What the team is known for
Outstanding practice covering all aspects of shipping law. Areas of activity include dispute resolution, insolvency proceedings, charter parties and maritime insurance matters. Clients include Danish and international shipowners, cargo owners and insurers. Recent work has included several high-profile insolvency cases in the shipping sector, as well as advising on North Sea oil platform insurance.

Strengths
Sources praise the well-rounded appeal of the firm's practice, reporting that "when you take into account their experience, the quality of their work and their overall knowledge in the field, Bech-Bruun comes out on top," and adding that the lawyers at the firm "understand the business perspective of our work and understand that we are always working to tight deadlines."

Sources comment that the team is "very co-operative and commercially minded. They have a good view on what is best for the client."

Work highlights
Assisted Norwegian Energy Company with the sale of licence and ownership interests in the North Sea SIRI platform to DONG E&P as well as representing the client in a series of related insurance claims, valued at DKK3 billion, which were recently appealed to the High Court.

Represented The Containership Company in a maritime insolvency case involving proceedings in Denmark, New York and China.

Notable practitioners
Head of department Jes Anker Mikkelsen has decades of experience advising clients on maritime, transport and insurance law as well as on international trade, offshore and construction issues. His work includes representing Kuehne + Nagel in a dispute regarding the breakdown of a container ship off the coast of Yemen. In praising the excellent quality of his work, clients describe him as "a very sharp and hard-working guy."

Johannes Grove Nielsen offers expertise on a range of shipping and transport law, including the purchase and sale of vessels and charter party agreements. He has been particularly active in insolvency cases, leading the firm's involvement in ongoing cases related to the OW Bunker Group collapse. Clients note that they "enjoy working with him, he quickly understands exactly what is required of him and he understands the commercial context in which his work is going to be used."

As an insurance specialist, Anne Buhl Bjelke focuses on disputes and mediation related to insurance law aspects of shipping. She has frequently represented clients involved in insurance cases linked to the OW Bunker Group collapse, as well as liability disputes, regulatory issues and general maritime and transport law matters.

Chambers and Partners Europe, Shipping

‘One of the leading practices for all aspects of maritime work’, Bech-Bruun regularly handles wet and dry shipping issues and is highly experienced in offshore matters and bunker disputes, as evidenced by the involvement in the O.W. Bunker collapse. ‘Thoughtful’ Johannes Grove Nielsen represents Snaptun Fisk Export in an arrest matter related to the collision of the vessel Karmel with a trout farm. ‘Excellent litigator’ Jes Anker Mikkelsen leads the group that counts A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Kuehne & Nagel and J. Poulsen Shipping among its clients.

Legal 500, Shipping and transport