Maritime Finance

As maritime transactions have become increasingly varied and complex, maritime transactional attorneys who fully understand the industry – and the related business, technical, financial, tax, regulatory and environmental issues – are vital. Holland & Knight's Maritime Finance Team includes members with extensive ship finance, tax, corporate, litigation, regulatory and bankruptcy experience. We concentrate our practice on business-critical maritime, offshore and cruise industry transactions. Our team is dedicated to delivering unsurpassed representation to our clients.

Committed to International Excellence

Our Maritime Finance Team and its members have been ranked in the area of shipping finance by national and international publications such as The Legal 500 United States, Chambers (Global and USA), Best Lawyers® and Who's Who Legal.

The Chambers Global 2025 guide states, "Holland & Knight has a seasoned leadership and a broad knowledge base."

In its 2025 guide, Chambers USA notes the firm's Ship Finance Team is a "highly regarded practice working in a range of shipping finance areas, including offshore energy financing, shipping group restructuring and foreign flag matters. The firm also has expertise in tax rules and private equity transactions, among other matters. It stands out for its experience in the Gulf of Mexico energy market, with significant experience in tax structuring involving Liberia and the Marshall Islands."

The 2022 Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" guide recognized Holland & Knight as "Law Firm of the Year" in Admiralty & Maritime Law, and the practice consistently ranks in the first tier nationally and locally in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. Our Transportation Law practice, honored as "Law Firm of the Year" in the 2024 guide, also consistently places in the first tier nationally, as well as locally in Miami, New York and San Francisco.

A Multidisciplinary Team Dedicated to Your Success

Holland & Knight's Maritime Finance Team lawyers have extensive experience in a wide scope of transactional work relating to shipping and the maritime industry worldwide, including:

• ship finance loan and lease transactions involving U.S., Liberian, Marshall Islands and Vanuatu laws
• shipping industry taxation issues
• capital markets transactions
• maritime bankruptcies, foreclosures and work-outs
• maritime commercial disputes, charter parties and insurance
• oil pollution and other maritime environmental issues, including ship recycling
• Jones Act, Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)
• maritime and trade regulations

Complementing this industry knowledge, our team also includes corporate lawyers who regularly execute various types of maritime industry business transactions, including public and private company mergers and acquisitions, public and private equity and debt offerings, proxy contests, joint ventures and formation of private investment vehicles.

U.S. Coverage and International Reach

Our lawyers are located on all U.S. coasts – East, Gulf and West – as well as in Mexico City and Bogotá. Our Mexico City attorneys provide extensive advice on ship mortgages and other vessel financing structures relating to the Mexican energy industry, Gulf of Mexico and Mexican flag vessels.

We have team members in Washington, D.C., who are experienced and knowledgeable in advising on OFAC issues. In addition to OFAC, team members actively represent client interests in connection with Homeland Security and USCG, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), FMC and MARAD regulations and legislation. We have extensive experience with U.S. government programs, including Title XI, Capital Construction Funds and VISA.

Recent Highlights

• Our team represented Centerline Logistics in connection with its $425 million debt refinancing. Holland & Knight acted as Centerline's Jones Act and maritime counsel in the transaction. The $425 million refinancing, comprising a senior loan and senior and subordinate notes, is secured by a fleet of Jones Act tugs and barges collectively valued at more than $500 million. The transaction was named 2023 "Jones Act Deal of the Year" by Marine Money.
• Holland & Knight represented International Seaways Inc. in its merger with Diamond S Shipping. The merger combined two of the leading tanker companies worldwide providing energy transportation services for crude oil and petroleum products in International Flag markets. The resulting company had 100 vessels, shipping revenues of over $1 billion, more than 2,200 employees and an enterprise value of approximately $2 billion. The transaction was named 2021 "M&A Deal of the Year – Merger" by Marine Money. Subsequently, Holland & Knight represented International Seaways in its $750 million (accordion to $1 billion) senior secured credit facility led by Nordea.
• Members of our team represented the New York branch of Norway's largest financial institution in connection with a $50 million senior secured term loan facility guaranteed by the operator of the world’s largest high ice class dry bulk fleet of Panamax and post-Panamax vessels.
• Members of our team represented a premier ultra-deepwater drillship company in connection with a $550 million senior secured credit facility from one of the largest privately owned financial institutions to partially finance the purchase price of and improvements to two newbuilding ultra-deepwater drillships under construction in South Korea. The facility includes both pre-delivery construction/improvements financing and post-delivery financing.
• Members of our team represented a maritime industry investment firm in connection with a $350 million senior secured term loan guaranteed by a company that provides global marine and support transportation services to offshore energy industries, predominantly oil and gas exploration and production, and offshore wind. This transaction is an example of our significant experience representing a private credit fund in a corporate financing for a publicly traded U.S. company, secured by specific assets operating worldwide. The loan refinanced all existing debt of the transportation company, including its outstanding guaranteed notes, convertible notes and various other credit facilities. The collateral package includes U.S.- and foreign-flagged vessels.
• Members of our team represented the administrative agent, bookrunners and lenders in connection with a $75 million secured revolving credit facility to an offshore oil and gas logistics provider.
• Members of our team acted as counsel to an international bank in connection with a $570 million acquisition bridge financing to facilitate the borrower's acquisition of a fishery company in Peru, as well as all of its vessels and other assets. The acquisition allowed the borrower, one of the largest North American fisheries companies, to expand its operations and vessel fleet into South America.
• Members of our team acted as maritime counsel to a family office investment firm in connection with its acquisition of a private Jones Act owner and operator of more than 1,000 vessels and barges operating in the U.S. river, gulf and offshore waters. Following signing, the team acted as maritime counsel in connection with a new $1.1 billion asset-based lending (ABL) revolving credit facility. The team provided advice related to maritime, environmental and sanctions in connection with the acquisition, including conducting due diligence, negotiating the purchase agreement and assisting with Jones Act structuring and compliance, and advised on all aspects relating to the vessel collateral and related borrowing base requirements under the credit facility.
• Members of our team represented a private credit fund in providing mezzanine and equity financing to a U.S.-based shipowner. The proceeds of the financing were used by the borrower to finance the development of a new offshore construction vessel platform in Norway, including the acquisition of two second-hand offshore construction vessels. The team advised on all aspects of the transaction, including the mezzanine financing, intercreditor negotiation with the senior secured lender, as well as an equity investment.
• Our team represented a non-U.S. bank mortgagee of three container vessels that sought to foreclose its mortgages and have the vessels sold at a public admiralty auction in the Far East. The vessels were beneficially owned by Iranian interests and were blacklisted on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The blacklisting could have had a drastic negative effect on the ships' auction value. We obtained a face-to-face meeting with OFAC and an OFAC license for the auction that spelled out a clear delisting procedure for a purchaser.