The Legal 500 > Europe, Middle East & Africa > Norway > Offshore construction and shipbuilding

Advokatfirmaet Schjødt’s shipping and offshore services expertise spans the full range of issues from deep sea shipping work and petroleum law to shipbuilding contracts and litigation. Group leader Henrik Aadnesen counts shipping companies, yards, brokers, contractors, lenders and merchant banks as clients; the group also fields construction and litigation specialist Amund Bjøranger Tørum, litigator Trond Sollund and Ålesund office head and shipyard expert Stian Tennfjord. The practice also benefited from the firm’s merger with oil and gas boutique Michelet & Co in early 2019. Clients include Aker Floating Production, Transocean, Höegh LNG and Ocean Yield.

BAHR’s highly regarded practice, which ‘offers innovative solutions to difficult problems’, handles complex contentious and non-contentious mandates across the offshore construction and shipbuilding arena including shipbuilding contract issues and acquisitions, development projects and disputes. The group’s client roster includes high-profile market players including Equinor, Northern Drilling and Golden Energy Offshore Services; the practice also remains a go-to name for Aker BP, which it recently advised on two separate alliance agreements for jackups and semi-submersibles. Geir Gustavsson leads the oil services and shipping department and has notable expertise in international shipbuilding projects and project finance work; other key individuals include Haakon Flaatten, Jan Einar Barbo and Morten P Smørdal, who leads the offshore construction group. Anne Dahl Frisak was recently promoted to the partnership, and Eirik Høiby joined from Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS in 2020.

Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS has notably expanded beyond its traditional contractual expertise following its merger in early 2019 with shipping, energy and natural resources boutique Kyllingstad Kleveland Advokatfirma DA, which brought practice co-head and offshore project specialist Odd-Arne Kleveland and shipping project expert Christian Steen Eriksen into the department. Practice co-head Nils Bugge is highly regarded for his shipbuilding contract, charter party and management agreement expertise, and Norman Hansen Meyer is a key contact for shipowners and shipyards. Eirik Høiby joined BAHR in 2020. 

Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig leverages the firm’s national footprint with teams in Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and Stavanger led by Erlend Lous, Jan Vablum, Kenneth Mikkelsen and Gunnar Espeland respectively; the Oslo and Bergen teams focus on yard and financing work, the Stavanger group handles offshore construction and the Tromsø practice advises on shipbuilding and ship repair work. Other key practitioners include Oslo-based Christine Rødsæther, who focuses on shipping transactions, and maritime specialists Christian Bjørtuft Ellingsen and Lars Inge Ørstavik. The practice counts shipyards, shipowners, banks, managers, oil companies and financiers as clients; examples include Fjord 1, Nordea Bank, Drydocks World Dubai and Seatankers Management Company.

With ‘excellent negotiation and analytical skills’, Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS acts for offshore yards, shipyards, EPC contractors, suppliers, shipowners, rig owners and oil and gas companies on a range of contentious and non-contentious mandates including restructurings, development projects, contractual issues and disputes. Noteworthy practitioners include construction project specialist Jacob F Bull, shipping practice head Mads Haavardsholm, Henrik Hagberg, who also assists with insurance work; and Pål Lieungh, who has experience handling international projects. Litigator Kristine Hyldmo Bjørnvik, who joined from Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS in 2019, made partner in early 2020.

Gaute Gjelsten and Øyvind Axe jointly lead the department at Wikborg Rein, which handles transactional and litigation matters for a range of purchasers, shipyards and suppliers; key example clients include Fjord 1, Solstad Offshore, Odfjell and Transocean. Axe, senior lawyer Andreas Fjærvoll-Larsen and Finn Bjørnstad focus on transactional work while Gjelsten, Ola Nisja and Trond Eilertsen have extensive contentious experience. Øystein Meland has also been active in shipping-related competition mandates. In a recent highlight, Eilertsen advised Seadream on a shipbuilding contract for a cruise vessel. Morten Valen Eide and Marius Egeberg were recently promoted to the partnership.

Arntzen de Besche utilises its domestic network of offices in Oslo, Trondheim and Stavanger to handle offshore construction projects and contentious issues for clients in the oil and gas, aquaculture and fisheries, shipping and shipbuilding sectors; the group has recently advised on the development of offshore aquaculture farms and assisted with the establishment of a liquid biogas plant. Karl Erik Navestad heads up the practice, which also includes litigator Stian Fagervold and Trondheim-based Ole Skeidsvoll Moe, who focuses on offshore oil and gas projects. Atle Gabrielsen joined Wiersholm in early 2019.

Construction and dispute resolution boutique Advokatfirmaet Glittertind AS is a key name in the market for construction litigation. Geir-Arne Borgestrand leads the industry and energy group, which ‘combines solid expertise in contract and civil litigation with good knowledge of the offshore construction industry’, and also fields highly regarded litigator and construction specialist Nils-Henrik Pettersson. Clients include Crudecorp and Sub-Seatech Contracting.

At Advokatfirmaet Haavind AS, the team, which has ‘extensive industry and commercial knowledge’, is jointly led by Mikal Brøndmo and Christopher L. Sveen; Brøndmo focuses on oil and gas litigation and Sveen primarily handles domestic and international transactions. The group is singled out for its offshore construction expertise and counts Aibel, Heerema and Kværner as top offshore construction contractor clients; other examples include National Oilwell Varco Group, Aker Solutions and Forsvaret. The team is also increasingly involved in shipbuilding mandates and also assists with field developments and litigation. Kristine Hyldmo Bjørnvik departed to Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS in early 2019.

Jens Brede and Yngve Bustnesli co-head the department at Kvale Advokatfirma DA, which has notable strength in the oil and gas sector and counts oil companies, contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers and distributors as clients. The group handles the full range of offshore projects and disputes; Brede and Andreas Stang Lund are key names for litigation, Bustnesli is experienced in petroleum law and offshore contracts, and Gry Bratvold, who joined from Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS in mid-2019, acts for clients in the oil services sector.

Wiersholm’s offshore construction group is led by litigator Helge Morten Svarva while the shipbuilding team is headed up by Karl Even Rygh, who specialises in new-build projects. The practice is particularly active in litigation and arbitration and is increasingly handling field development and project mandates; it acts for foreign and Norwegian operators and oil services contractors on issues on the Norwegian continental shelf. Litigator Christian Hauge, construction team head Ronny Lund, and Sondre Dyrland are key names to note. The department also recently recruited Atle Gabrielsen from Arntzen de Besche; he is experienced in financing work.