How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crises, and how does your legal strategy align with the broader business strategy to ensure the organisation’s resilience?

As a legal function, we deal with crisis on a regular basis. I always begin crisis management with assessment of risk and probability factors. While doing so, my priority is always to minimize legal risk exposure and balance it with commercial impact mitigation. In maritime industry, crisis comes in all sizes and depending on the nature, we prioritize and escalate as needed. If the impact is purely legal in nature, I make the judgement call on best possible resolution. However, if it has commercial bearing, I ensure that internal businesses are aligned with my mitigation plans. In this process clear communication is key and aligning everyone with my approach is of singular importance.

What do you see as the major legal challenges for businesses in the region over the next five years, and how are you preparing to address them?

Since industry trends precede regional trends for us, sustainability challenges and resilience in the face of geopolitical frictions has our undivided attention. Additionally, we are closely monitoring the evolution of decarbonization regime and various IMO’s and EU’s initiatives which are being implemented within the sector. There are strict requirements for the industry to comply with and we are ensuring that we are on top of things. These present distinctive legal challenges for the business operating environment and as in-house counsels, we are the first point of call for both commercial and operations team to provide topical inputs. In my view, assuming business cycles maintain current pace, these issues will continue to drive innovation and response from industry stakeholders including in-house counsels.

Have there been any recent trends or changes in the nature of disputes in the region?

There has been a steady increase in out-of-court arbitration cases, which is the shipowners preferred platform to resolve disputes. The regional trend is in line with global developments. While there was an increased activity due to Ukraine war, however, the region has not been directly involved in any related emotive disputes. Irrespectively, commercial disputes have been steadily increasing. Another area which has seen increased activity is disputes linked to various sanctions regimes. Interestingly, there has been a slowdown in technical disputes concerning vessel performance and this is due to reluctance by owners to interrupt operations. Lastly, climate litigation is on the horizon now and even though the shipping industry has managed to avoid it so far, regulatory compliance framework such as Carbon Intensity Indicator etc are ripe for dispute. Climate litigation trends could catch up with the industry and it needs to be closely monitored.

What is a topic of business (or otherwise) that you are passionate about?

Climate change mitigation is a subject that I have grown to appreciate as a citizen of this world. The more I educate myself, the more I am convinced that action cannot be delayed. I continue to take personal interest in it, and I am quite eager to contribute towards positive change in the business and personal environment.