Shipping

The Dutch Caribbean has always played a significant role in international trade. The islands’ favorable geographic locations and reliable services in the ports of Curacao, Aruba, St. Maarten and St. Eustatius attract a large number of vessels annually. The presence of the oil refinery and ship repair yard in Curacao, the oil storage and bunker station in St. Eustatius and cruise tourism in Aruba and St. Maarten account for a steady number of vessels each year.

The activities in our ports include container transshipments, ship repairs, bunkering, cruise tourism and marine (underwater) surveys. Furthermore, Curacao is known for its ship register. The flexible fiscal regime, reliable legal infrastructure and the presence of specialized service providers make Curacao, St. Maarten and the BES-islands an attractive alternative for registration of vessels.

Our clients can rely on our vast experience in all legal aspects of the shipping industry, such as disputes related to chartering, cargo claims, collision, general average as well as ship financing, employment, ship repair, ship registration, drafting general terms and conditions, international debt collection and ship arrest and auctions.

We assist many players in this industry, such as ship owners, shipyards, agents, insurance companies, brokers, mortgagees, cargo owners. Our specialized team consists of two senior associates who are recognized as regional leading maritime lawyers.

Recently we have assisted:

Curacao based branch of French multinational cargo company in negotiations on collective labor agreements
Dutch towage company on restructuring, reorganization and redundancy of personnel
Security documentation in respect of oil storage

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