Harborline is the admiralty firm shipowners, charterers, and cargo interests call at 3 a.m. — for vessel arrests, casualty response, charter disputes, and the marine-insurance fights nobody else wants to take. We work in tides and time zones, not billable theatre.
Instructed before the courts, registries, and clubs that move world trade
The numbers a master wants to hear before the lines are even off.
Cargo doesn't wait for a conflict check. Harborline covers the full admiralty map — so you brief one partner, not five firms in five time zones.
Security in hours, not weeks. We arrest to enforce maritime liens and release detained tonnage against the right counter-security — coordinated across jurisdictions before the vessel sails out of reach.
Collision, grounding, fire, or pollution — a partner is on the line within hours and on a plane if the casualty warrants it.
Demurrage, off-hire, safe-port, and unpaid hire — drafted to win on the page and litigated when the other side won't pay.
Shortage, damage, and misdelivery claims pursued under Hague-Visby and the bills of lading you actually issued.
Coverage disputes, general average, and subrogated recoveries run with the clubs and underwriters — not against the clock.
A casualty is a clock. Our operating model is built so the first hour goes to protecting your position — not opening a file and finding a partner.
The lawyer who takes your first call argues the last hearing. No handoffs to a name you've never met.
Vetted local counsel and surveyors on retainer in 30+ ports, briefed and instructable the same day the call comes in.
Arrests, releases, and casualty mobilisation quoted as a fixed fee, so a crisis never turns into a billing surprise.
We deploy surveyors and preserve VDR data, deck logs, and samples before they're overwritten, painted over, or quietly lost.
Illustrative engagements across the practice. Vessel and party names withheld; the outcomes are drawn from the work itself.
Security obtained within nine hours of instruction; full hire and costs recovered before the vessel could clear the anchorage.
Coordinated salvage, GA security collection, and cargo release across four jurisdictions and 1,800 bills of lading.
Defended owners against a charterer's safe-berth warranty claim; liability apportioned and hull underwriters reimbursed in full.
Pursued a six-figure perishable-cargo claim under Hague-Visby; settled on the courthouse steps at full value.
“Our vessel was arrested on a Friday in a port we'd never operated in. Harborline had counter-security agreed before the weekend was out. They simply do not stop.”
“Most firms open a file. Harborline put a surveyor on the quay the same afternoon and saved the evidence that won the case.”
“Demurrage disputes used to drag on for a year. One partner, one number, a fixed fee — they recovered what we were owed inside a quarter.”
Three ways to keep Harborline within reach — from a single arrest to a fleet on permanent standby.
For a single arrest, release, or claim.
For fleets that need 24/7 cover.
For P&I clubs and large owners.
In most major jurisdictions we can have security in place within hours of instruction. Tell us the vessel, the port, and the claim, and we'll mobilise local counsel the same day — before she sails.
Both — and charterers, P&I clubs, and underwriters. We run a strict conflict check at intake, and we'll tell you in the first call if we can't act, so you lose no time finding someone who can.
Drafting and filing the application, securing the arrest order, coordinating service, and negotiating counter-security for release. Court fees, sheriff costs, and surveyor disbursements are billed at cost with no markup.
We litigate directly in our home courts and instruct vetted admiralty counsel in 30+ ports across the Americas, Europe, the Gulf, and Asia — all reporting to a single Harborline partner who owns your matter end to end.
Tell us the ship, the port, and what's gone wrong. A maritime partner will call you back — day or night, weekday or weekend.