Sibel Almobideen is a Turkish-qualified lawyer and the general counsel of Global Feeder Shipping Group, a market-leading container shipping group that has been active in the market since the 1980s and is currently one of the largest ship owning and feeder operators in the Gulf, Indian sub-continent, and South-East Asia.  

In 2021, she was awarded by the Seatrade Maritime Middle East for being one of the top 20 maritime industry professionals in the Middle East under the age of 40 – a prestigious award recognising the success and achievements of young industry professionals.  

In discussing her practice, Sibel says:

My role requires me to pave the way for change in the industry and shed light on innovation, paving growth opportunities for accommodating our group’s expansion and providing legal support to the management and team across our offices globally. Managing day-to-day legal requirements and assisting management in achieving sound commercial decisions have been my responsibility in pursuing my practice in different fields of law. It entails working closely with local authorities, addressing complex challenges, and taking the lead in critical situations. My core objectives are to revamp the shipping industry for viable, sustainable, attractive, and efficient sea transport links integrated into the entire transport chain with facilities and simplified administrative formalities.  

Recently, GFS and Abu Dhabi Ports signed an agreement for ADP to acquire an 80% equity stake in Global Feeder Shipping (GFS) $800m, implying a 100% Enterprise Value of $1bn. This was a key moment for GFS to create the largest single provider of container shipping services in the region. While the team is still intensely working on the structuring and heavy documentation to be finalised for the closing; we are truly proud of what we have achieved and excited for the future to serve global trade.  

I have excelled in many aspects since I joined the company as a sole legal counsel. The starting point was to advise and assist the management in the corporate re-structuring in preparation for the expansion we have achieved today. I have set up new companies along with the internal acquisitions. To be able to achieve the intended plan, the scope included a wide range of legal work to be done by considering its numerous implications on the assets and hundreds of employees, banking and finance, facility agreements and commercial contracts, real estate, consumer rights, regulatory, and agency laws. We have successfully closed a facility transaction that completes our growth financing, raising a total of $160m in two loans to invest in fleet expansion and purchase of new ships that involved heavy documentation crossing multiple jurisdictions.  

Simultaneously, my key inputs to the group have been demonstrated by implementing up-to-speed policies and tailored agreements for each sector to manage the significant number of claims, potential disputes, and liability exposure. For instance, I created our unified Slot Charter Agreement, Common Carrier Agreement, Dead Freight, Vessel Sharing, and JV Agreements which are distributed to the customers and partners, and our standard Agency Agreement, distributed to all agents in all ports worldwide.  

I have minimised expenses for external legal counsel by taking the lead on all corporate legal aspects of the group. We have created a well-established claims-handling procedure to provide an efficient legal advising structure within the group and created a system to ensure a smooth and efficient framework between the legal, commercial, and operation departments. I enjoyed being closely involved in the technical part of the business, which has inspired me to innovate and present new ideas to improve operational efficiency, design and implement business models and develop legal solutions for the company.