With almost 35 years' experience in Asia as an Admiralty and Marine Insurance practitioner, Richard has handled numerous major shipping casualties of all types, and is consistently ranked by the legal directories as a Leading Individual/Hall of Fame ranking amongst Singapore’s shipping lawyers.
Chambers and Legal 500 directories have recognised Richard’s “extensive experience” in marine casualties and shipping disputes, and describe Richard as “highly regarded” and “one of the best practitioners who is very, very experienced and a fixture in the shipping space”. Richard is also recommended for his “business practicality, often absent from other’s advice" ... "he is very experienced in his field, calm and unflappable, and gives sound, pragmatic and commercial advice" ... "he is one of the most knowledgeable and experienced of the guys out there.” The latest directory editions further note that Richard “has forged a formidable reputation and is labelled top of his field.” (Chambers, 2021) and that “Richard brings huge experience to his practice and has a terrific grasp of Admiralty matters, including collisions and large GA matters.” (Legal 500, 2021)
Richard leads a highly experienced Singapore team of casualty lawyers, including an experienced Master Mariner, dealing with a wide range of marine casualties from collisions and groundings to ship fires, total losses, main engine breakdowns, other salvage incidents, wreck removal, pollution and liquefaction cases. Richard and his team regularly advise Clubs, leading underwriters and shipowners in relation to charterparty, bill of lading, general average and related issues arising out of casualties.
Richard has been centrally involved in a significant number of the region’s major marine casualties over the past 35 years including the widely-publicised Kaminesan/Hyundai 105, Orapin Global/Evoikos, Ever Glory/Hual Trinita, Herceg Novi/ Ming Galaxy, Nagasaki Spirit/Ocean Blessing, Tosa, Hebei Spirit/Samsung No.1 and Bunga Kelana 3/Wally collisions, and the Barrier Reef Bunga Melati Satu, CGM Normandie (later MSC Napoli), Natuna Sea, Sima Saman, Al Rawdah, Star Centurion and Helen Rickmers grounding/salvage cases.
Recently, Richard has been involved, amongst other casualties, in the handling of the BW Maple/Dawn Kanchipuram, Alyarmouk/Sinar Kapuas, Dalian Venture/Kohyohsan, Navigator Aries/Leo Perdana, Hanjin Italy/Al Gharrafa, APL Denver/Wan Hai 301, Global Vanguard/Thor Achiever, Chemroad Mega/Sinica Graeca, Star Centurion/Antea and two other major collisions off Singapore, all involving substantial claims and limitation/jurisdiction disputes, a collision involving a Royal Brunei naval vessel, a serious liquefaction casualty off the Philippines and a major containership fire and an FPSO casualty giving rise to substantial claims.
In addition to the many casualties occurring in and around the Singapore and Malacca Straits, a significant number of Richard’s cases have involved problematical casualties in Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand where, over the years, he has developed special expertise, extensive local knowledge and professional contacts.
