© Copyright Acquisition International 2025 - All Rights Reserved.

Article Image - The Changing Face of Shipping
Posted 14th October 2015

The Changing Face of Shipping

CDG is an English law firm based in the City of London and provides a range of services to the shipping and oil and gas sectors.

Mouse Scroll AnimationScroll to keep reading

Let us help promote your business to a wider following.

The Changing Face of Shipping

The Changing Face of Shipping

Image

CDG is an English law firm based in the City of London and provides a range of services to the shipping and oil and gas sectors. Founded in 1996, CDG has built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading practitioners of maritime and energy law, with particular expertise in shipbuilding and offshore construction, ship conversion and repair, asset finance (including PE), drilling and other offshore services. We spoke to Matt Hannaford, from CDG’s maritime finance and projects team about the current state of the shipping sector and the challenges this presents to the law firms working to support the industry.

There is certainly overcapacity of tonnage in many sectors of the shipping industry, and a glance at the world newbuilding order book underlines that, without a significant upturn in both trading demand and the rate of extraction from the market of older tonnage, this situation will prevail for some time to come. As for all the other stakeholders in the shipping and offshore energy sectors, it will be a case of the survival of the fittest and this maxim will become increasingly relevant the longer the situation persists.

I do not believe that it is realistic or, arguably, desirable, to seek to limit orders of new ships. Rather, focus should be placed on reducing the amount of older tonnage. There has already been a significant push in recent years to promote the construction of (or conversion to) safer and greener ships and this has led inevitably to certain tonnage being scrapped. However, the imposition of any such regulatory initiatives must take into account the cost to be borne by the ship owners and charterers.

Overcapacity is just one of the many realities facing businesses in the shipping industry. Other factors include consolidation, contraction of traditional debt financing (and the corresponding increase in alternative sources of funding such as private equity) and a consequential widening of the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots”. This last point is reflected also in the legal sector as law firms must evolve to be able to meet their clients’ needs in an increasingly complex and sophisticated environment. The challenges and the opportunities this presents are two sides of the same coin.

For CDG success has come from doing work at which we excel (and not being tempted to stray into other areas despite the perceived short-term attraction).This requires discipline and management but, in the long run, it pays dividends in the form of market recognition. Sustaining and improving the standard of service involves three simple steps; first, ask your clients what they want from you; second, listen to what they tell you; and third, explore ways to achieve it. If you ask in-house counsel they frequently observe that it’s at the second step that their external counsel often falter.
From our experience, every client is different and has their own specific needs. Indeed this may be true of individuals within a single client entity. A CFO of a shipping company may only want to talk to a senior partner on high level matters; his in-house counsel may want a sounding board and to be kept appraised of (relevant) changes in the law which may not come so quickly to his or her attention. The shipowner’s technical representative as the shipyard might need the lawyer to fly to the yard at short notice to support at a meeting with the builder. The key question is whether or not what we are doing is (and is recognised by the client as) value-adding.

CDG is a modern law firm but its culture is firmly that of a law firm rather than a corporate provider of legal services. In part, this is a consequence of its size but, more than that, it reflects how specialist we are. Many firms talk about having an “open door” policy: we have a “no door” policy; namely, we sit in an open-plan office and if someone has a sensitive (or loud) call to make they can retire to a break-out room and find a door to close.

What separates us from our competitors is our focus on specific disciplines within the shipping and offshore sectors. For nearly 20 years CDG has been developing and refining its reputation as a law firm of excellence in the fields of shipbuilding and offshore construction (our Senior Partner, Simon Curtis quite literally writes the book on this area of law), ship finance, drilling projects and the sale and purchase of second hand tonnage. Whether it is a ship owner involved in a complex dispute or a private equity fund embarking on a large-scale investment project, the primary requirement (and our aim) for the provision of external legal support is the same – legal expertise, industry knowledge and a solution based approach.

