Bowman Gilfillan Findlay & Tait has been involved in maritime services for more than a century, with a significant increase in this work since the enactment of the Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act in 1983, which resulted in South Africa becoming one of the world’s most favoured jurisdictions for the arrest of vessels. The firm has been involved in numerous significant cases, including many of the major casualties in South Africa, (more recently the “Bos 400”, in which a judgment for a record amount of damages was obtained, the MT “Treasure”, the collision between the “Decurion” and “Giovanna”, the “Sealand Express” and “Trust 38/Platon” collision) and cases of academic and practical importance (“Ais Mamas”, “Snow Delta”, “Fortune 22” and “Forum Victory”). As in the case of the firm as a whole, the department represents a wide range of international and South African clients, including major shipowners, P & I Clubs, hull and cargo underwriters and banks involved in ship financing.

OUR EXPERTISE COVERS THE WHOLE RANGE OF MARITIME LEGAL SERVICES, INCLUDING:

• Arrest
• Bills of Lading
• Cargo claims
• Charterparties
• Carriage of goods
• General average
• Hull and cargo insurance
• Liens
• Maritime casualties – collisions, grounding and salvage
• Marine resources
• Mortgage foreclosures
• P & I
• Personal injuries
• Pollution
• Salvage and stowaways
• Shipbuilding and repair
• Ship sale and purchase
• Ship finance

The Maritime & Transport Department is available 24 hrs a day (+27 21 480 7920) and in case of emergency, the following people will be available:

Graham Charnock - +27 82-806-6006
Craig Cunningham - +27 82-806-6001
John Dyason - +27 82-806-6013
Jeremy Prain - +27 72-596-7658