Defending Vessel Arrests Early Contract and Charterparty Review (Part 10 of Economic Crisis Series)

Defending vessel arrests   Part 10 of our series on how to deal with an economic crisis – a guide for international businesses.   Luke Zadkovich, Partner, and Calum Cheyne, Associate of international law firm ZFZ share their experiences on defending vessel arrests.   Our team of lawyers have extensive experience acting for shipowners and their P&I Clubs in managing vessel arrests, just as we have in acting for charterers/cargo interests, and other parties, in bringing arrests against vessels.  Luke discussed what is involved in bringing a ship arrest in Part 9 of this series.   In this talk, on defending arrests, Luke and Calum explain a number of factors which shipowners should have in mind, including pre-arrest steps, strategies and challenges to consider immediately upon service of arrest, how to handle security demands for release of the vessel and a few counter-claim ideas that shipowners may wish to bring against the arresting party.     Importantly, wherever the arrest may be in the world, any of these steps should be undertaken in consultation with lawyers that will handle the underlying claim (typically English or US lawyers, such as ourselves).  This is to ensure that no local action prejudices the shipowners’ position on the underlying claim, both substantively and jurisdictionally.   We would be pleased to hear whether you found this conversational style of presentation useful and engaging.  Please do not hesitate to contact Luke or Calum for further information.