Shipping & Trade

Solving Approximately 95% Of Claims Before A Final Hearing

We deal with all types of shipping and trade issues and have experience of advising clients at all stages of a matter, from commercial contractual negotiations and drafting to handling full scale international disputes.

On the disputes side, we manage to resolve about 95% of claims short of a final hearing. We have handled dozens of Court cases, arbitrations, and mediations since establishing BDM.​ Our aim is to achieve a sensible resolution either through negotiation or mediation avoiding the need for unnecessary costs.

We are familiar with shipping and trade disputes across many different formats including LCIA, ICC, DIAC, UNCITRAL, LMAA, GAFTA, FOSFA, LME, Sugar Association, Coffee Trade Federation, London Rice Institute and ad-hoc arbitrations. We also manage overseas litigation where required and we have an extensive network of contacts in legally unfriendly jurisdictions.

Aside from disputes, we have extensive experience of advising on and negotiating contracts relating to shipbuilding, ship financing, ship sale and purchase, ship chartering, sale of goods, commodities and a wide range of contracts relating to the carriage of goods. We have helped our clients to build ships, finance ships and sell ships including dealing with all regulatory and registration issues that have arisen. We advise on tenders, creating short and long term bespoke charters, service contracts, joint ventures, spot trading contracts, hedging structures, COA’s and voyage charters. We also advise on sanctions and related regulatory issues.