We advise on all aspects of trade and transport law, including:
- international trade finance;
- bulk commodity sale and purchase and related contracts of carriage, vessel charterparty, and bill of lading documentation;
- aircraft chartering and services agreements;
- operational and regulatory issues relating to maritime and aviation activities;
- customs, tariffs, biosecurity/quarantine and migration;
- insurance issues regarding export, marine, hull and machinery, cargo, liability and P&I insurance; and
- transport, maritime and admiralty dispute resolution and arbitration, including arrest of ships, collisions and salvage cases, cargo claims and pollution incidents.
We have specialist expertise in the maritime aspects of the offshore construction industry, including offshore oil and gas field development and oilfield services contracts.
International oil and gas/energy
We advise on all aspects of maritime law relating to international offshore oil and gas projects, across Australia, the Middle East and Asia. We have extensive experience in offshore oil and gas field development and related infrastructure contracts and in vessel chartering agreements, marine insurance, contracts of affreightment/bills of lading, contracts for the construction, conversion, repair and the sale/purchase of vessels.
Defence
We have been a legal adviser to the Department of Defence since 1996 and have extensive experience in relation to its maritime projects including acting in relation to the design, construction, upgrade and maintenance of Navy ships, as well as logistics contracts involving the transportation and shipping of Defence assets.
Employment and safety
We advise companies and service providers in the shipping industry on all aspects of industrial relations and safety issues applicable to their operations. We advise on the issues of safety regulation and the applicability of Australian industrial regulation to such vessels, and the ongoing agreements and negotiations with maritime unions.
Disputes
We advise on all aspects of dispute resolution and litigation relevant to the transport industry. Our disputes team has acted on numerous marine casualties and have represented clients in Court proceedings for the judicial review of decisions made under shipping legislation. We have also acted on a number of large-scale international commercial arbitrations.
Shipping finance and acquisitions
We also provide specialist advice on the shipping financing and acquisitions of transport, maritime and offshore industry assets and facilities.
