Bowman Gilfillan’s Maritime and Transport department is a leader in its field, and has a solid reputation for providing fast and effective advice in all the major areas of South African maritime law and practice.
emergency response
[available 24 hrs a day on +27 21 480 7920]
Southern Africa’s dangerous coastline is notorious for serious high profile losses. We strive to provide immediate legal and practical assistance in an emergency. Our lawyers have been involved in many of the most significant local casualties of the past decade including:
The Alexandros T, Treasure, SAFMarine Agulhas, Anangel Splendour, Kiperous, Bos 400, and Sealand Express
Bowman Gilfillan is the listed legal correspondent in the ports of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth for most of the International Group of P&I Clubs
admirality litigation
South Africa’s liberal arrest and attachment procedures – notably the associated ship arrest and “security arrest” - make it a favoured admiralty jurisdiction for enforcing maritime claims and obtaining security for court and arbitration proceedings worldwide.
We regularly act for a range of international and local clients in bringing and defending claims, such as major shipowners, charterers, P& I Clubs, marine underwriters, and banks.
The firm has acted in numerous High Court cases of academic and practical importance. These include the Rizcun Trader, Ais Mamas, Snow Delta, Asian Hope and Forum Victory.
commercial services
We advise businesses involved in shipping and trading on commercial matters such as ship building and repair, ship sale and purchase, international sales contracts, customs and excise issues, standard business terms, charterparties and bills of lading. We also act for local and foreign banks in shipping finance transactions, including ship and mortgage registration.
our expertise covers the whole range of maritime legal services,
including:
Arrest
Bills of Lading
Bunker disputes and arrests
Cargo claims
Charterparties
Carriage of goods
General average
Hull and cargo insurance
Liens
Maritime casualties – collisions, grounding and salvage
Marine resources
Mortgage foreclosures
P&I
Personal injuries
Pollution
Salvage and stowaways
Shipbuilding and repair
Ship sale and purchase
Ship finance
Wrecks and wreck removal
The Maritime and Transport Department is available 24 hrs a day (+27 21 480 7920) and in case of emergency, the following people will be available:
Graham Charnock - +27 82-806-6006
Craig Cunningham - +27 82-806-6001
Jeremy Prain - +27 72-596-7658
Resource Generation
Acted for Resource Generation in relation to its secondary listing on the Main Board of the JSE. The listing will occur on 14 July. Resgen currently has a primary listing on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The Consumer Protection Act sets up an extensive administrative structure for the protection of consumers, with numerous provisions dealing with the obligations that businesses have, and, also, actions that they may not take. One of the obligations that will apply is that a person providing goods or services to consumers will be allowed to conduct business only under specific names (section 79(1)). A number of scenarios are envisaged by Act.
Bowman Gilfillan is involved in a continuous transformation process and in 2004 adapted a Transformation Charter. The Transformation Charter was revised in 2008 with recommendations for the next 3 years.
Bowman Gilfillan is proud to be one of the first large commercial firms to develop and implement a comprehensive pro bono policy. In accordance with this policy we pursue meritorious public-law cases and act for indigent clients in a number of ongoing matters. As a responsible corporate citizen, Bowman Gilfillan encourages its practitioners to seek to provide legal services to deserving organisations and individuals on a pro bono (free) basis. A number of pro bono matters have been taken on in a wide variety of fields, from education to healthcare and other social services and partnerships have been established with recognised public interest legal services providers such as the Legal Resources Centre and the Aids Law Project.
Bowman Gilfillan has also entered into an arrangement with CIDA City Campus, particularly in business subjects, in terms of which we prepare the lecture materials for, and present lectures to, their second year students. We also provide CIDA with legal advice. All of this is done free of any charge, as part of our social responsibility programme.
We are an independent corporate law firm with well established relationships with some of the leading law firms in the major financial centres of the world.
Bowman Gilfillan has formed an association with Coulson Harney Advocates, a corporate and commercial law firm in Kenya. The association provides Coulson Harney with a springboard for its involvement in legal advisory work around Africa.