Dry Shipping
Andrew is a specialist in dry shipping. He has extensive experience of advising, drafting and advocacy in relation to claims under charterparties and bills of lading, both in court proceedings and in arbitrations.
Andrew’s cases have concerned all areas of dry shipping, including cargo claims, freight and hire disputes, stowage issues, stevedore damage claims, dangerous cargo, unsafe ports, laytime and demurrage disputes, issues of delivery and re-delivery, bunker disputes and vessel speed and performance issues.
He has handled numerous arbitration claims, including appeals under s.69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, challenges under s.68 of the Act and applications for the appointment of arbitrators.
Andrew also has experience of cases involving the international carriage of goods by road under the CMR.
Illustrative cases include:
- LMAA Arbitration (ongoing) – two related arbitrations concerning the delivery and re-delivery condition of a vessel under two bareboat charterparties.
- Arbitration (ongoing) – a case involving the termination of numerous shipbuilding contracts for repudiatory/renunciatory breach by the builder.
- LMAA Arbitration (ongoing) – an unsafe port case arising out of propeller damage caused by contact with ice.
- LMAA Arbitration (2022) – one-week trial in a case involving the termination of six long-term time charterparties for oil tankers.
- LMAA Arbitration (2022) – claim under a ten-year contract of affreightment and related voyage charterparties, involving hundreds of individual shipments of iron ore. The case involved issues including the interpretation of nomination procedures, “fairly evenly spread” provisions and force majeure.
- LMAA Arbitration (2021) – one week trial concerning a dispute under an MoA for the sale of an Aframax oil tanker. The case concerned issues including the legal nature of a deposit, the interpretation of the MoA, mitigation, ship valuation and estoppel by convention.
- The ‘Muammer Yagci’ [2018] EWHC 3873 (Comm) – a section 69 appeal concerning the meaning of the phrase "government interferences" in the Sugar Charter Party 1999 and whether a seizure of cargo by customs authorities at the discharge port falls within that phrase.
- The ‘Baltic Strait’ [2018] EWHC 629 (Comm) – a section 69 appeal concerning the interpretation of section 2(4) of the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992 and whether a receiver of damaged goods can recover full damages despite having had no proprietary or possessory interest in them at the time of damage.
- LMAA Arbitration (2018) – a claim concerning a stowage collapse which caused damage to both the cargo and the vessel. The central dispute was whether the collapse resulted from poor stowage or defective tween deck pontoons.
- LMAA Arbitration (2017) – sole counsel for the successful owners in a five-day arbitration concerning a claim for damage to vessels and unpaid hire in the amount of US$2.3m. The case raised issues about conditions precedent to re-delivery, indemnities, liquidated damages and mitigation.
- LMAA Arbitration (2017) – a claim under a guarantee for unpaid hire of over US$20m. The case raised issues as to the circumstances in which a guarantor will be discharged by virtue of variations to the underlying contract.
- LMAA Arbitration (2015) – a case concerning delay to a voyage resulting from a collision with an unknown object. The case involved issues including unseaworthiness, negligent navigation, reasonable despatch, remoteness of damage and wrongful arrest.
- High Court Case (2015) – sole counsel in a High Court case involving a claim for demurrage and damages for repudiatory breach of a voyage charterparty.
- LMAA Arbitration (2015) – a stevedore damage claim.
- High Court Case (2015) – an interpleader (or 'stakeholder') claim arising out of a freight and demurrage dispute worth US$2.25m. The dispute raised issues relating to the exercise of liens over cargo and sub-freight, as well as the right to intercept bill of lading freight.
Wet Shipping
Andrew has significant experience of wet shipping disputes, including collision actions and LOF salvage arbitrations. He appears regularly in the Admiralty Court.
Illustrative cases include:
- The 'Ever Given' [2023] EWHC 697 (Admlty) - a salvage claim arising out of the grounding of an Ultra Large Container Vessel in the Suez Canal. The Admiralty Court held that no contract was concluded for the salvage services, so a claim can be pursued under the International Convention on Salvage 1989.
- Admiralty Court Case (ongoing) – a multi-party collision action involving a collision in a traffic separation scheme in the Singapore Straits.
- Admiralty Court Case (ongoing) – a case concerning damage to subsea electrical cables said to have been caused by an anchor. The case involves issues of the law of negligence and the circumstances in which a duty of care will be owed to the owners of subsea infrastructure.
- Admiralty Court Case (ongoing) – sole counsel in a salvage claim involving a main engine failure in the River Mersey.
- Admiralty Court Case (ongoing) – sole counsel in a salvage claim involving a main engine failure in the River Elbe.
- Admiralty Court Case (ongoing)
- The 'Wilforce' and The 'Western Moscow' [2022] EWHC 1190 (Admlty) – a collision claim arising out of a collision between a bulk carrier and an LNG carrier in a ‘Precautionary Area’ of the Singapore Straits Traffic Separation Scheme.
- MAERSK HONAM (LOF Arbitration 2021) – a salvage arbitration arising out of a serious container ship fire in 2018, leading to the loss of lives and destruction of the forward part of the ship.
- CSCL JUPITER (LOF Arbitration 2020) – a salvage arbitration arising out of the grounding of a container ship in the Scheldt River.
- High Court Case (2018) – a claim for £40m of damage to a subsea pipeline caused by a vessel's anchor.
- The ‘Nordlake’ v The ‘Seaeagle’ [2015] EWHC 3605 (Admlty) – a collision action involving the apportionment of liability between multiple vessels, arising out of a collision in 2011 and the sinking of the frigate INS Vindhyagiri.
- Ad Hoc Arbitration (2017) – a claim for amounts owed under a salvage contract on Wreckhire 2010 terms.
- Ad Hoc Arbitration (2016) – a claim for amounts owed by a contractor to a sub-contractor under a salvage contract on Wreckfixed 2010 terms.