ADMIRALTY AND MARITIME

Thompson Coburn’s admiralty and maritime attorneys have worked in this industry for decades. Our attorneys practice in various related disciplines—including financial transactions, admiralty and maritime litigation and trials, cargo and towing claims, seizures and foreclosures, maritime investigations and hearings, maritime contracts, labor and employment, bankruptcy and restructuring, environmental and tax—providing the depth and diversity needed to handle virtually any matter affecting the shipping industry.

Admiralty Litigation

Thompson Coburn’s admiralty litigation attorneys regularly handle matters including property damage, contract disputes, limitation of liability actions and cargo claims, as well as personal injury and death cases under the Jones Act, the Longshoremen and Harbor Workers Compensation Act and the General Maritime Law. Our admiralty trial lawyers represent maritime operators in collision cases involving other vessels, water structures and government facilities. We have in-depth experience handling government contract matters, in rem foreclosure actions, and contractual disputes involving charter parties.

Environmental

We work with our shipping clients, including oil companies, on a variety of environmental laws and help clients understand and comply with the myriad state and federal environmental laws applicable to vessels and the shipping industry. We advise clients on issues relating to the Oil Pollution Act (OPA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act). We also assist in the development and implementation of environmental compliance programs to reduce the risk of potentially significant fines, penalties and criminal proceedings.

Finance

We advise financial institutions on ways to minimize risk and protect their investments in the shipping industry. Our attorneys have arranged financing for virtually every type of vessel, from bulk cargo ships, container ships and passenger vessels to barges, drilling rigs, towboats, gaming vessels, ore carriers, offshore service vessels and other marine equipment. We have a wealth of experience in structuring and negotiating direct loans, single-investor and leveraged leases, true leases, mortgages, conditional sales agreements, pledges and multiple-layered debt financings. We routinely represent international clients that often use complex financing structures involving foreign-flagged vessels. Our attorneys also are well-versed in bankruptcy matters, handling workouts, restructuring agreements, forbearance agreements, as well as vessel arrest and foreclosure.

We regularly serve as special maritime counsel in transactions involving large investments in maritime businesses, including investments by venture capital funds. We counsel our clients on regulatory issues relating to these investments, such as qualification under the stringent citizenship requirements of the Jones Act for investments in U.S. domestic trade.

Movement of Hazardous Materials

We counsel clients on HAZMAT compliance issues involving U.S. federal regulations and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code.

Regulatory Matters

We counsel clients on a wide range of issues affecting the industry, including U.S. citizen owner and operator requirements; Jones Act and coastwise trade; vessel documentation problems; U.S. government promotional programs, such as Cargo Preference and the Maritime Security Program; and U.S. laws associated with the transportation of goods by sea, as regulated by the FMC.

Vessel Operations

Our attorneys advise clients on the safety, environmental and operating laws that govern the shipping industry, both domestically and internationally. We counsel clients on compliance with these domestic maritime regulations and international conventions, including the Maritime Security Act of 1996, which established the Maritime Security Program (MSP); Bowaters Act; International Safety Management Code (ISM); Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS); International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS), implemented in the U.S. under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 (MTSA); and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto (MARPOL 73/78).