Asia

As one of the world's fastest-growing economies, Singapore has the sixth highest GDP per capita despite its lack of territory and natural resources. By embracing globalisation and free-market capitalism, the country has established a unique position as a leader in international commerce and technology.

The port of Singapore is now the world's busiest transshipment port and, in terms of total cargo tonnage handled, has become the world's second busiest - behind only the port of Shanghai. Our Singapore office has therefore been well-placed to take advantage of the huge growth in the Asian economies over the last decade and of the opportunities to build a significant China practice.

As an offshore firm in Singapore, Penningtons Manches Cooper brings international experience in maritime, finance, commercial and international trade law - both contentious and non-contentious - to assist clients throughout Asia and beyond. We are permitted to handle Singapore arbitrations and we deal with the whole range of admiralty and casualty cases in the region. We are also regularly called upon to oversee and assist on arbitrations and the enforcement of awards in other jurisdictions such as Russia, India and Australia.

Our lawyers now act both for and against major Chinese shipyards, financing institutions and state-owned and private companies on a wide range of shipping issues including collisions, groundings, fires, pollution and total loss claims, casualties, salvage, general average, limitation and jurisdiction issues.

The firm’s dedicated marine casualty response team in Singapore is on call 24/7 to provide clients with advice and support in the immediate aftermath of any incident or catastrophe. We also regularly advise our clients on dry contractual issues arising from charterparty and bill of lading disputes, including cargo damage and demurrage claims.

In the wake of the global financial crisis and sudden plunge in oil prices in 2008, we developed a particular expertise in investigations and obtaining security against counterparties in the Far East and China. We also have long-term links with Japan and its insurance market.