Maritime Industry

Jones Walker’s Maritime Industry Team understands the challenges involved in doing business in and navigating the complex issues of the maritime industry. For more than 80 years, we have partnered and grown with our maritime clients to resolve the unique challenges of the maritime industry.

Cross-disciplinary guidance

Our cross-disciplinary team is experienced in all aspects of the maritime industry, whether in the inland, blue water, or offshore energy and renewables sectors. We regularly handle transactional matters and related issues of business operations; regulatory compliance and government relations issues; and complex, multidistrict litigation, arbitration, and mediation. Our team incorporates the knowledge and proficiency of attorneys in Jones Walker’s many core practices, including labor and employment, real estate, environmental, corporate and securities, tax and tax credits, finance, bankruptcy, and intellectual property.

Our attorneys are also deeply involved in the latest complex legal, policy, and regulatory landscape surrounding emerging issues such as autonomous shipping, autonomous ports, and cybersecurity. We routinely anticipate and offer guidance on these new challenges and opportunities facing industry participants.

Experienced, industry-focused team

Our team provides counsel to domestic and international clients in foreign jurisdictions, across the United States, in state and federal courts, and before US and international arbitral bodies. The team advises owners, operators, and lenders in connection with vessels flagged in the United States and in open registries around the globe. We regularly represent the interests of individual clients and industry associations before state and federal regulatory agencies, including the US Department of Labor, the US Coast Guard (USCG), the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), and the Federal Maritime Commission (the federal agency that regulates waterborne maritime commerce and marine terminals), and before lawmakers and regulators, helping strengthen the voice of maritime companies in the development of relevant laws and regulations.

With one of the largest groups of maritime-focused attorneys in the United States, Jones Walker’s highly experienced and nationally ranked Maritime Practice Group understands the complex dynamics between — and the unique priorities of — industry participants and crafts effective solutions that minimize disputes and manage risks.

Clients from across the industry spectrum

We represent a diverse mix of industry participants, from those engaged in domestic and international shipping and offshore drilling, transport, production activities, and onshore and port-related activities to emerging markets such as offshore wind, including:

Shipowners
Operators
Charterers
Towboats and barge lines
Lenders, financial institutions, and investors
Cruise lines
Ports and terminals
Shipyards
Cargo owners and blue water shipping interests
Offshore companies and contractors
Underwriters and insurers

