a major shipping group with the end user being a national science agency, in respect of the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of a dynamically positioned blue water research vessel.

Bank of Communications Financial Leasing
Advising on a landmark ships-for-shares deal for a fleet of 29 ships chartered to Trafigura, and sold to Scorpio Tankers and Frontline Ltd for US$668 million and US$675 million respectively. (Marine Money The Editor’s Choice Deals of the Year – Ships for Shares 2019)

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Service

Maritime and international trade

We offer a breadth of services to clients in the shipping, offshore and commodity sectors. Our clients include many of the world’s largest shipowners, shipyards, major ship finance banks, marine insurers and IG P&I clubs, energy services companies, oil and gas business and commodities traders.