Maritime disputes and valuations

When a maritime dispute hinges on freight costs, loss of earnings, vessel value or market evidence, legal teams need rapid access to specialists with more than valuation and forensic accounting credentials. They also need people with genuine shipping market expertise.

This is where S&W can help. Our maritime forensics team provides independent expert witness, valuation and quantum support to help lawyers, tribunals and courts understand the commercial realities behind maritime claims.

We work with shipping law firms as well as international arbitration teams, shipowners, charterers, operators, banks, funds and investors when vessel value, market evidence or maritime quantum is in dispute. Our team can also help with non-contentious valuations.

Our team supports clients from early-stage assessments through to formal expert evidence.

• Shipping expert witness evidence

  Independent reports, oral evidence and cross-examination support

• Vessel and fleet valuation

  Charter-free and with-charter valuations across all shipping and offshore sectors

• Quantum and loss analysis

  Loss of hire and loss of use assessments, lost profits and hypothetical earnings analysis, mitigation analysis, discounted cashflow and scenario modelling

• Freight, market and operational evidence

  Analysis of charter rates, freight costs, vessel availability, route feasibility and market assumptions

• Contract-related disputes

  Charterparty, bill of lading, sale and purchase, contract of affreightment and other dry shipping disputes

• Sanctions and disruption-related matters

  Evidence relating to sanctions, shadow fleet activity, trade route disruption and changes in market access

We have extensive valuation experience across the shipping and offshore sectors, including:

• Tankers (crude, products, chemicals)

• Bulkers

• Containerships

• Gas carriers (LNG, LPG)

• MPP / Heavy Lift

• PCC / PCTC

• Ro-Ro / Ferry

• Cruise

• Drillships / Semi-Subs / Jack-Ups

• OSVs (PSV, AHTS, MSV etc.)

• Tugs & Barges

• Yachts

Resolving maritime disputes often requires a rare combination of shipping knowledge, valuation capability and forensic accounting skills. Our work sits precisely at this intersection, so we can bring hands-on commercial shipping and contentious-proceedings expertise to even the most complex cases.