Representative Experience

Serve as captive counsel to an inland towboat and barge owner/operator with respect to maritime contract advice, the sale of tug and barge assets, negotiation of shipyard service agreements, negotiation of several newbuild construction contracts for towing vessels and tank barges, representation before the USCG and National Transportation Safety Board for marine casualty investigations, and the defense of numerous personal injury, collision, allision, property damage, and pollution claims.
Served as outside general counsel to a private equity-backed startup wind turbine installation vessel owner and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, providing (1) corporate advice, including corporate formation and equity investment; (2) financial advice, including MARAD Title XI financing; (3) federal government relations advice; and (4) contract and supplier advice for a suite of contracts for a new offshore business, including shipyard agreements, subcontractor and supplier agreements, and customer contracts.
Served as marine finance counsel to a lender in the $1.75 billion acquisition financing of multiple casino vessels; two credit facilities secured by borrowers’ fleet of vessels; a $350 million financing for a leader in integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) solutions secured by multiple floating storage regassification units owned by Marshall Islands entities, flagged in Belgium and operating around the world; preferred ship mortgages on 19 Liberian-flagged drillships and rigs, as well as related financing documents such as Assignments of Earnings, to secure the refinancing of $500 million for first lien lenders; and a senior secured loan facility in restructuring and a note exchange with respect to more than $1 billion in debt.
Serve as project counsel for a multibillion-dollar container terminal project in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Our team of attorneys has provided advice relating to real estate, tax and economic incentives, public finance, public/private partnerships, and corporate, environmental, rail and road, permitting, and regulatory matters.
Advise a marine transportation and logistics company on maintenance and cure and Jones Act claims, the acquisition of barges, Title XI financing, legislative matters, on-site and follow-up investigations related to onboard marine incidents, the sale and partial leaseback of property, entity formation, tax issues, credit facilities, lease transactions, and other capital transactions.
Represent a leading provider of marine transportation services to the offshore industry in a wide range of maritime regulatory issues, including Jones Act ownership requirements and related analyses of issues involving complex corporate ownership, and advise on commercial matters, including charter parties and the sale, registration, and documentation of vessels. We also served as maritime counsel for a Chapter 11 restructuring that involved a debt-for-equity swap and required approval by the USCG and MARAD and in numerous financings.
Represent one of the largest cruise ship lines in the world and its affiliates in a wide range of litigation and transactional matters, such as vessel construction, drafting and negotiating a master stevedoring agreement, shipyard disputes, marine casualties, product liability issues, and passenger claims in multiple countries and jurisdictions.
Assist a number of private and publicly traded offshore service companies in connection with regulatory compliance, such as Outer Continental Shelf manning restrictions, which includes obtaining Letters of Non-Applicability, Letters of Exemption, and Letters of Determination, and the Jones Act to ensure compliance with the US coastwise laws.
Serve as counsel in connection with the construction and development of an LNG export facility in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, including providing advice with respect to Louisiana property site acquisition and right-of-way matters for facility and related existing and newbuild pipelines; EPC contract(s) and public bid law; maritime matters in connection with dock facilities; the preparation and negotiation of tug availability agreements, master time charters, tug services agreements, and port liability agreements; environmental, regulatory, and government relations and permitting; tax credits and other economic incentives (including cooperative endeavor agreements); the acquisition/donation of public rights-of-way; and state and local property, sales, income, and franchise tax matters.
Regularly advise a publicly traded multinational mining company regarding maritime law and regulatory issues, including contract negotiation, contracts of affreightment with major operators of ocean vessels, and charter party and bill of lading issues associated with the carriage of commodities shipped in bulk aboard ocean vessels. We also advise the client regarding international conventions applicable to the transportation of commodities by ocean vessel, including regulations to facilitate the safe transport of cargo enacted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), such as the International Ship and Port Facility Code, the International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code, the US Treasury’s “Guidance to Address Illicit Shipping and Sanctions Evasion Practices,” and IMO 2020 low sulfur fuel requirements for seagoing vessels, as well as additional corporate- and securities-related matters, including compliance and disclosure matters for its Securities and Exchange Commission and other public reporting, corporate and board governance matters, and environmental, social, and governance-related disclosures.
Advised a publicly traded offshore service provider on marine regulatory matters, including compliance with Jones Act ownership requirements and the coastwise trade laws of the United States, filings and compliance with regulations administered by CBP, and compliance with the Maritime Labor Convention and employment contracts with seafarers required by the convention. We also represented the client in multiple acquisitions, including its $1.25 billion merger, and in connection with its prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which involved a debt-for-equity swap and a $350 million exit financing, with Jones Act warrants issued to non-US citizens in lieu of new common stock to the extent necessary to comply with the Jones Act’s foreign ownership limitations. We also served as corporate and securities counsel for the client.
Advised a port authority client with state-of-the-art cruise ship facilities on maritime regulatory matters involving marine terminal operations, the Federal Maritime Commission, and the Shipping Act of 1984, as amended. We have also advised the client in regard to US Army Corps of Engineers programs, port infrastructure, CBP clearance of cruise passengers, LNG bunkering of vessels in the United States, and COVID-19 relief for ports.
Represent a publicly traded manufacturer of specialized offshore structures and marine vessels used in the energy sector. As counsel, we advise on a variety of issues, including the sale of assets and certain long-term vessel construction contracts of its shipyard division, the acquisition of assets from a shipyard company and its affiliates, vessel seizure action, and a breach of contract litigation matter involving the two-year-plus construction of the world’s tallest offshore jacket structure. We have also advised on offshore regulatory matters, including obtaining Letters of Determination, and serve as corporate and securities counsel.
Served as issuer’s counsel to a dredging contractor in its private offering of the $325 million aggregate principal amount of its unsecured 5.25% Senior Notes due 2029, the proceeds of which were used to redeem the $325 million aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 8.000% Senior Notes due 2022. We also represented the client in marine casualty investigations and the defense of numerous personal injury, collision, allision, property damage, and pollution claims, and provided advice on joint venture, employment benefits, and general contract and marine insurance matters.
Served as counsel to a transportation, logistics, materials handling, and other industrial services provider in connection with lease financing and the refinancing of several deep-draft sulfur vessels, pipeline right-of-way negotiations, and claims related to Hurricane Ida damage, and served as maritime counsel in the sale of 90 inland tank barges and 46 inland towboats, which involved the assignment and assumption of a $50 million lease financing.
Serve as lead counsel to a shipbuilding and repair company regarding corporate, securities, financial, environmental, intellectual property, government contracting, executive compensation, and maritime issues, including the design and construction of up to eight Yard, Repair, Berthing and Messing barges. We also advised the client in connection with the regulatory requirements for the utilization of foreign steel in US-built vessels for the purposes of Jones Act compliance and provided assistance in recovering amounts owed for unpaid invoices for vessel repair work.

2022 Jones Walker LLP Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey

Jones Walker LLP released the findings of its 2022 Jones Walker LLP Ports and Terminals Cybersecurity Survey, examining cybersecurity preparedness in the North America-based ports and terminals industry.