Arnavi Panda
Associate
Arnavi Panda specialises in shipping and commodities trade disputes and advises on all forms of shipping contracts and related documents, including various saleforms for ship sale and purchases, charterparties, bills of lading and letters of credit. She also handles disputes arising under various commodities sales contracts.
Arnavi is experienced in English High Court and English Court of Appeal litigation, mediation and international arbitration under a range of procedural rules, including the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Singapore International Arbitration Court (SIAC), the Grain and Feed Trade Association (GAFTA) and the Federation of Oils, Seeds and Fats Associations (FOSFA) rules. She is well versed in coordinating the work of foreign lawyers and handling multijurisdictional claims.
Arnavi is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, as well as being a qualified advocate and a member of the Bar Council of India, called in 2016. She trained and qualified at shipping firms in England and Wales and India, and previously worked as an in-house legal counsel for a shipping company in Dubai.
- Advising and representing charterers and owners in relation to various standard form and bespoke time, voyage and bareboat charterparty disputes.
- Acting for owners and cargo interests in relation to cargo mis-delivery, shortage and contamination claims arising under bills of lading.
- Advising major market players on a casualty dispute arising in the range of US$100 million, in relation to a car-carrier fire and managing ICA claims flowing from the dispute, involving major P&I insurance across multiple jurisdictions, including the US, Norway, Italy and the UK.
- Advising clients on compliance and regulatory matters to trading and operations departments of various shipowners to facilitate the execution of more than 200 sale and purchase transactions with large shipping conglomerates (including Grimaldi Group, Ensco Plc, Saipem S.A., Diamond Offshore, Transocean, Hapag Lloyd, China COSCO and Dubai Petroleum) for over US$300 million worth of new-building and second-hand tonnage.
- Acting as legal counsel and advising various traders on the acquisition of various specialised vessels, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers; floating storage and offtake (FSO) vessels; and floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) offshore support vessels.
- Reviewing and negotiating contracts for the sale and purchase of offshore oil rigs located in the North Sea and the US Gulf of Mexico.
- Acting as counsel and advising a major container liner shipowner in relation to claims under bills of lading and limitation of liability proceedings for cargo damage in the UK and the US.
- Advising shipowners on limitation of liability in relation to an oil pollution claim resulting from vessel collision at ports/berths.
- Experienced in conducting arbitrations proceedings under LMAA, Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA) and LMAA small claims procedural rules and associated multijurisdictional enforcement proceedings to make a full recovery in relation to a wide array of shipping and commodities disputes.
- Experienced at conducting vessel arrest proceedings in India and liaising with foreign lawyers to obtain security for contractual claims through vessel arrest proceedings globally.
- Advised a global multinational on a broad range of coal trading disputes, including in relation to price hedging, cargo shipment and shortage, cargo contamination, associated storage and auction proceedings in India, in Indian High Courts.
- Advising clients on a broad range of spot and long-term commodities sale contracts and contracts of affreightment.
- Advising and representing various commodities trading houses, including Trafigura, Glencore and Cargill, on cargo quality and shortage claims arising under sale and purchase agreements and associated shipping contracts.
- Advising clients on cargo contamination claims arising from LNG, grain and bulk sugar sale and purchase contracts, and initiating and conducting arbitration under GAFTA and FOSFA for recovery.
- Advising clients on a breach of confidence dispute in relation to the development of a mining deposit in Russia, involving a major Indian conglomerate on a project value of US$2 billion to US$5 billion.
Education
- University of Aberdeen, LL.M., Oil and Gas Laws, 2021, 2021
- National University of Singapore, LL.M., Maritime Law, 2017, 2017
- ILS Law College, Bachelor of Laws, 2015
Admissions
- Registered Foreign Lawyer Singapore, 2023
- England and Wales, 2021
- India, 2017
- State of Maharashtra and Goa, 2016
Languages
- English
- Hindi
- Bengali
- Marathi
- Author, “Knock for Knock – Allocation or Evasion of Liability?” MAREX Magazine 2021.
- Co-author, “Cargo Shortage Claims in Dry Bulk Trade”, Dry Bulk Magazine, Autumn 2023.