Despite some of the setbacks happening in the shipping industry, we are optimistic about the future. For the remainder of 2015 and beyond we have an excellent pipeline of challenging and interesting work for similarly challenging and interesting clients. The primary philosophy behind our business model remains sound for the time being but we are very conscious of the danger of resting on our laurels so we must challenge and adapt it continually to reflect changes to the market and, crucially, to our clients’ ever-evolving needs.

Name: Matt Hannaford, Partner
Company: Curtis Davis Garrard LLP
Address: 29 Ludgate Hill London EC4M 7JR
Telephone: 44 020 8734 2800
Web: www.cdg.co.uk

Categories: Legal, Strategy


You Might Also Like
Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Adapting to a Volatile Trading Market in 2022
Finance
15/06/2022Adapting to a Volatile Trading Market in 2022

Volatility is a common part of the trading landscape for experienced investors, but it’s still something many struggle with when it comes to securing and managing their portfolio. The transition from 2021 and 2022 has been a complex one for new investors and

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
CEO of the Month: India
Leadership
01/07/2016CEO of the Month: India

SpiceJet, India’s favourite domestic airline, provide low-cost flights to 41 cities across India and international destinations. Working at the helm of this highly successful company is Chairman and Managing Director (CMD).

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre’s Acquisition of Direct Line
Finance
30/07/2015Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre’s Acquisition of Direct Line

Hogan Lovells Advise Mapfre's Acquisition of Direct Line

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Most Instrumental Insurance Businesswoman 2023 (South Africa): Bridget Mokwena-Halala
Leadership
26/07/2023Most Instrumental Insurance Businesswoman 2023 (South Africa): Bridget Mokwena-Halala

Since 1913, Assupol Life has been consistently delivering insurance services with a quality that has persisted throughout its whopping 110 years of operation. It adheres to a ‘serving those who serve’ ethos and has never once faltered in delivering brillia

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Student Finance: What You Need to Know
Finance
21/09/2020Student Finance: What You Need to Know

Student finance has always been a difficult topic, but it's even more so nowadays. The pandemic situation and resulting economic problems have forced many students to apply for student finance. This may be the only way for some students to apply for higher edu

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Employment Hero Acquisition Enables World’s First Fully Automated Payroll Situation
Finance
10/04/2024Employment Hero Acquisition Enables World’s First Fully Automated Payroll Situation

Global employment management platform, Employment Hero, has announced the acquisition of Employment Innovations, one of the largest managed payroll providers in the world.

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Where to Buy Digital Labor Law Posters for Remote Employees: 5 Top Options for Employers
News
26/05/2025Where to Buy Digital Labor Law Posters for Remote Employees: 5 Top Options for Employers

Remote and hybrid workplaces are becoming more common every year. Navigating the requirements of posted notifications with work-from-home (WFH) employees can be tricky. Digital labor law posters are the solution to complying. Buying printed posters is as simpl

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
7 Important Tips for Streamlining Your Workflows
News
20/09/20227 Important Tips for Streamlining Your Workflows

If you're like most people, your days are filled with a never-ending to-do list. From the moment you wake up until you go to bed, there's always something that needs to be done. And if you don't have a system for managing your tasks, it can be easy to get over

Read Full PostRead - Eye Icon
Can Automation Help to Eradicate Human Error in the Workplace?
Innovation
27/09/2022Can Automation Help to Eradicate Human Error in the Workplace?

Each day, businesses across the country handle countless transactions and obtain vast amounts of data. Unfortunately, while processing and utilizing this data, the opportunity for human error is high. These mistakes can be costly.



Our Trusted Brands

Acquisition International is a flagship brand of AI Global Media. AI Global Media is a B2B enterprise and are committed to creating engaging content allowing businesses to market their services to a larger global audience. We have a number of unique brands, each of which serves a specific industry or region. Each brand covers the latest news in its sector and publishes a digital magazine and newsletter which is read by a global audience.

Arrow