Erik Widjaja

Partner

Erik is a Partner in the Firm’s International Arbitration, Litigation, Maritime & Aviation Practices. He is effectively trilingual in English, Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia.

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Erik’s primary areas of practice encompass maritime and trade matters with a focus on dispute resolution. Erik has been involved in matters relating to maritime collisions and incidents, cargo claims, bills of lading, trade finance (including letters of credit and indemnities), international sale of goods, ship repair and construction, ship sale and purchase, employment of crew, offshore rigs, charterparties, mortgage enforcement, insurance and ship management. He regularly appears before the High Court of Singapore on behalf of his clients. For arbitration, he has handled numerous international arbitrations, including institutional arbitrations administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and the International Chamber of Commerce, non-institutional arbitrations under the terms of The London Maritime Arbitrators Association and rules of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration, as well as ad-hoc arbitrations, and their related court proceedings.

He also has extensive experience in dealing with Indonesian-related matters and insolvency-related matters arising out of mortgage enforcement on ships as well as various claims against companies (e.g., claim for delivery without production of original bills of lading) which eventually went into liquidation, or into other forms of restructuring (e.g., Chapter 11 under the US Bankruptcy Code and Penundaan Kewajiban Pembayaran Utang (PKPU) under Indonesian law).

Apart from contentious matters, Erik has also been actively involved in non-contentious matters (e.g., the employment of crew on board ships, vessel new builds and sale and purchase). He regularly advises his clients on legal issues that arise in the course of his clients’ business dealings and transactions (including but not limited to sanctions, import and export controls, and foreign investments in Indonesia).

Erik is one of the youngest lawyers to be first recognised as an Accredited Specialist in Maritime and Shipping Law by the Singapore Academy of Law, and a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. He is rated as a Future Star in Shipping by Benchmark Litigation and ranked as a recommended lawyer by Lexology Index for Shipping (Southeast Asia). He was recently listed by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific in its inaugural Top 40 Under 40 listing. Additionally, Erik is part of the shipping team in Allen & Gledhill, which was named the Shipping Law Firm of the Year by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific in 2024.

Erik graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LL.B. (Hons) degree in 2012 and was called to the Singapore Bar in 2013. He was ranked amongst the top candidates in Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, and was awarded the M Karthigesu Memorial Gold Medal and Prize by the National University of Singapore. Erik has also contributed to the commentary on Order 70 of the Rules of Court in the Singapore Court Practice 2014. Erik was an adjunct lecturer (Law of Insurance) with the Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law for the first term of the 2024-2025 academic year and was a member of the teaching faculty for the Part B Preparatory Course for the Singapore Bar Examinations. He is presently a member of the advisory board to the National University of Singapore Centre for Maritime Law.

Work Highlights

  • Acted for an Indonesian cement producer in respect of its claim against a ship for mis-delivery without production of original bills of lading, and successfully arrested the ship, eventually obtaining judgment and payment in China (through Chinese local counsel). Correspondence with client was in Bahasa Indonesia whilst correspondence with Chinese local counsel was in Chinese.
  • Advising and acting for an Indonesian shipowner in respect of a series of shipbuilding contracts with a Chinese shipyard.
  • Acted for a Chinese shipyard in (1) an arbitration in Singapore before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) in respect of a jack-up rig construction dispute, (2) the subsequent court applications for the partial setting aside of the final award before the Singapore High Court (BZV v. BZW and BZX [2021] SGHC 60) and Court of Appeal (BZW & BZX v. BZV [2022] SGCA 1), and (3) the fresh arbitration commenced following the partial setting aside of the final award issued in the initial arbitration.
  • Acted for Indonesian state-owned companies in respect of a floating storage regassification unit dispute exceeding US$1 billion in an arbitration administered by the SIAC.
  • Acted for a Chinese state-owned international oil and gas company to defend against claims in contract, unjust enrichment, misrepresentation and conspiracy arising out of contract for sale and purchase of refined oil products on FOB / ITT basis before the High Court of Singapore, which proceedings were subsequently transferred to the Singapore International Commercial Court.
  • Acted for a German charterer in an ad-hoc arbitration against a sub-voyage charterer in connection with the chartering of a multi-purpose heavy lift vessel, wherein parties agreed to adopt the rules of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.

Publications