A lone cargo ship crossing open, deep-blue ocean under a clear sky

13.08° N · 80.27° E — Chennai Anchorage

Charterparties, cargo claims,
and everything at sea.

Boutique admiralty counsel on the Chennai waterfront — for owners, charterers, cargo interests and their insurers, when a fixture goes wrong or a vessel needs holding to account.

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High Court of MadrasAdmiralty jurisdiction

24 / 7Vessel-arrest response

15+ yearsat the Chennai bar

Bay of Bengal& the East–West trades

The house & its heading

We advise the people who move the world's cargo — and step in when the sea, the schedule or the paperwork turns against them. One tide, one file, seen through to release.

Harbourne Maritime is a small, senior practice built around admiralty and shipping work: charterparties and their disputes, cargo claims and recoveries, ship arrest and marine casualty. We keep the desk deliberately narrow so the partner you meet is the partner who runs your matter.

Our clients are shipowners and managers, charterers and traders, freight forwarders, P&I clubs and cargo underwriters — across Indian ports and the trades that connect them to the Gulf and the Far East.

08Ports regularly worked, from Ennore to Jebel Ali

Same-dayArrest, caveat & security applications where the tide demands

Hague-VisbyCargo claims under the Rules and the Indian COGSA

Partner-ledNo file handed down a chain of juniors

Where we practise

Three currents, one chart.

Most maritime disputes are one of three things: a contract that failed, cargo that did not arrive whole, or a ship that must be held. We are built to run all three, and to know where they meet.

Container ships moored at a terminal berth in the evening

Charterparties & shipping contracts

We draft, review and litigate the contracts that carry cargo — voyage and time charters, contracts of affreightment, bills of lading and booking notes on NYPE, BALTIME and GENCON terms. When a fixture goes wrong, we move quickly on the money.

Voyage & time charters, COAs and fixtures
Laytime, demurrage & despatch
Off-hire, speed-and-consumption & performance claims
Unsafe port / unsafe berth disputes
London & Singapore arbitration, LMAA terms

Aerial view of colourful shipping containers stacked in a port yard

Cargo claims & bills of lading

For shippers, receivers, forwarders and their underwriters, we pursue and defend cargo claims — shortage, damage, contamination, misdelivery and delay — under the Hague, Hague-Visby and Indian Carriage of Goods by Sea rules, and we handle subrogated recoveries end to end.

Shortage, damage & contamination
Misdelivery & letters of indemnity
Reefer failure & temperature-controlled cargo
General average & salvage contributions
Subrogated recovery for cargo underwriters

A large container ship berthed at an industrial harbour, in monochrome

Admiralty, ship arrest & casualty

We arrest and release vessels through the admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court of Madras, and we respond around the clock to casualties — collision, grounding, salvage, wreck and pollution. Security, caveats and sale pendente lite handled the same day where the tide demands it.

Ship arrest, release & caveats against arrest
P&I club letters of undertaking & security
Collision, grounding & salvage
Limitation of liability & wreck removal
Casualty response for masters, owners & agents

Ports served

Charted across the Bay of Bengal and beyond.

From the Chennai anchorage we work the coast north to Visakhapatnam and Haldia, south to Tuticorin and Colombo, and out along the East–West trades to Singapore and the Gulf.

Bearings taken from the Chennai outer anchorage — rhumb-line, approximate.

Distances in nautical miles from Chennai (13.08° N, 80.27° E).
Port	Bearing	Distance	What we work there
Chennai	Datum	—	Home port · High Court admiralty
Ennore (Kamarajar)	012°	18 nm	Coal, LNG & project cargo
Kattupalli	015°	22 nm	Container & shipbuilding
Visakhapatnam	028°	330 nm	Bulk trades & repairs
Tuticorin (V.O.C.)	203°	335 nm	Transhipment & bunker calls
Colombo	198°	375 nm	Regional transhipment hub
Singapore	108°	1,570 nm	East–West gateway & arbitration
Jebel Ali (Dubai)	288°	1,880 nm	Gulf trades & casualty response

How a matter runs

The passage plan.

We run every instruction the way a master runs a voyage — through the four stages of a passage plan. It keeps costs honest and the destination in view from the first call.

01 — Appraisal

Appraisal

We read the file the way you read a chart: merits, jurisdiction, time bars and the commercial stakes — assessed plainly before a rupee is committed.

02 — Planning

Planning

A route is set: forum, security, evidence and the sequence of moves, with the likely cost and downside mapped in language you can act on.

03 — Execution

Execution

We act on the tide — arrest and security, notices and pleadings, negotiation or trial — without losing the days that decide a shipping matter.

04 — Monitoring

Monitoring

Every file is watched to its conclusion: enforcement, recovery and release, with the position reported to you rather than buried in the file.

Counsel

Senior hands on every line.

Three partners, one arrest desk, and the deliberate absence of a long chain of juniors. When you call, you reach the person who will argue the matter.

Aravind Nair

Senior Partner & Founder

Fifteen-plus years at the Chennai bar in charterparty and casualty work, advising owners, managers and P&I clubs. Leads the firm's arbitration practice on LMAA and SCMA terms.

Meera Rajagopal

Partner — Cargo & Marine Insurance

Runs the cargo-claims and recovery practice for underwriters and forwarders, from reefer failures to general average. Solicitor of the High Court of Madras.

Suhas Menon

Partner — Admiralty & Arrest

Heads vessel arrest and casualty response, on call for masters and agents around the clock. Handles security, caveats and sale pendente lite.

A ship under arrest doesn't wait for office hours.

Whether it's a laytime dispute, a cargo shortage or a vessel to be held before she sails, tell us the position. The first consultation is on us.

Request a consultation Message us on WhatsApp +91 93157 76817

Charterparties, cargo claims,and everything at sea.