Dorcas Seah

Partner

Dorcas is a Partner in the Firm’s International Arbitration, Litigation and Maritime & Aviation Practices.

She regularly advises and acts for marine (Hull & Machinery and Protection & Indemnity) and other insurers, asset financiers, mortgagee banks, shipowners, charterers, ship managers, trade finance banks, commodity traders, shipyards, aircraft leasing companies, port authorities and bunker suppliers.

Dorcas has wide-ranging experience handling marine, aviation and international trade disputes in the Singapore High Court and in arbitration (Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration, International Chamber of Commerce and London Maritime Arbitrators Association). Her expertise includes matters relating to collisions, allisions and groundings, oil pollution, fire damage to vessels, marine insurance (constructive total loss, wreck removal, salvage, war risk), piracy, vessel detentions, enforcement against vessels (including arrest and judicial sale), receivership of vessels, ship and rig building/repair contracts as well as charterparties (including laytime, demurrage and freight). She also represents clients in disputes relating to bills of lading, loss and damage to goods, smuggling of cargo and illicit substances on vessels, contracts of affreightment, bunker supply contracts, workplace injuries, ship brokerage agreements, submarine cable damage, letters of credit, commodity sale and purchase agreements and shipping and other documents in the commodities supply chain.

Apart from contentious work, Dorcas also advises clients on drafting and negotiating contracts including in respect of shipbuilding, ship conversion, ship-repair, ship-management and ship recycling/shipbreaking (including on the Basel Convention), environmental regulations, bunker craft operator licensing issues and casino operation on cruise ships.

Dorcas graduated at the top of her class in 2015 from the University of Bristol and was awarded the Debbie Phillips Law Prize.

Work Highlights

  • Natixis, Singapore Branch v Lim Oon Kuin and Ors. [2024] 3 SLR 1502, an appeal before the Singapore High Court where a defendant was ordered to take steps to retrieve compound documents belonging to him that had been seized by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force, and to disclose the same in civil court proceedings.
  • BTS Tankers Pte Ltd v Energy & Commodity Pte Ltd [2021] SGHC 58 and Energy & Commodity Pte Ltd v BTS Tankers Pte Ltd [2021] 2 SLR 877, a decision before the Singapore High Court and upheld by the Singapore Court of Appeal where two defendants were found in contempt of Court by failing to disclose their assets pursuant to Mareva injunction orders obtained against them, and were sentenced to imprisonment.
  • Hai Jiang 1401 Pte Ltd v Singapore Technologies Marine Ltd [2020] 4 SLR 1014, a decision before the Singapore High Court involving an anti-suit injunction arising from a vessel arrest in the UAE. This decision involves issues of conflicts of laws and invoking the Court’s anti-suit injunction jurisdiction on “quasi-contractual” grounds.
  • The “King Darwin” [2019] 5 SLR 800, a decision of the Singapore High Court where the Court used its inherent jurisdiction to set aside a notice of discontinuance filed by an arresting party whilst a wrongful arrest claim was pending.
  • Acted for an inventory financing bank in a number of interpleader actions before the Singapore High Court arising from conflicting proprietary claims made by various parties against cargo seized and sold by the judicial managers of Hin Leong Trading (Pte.) Ltd after its collapse.
  • Advised an informal steering committee of bank creditors on the US$3.3 billion debt restructuring of Pacific International Lines.
  • Advised a mortgagee bank on the issues and claims which arose involving the vessel “Star Centurion” which sank and became a constructive total loss after a collision with the “Antea”.
  • Represented a mortgagee bank in respect of enforcement against ten vessels worth over US$250 million following the collapse of Hin Leong Trading (Pte.) Ltd.
  • Represented a trade finance bank against an oil major in proceedings in the Singapore High Court in relation to a letter of credit.

Publications