A report released by shipping and maritime law firm HFW has revealed that London remains the epicentre of the global maritime arbitration market despite numerous suggestions that Brexit will adversely affect the British capital position in the maritime industry.
The report revealed that London makes up more than 80% of maritime activity across the world.
Following HFW’s analysis of data from 13 major maritime institutions, it was concluded that London managed around 1,500 maritime arbitrations in 2017.
During the same period, Singapore managed 140 while Hong Kong handled around 100 maritime arbitrations.
After local law, the study also revealed that English law is the most commonly chosen law in arbitrations globally across all sectors.
In 2017, English law was the applicable law in 85% of all the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) arbitrations in 2017.

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By GlobalDataHFW partner Craig Neame said: “There has been a lot of debate about whether London will lose business as a result of Brexit. Our research clearly shows that, when it comes to shipping disputes, London is still the clear market leader, and we see nothing to suggest that will change in the foreseeable future.
“Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to be attractive to companies operating in Asia, and Dubai and the Nordic countries will develop a larger arbitration caseload once EMAC and NOMA become more established.
“But English law will remain a popular choice among those in the shipping industry and we expect London to continue to attract the majority of maritime arbitrations.”