Dr Eckehard Volz advises shipowners and insurers on complex shipping, ship management and marine insurance matters, and advises contractors and offshore industry stakeholders on high-value energy and infrastructure projects and disputes across multiple jurisdictions.

Eckehard advises clients on complex shipping, admiralty and marine insurance matters across the full spectrum of blue- and brown-water operations, with a particular focus on casualty response, ship management and high-value disputes.

He has extensive experience handling sophisticated shipping disputes and has been involved in numerous high-profile blue- and brown-water casualties across multiple jurisdictions. His practice includes advising shipowners, charterers, operators, pilots, P&I Clubs and international insurers on liability issues, coverage disputes, subrogation claims, charterparty disputes, arrest and declaratory proceedings, and the criminal prosecution of crew members.

He also represents suppliers and contractors in shipbuilding disputes, including matters involving delay, cancellation, shipyard insolvency, quality issues and refund guarantee claims. In addition, he advises clients nationally and internationally on strategic operations, contract negotiations, and corporate and regulatory matters.

In the energy and infrastructure sector, he advises on the drafting and negotiation of transport, engineering, construction and installation contracts, including FIDIC contracts and BIMCO charterparties. He supports clients throughout all phases of onshore and offshore projects, with a particular focus on renewable energy. Since 2007, he has played a key role in the majority of offshore wind farm developments in the Baltic Sea, the North Sea (German EEZ) and off Taiwan.

As an experienced litigator, he represents clients in complex commercial litigation and arbitration proceedings (GMAA, DIS, ICC), handling high-value shipping, energy and infrastructure disputes across multiple jurisdictions. He regularly acts for leading contractors and suppliers in significant construction and engineering projects.

Dr Eckehard Volz is widely recognised as one of Germany’s leading maritime and admiralty lawyers, particularly in high-profile casualty, charterparty and marine insurance disputes. He is consistently ranked among the leading practitioners in shipping and marine insurance by major international and German legal directories.

He is ranked Band 1 for Shipping in Germany (Chambers Germany 2025 and 2026) and recognised as a Leading Individual for Maritime & Shipping (Legal 500 Germany 2025). He is also consistently recognised by Best Lawyers / Handelsblatt for Transportation Law and Litigation and named a Thought Leader for Shipping & Marine Insurance (Who’s Who Legal 2024 and 2025).

Clients commend his “very good approach, keeping in mind both legal considerations and sensitivities of the case” (Chambers Germany) and describe his service as being “of the highest standard” (Chambers Europe). Clients note that he has “consistently delivered commercially viable and strategically sound solutions tailored to his clients’ needs” (Legal 500 Germany).

Transport (Shipping)

Casualty, Marine Insurance & Regulatory

• Acting for owners, hull insurers and the P&I Club in connection with a serious collision in fog involving two seagoing vessels, including casualty investigations, recourse and salvage claims, and claims by cargo interests and time charterers under general average and C/P.
• Acting for owners and insurers following the structural failure of an inland waterway vessel during loading operations, including declaration proceedings, recourse actions against the shipyard, and advice on coverage issues under the T&H insurance policy.
• Advising owners and the P&I Club in relation to a serious cruise ship accident on the Rhine resulting in severe personal injuries and oil pollution.
• Acting for pilots in connection with damage to a high-voltage power line; representation included the maritime casualty investigation, defense against civil damages claims, and representation of the ship’s crew and pilots in lengthy criminal proceedings.
• Acting for insurers on limitation of liability and forum shopping issues, as well as coverage disputes under ADS/DTV hull insurance arising from severe damage to a shore crane caused by a seagoing vessel.
• Advising an international insurance broker on coverage issues under war risk insurance and revising policy terms and conditions, taking into account ADS/DTV hull insurance, the Norwegian Plan and ITCH.

Shipping Disputes & Arbitration

• Acting for owners, managers and insurers in relation to a crankshaft defect on a seagoing vessel, including pursuing warranty claims against the engine manufacturer and a Chinese shipyard before the courts, and defending charterer claims in arbitration.
• Acting for owners following a seagoing vessel severing a submarine cable off the coast of Egypt, including arrest proceedings and defense of purchasers’ claims under the MOA in a complex cross-border dispute.

Commercial Shipping & Contractual Structuring

• Advising an international ship management company on the structuring and drafting of a multi-tier contractual framework for head and sub-shipman contracts, including advice in relation to the Sanctions Manual.
• Advising a tanker shipping company and management firm on the acquisition of tankers and the purchase of its own terminal for the landing and handling of gas tankers.
• Advising an international electrical engineering supplier in connection with the insolvency of a shipyard, including defense against substantial insolvency clawback claims and strategic advice concerning payment delays during the ship construction phase.

Energy & Infrastructure

Offshore Wind Projects & Construction Disputes

• Acting for a Malaysian contractor in a high-value, multi-jurisdictional dispute following termination of a contract for the transport and installation of 80 monopile foundations for an offshore wind farm in the Strait of Taiwan (DIS proceedings).
• Acting for a consortium of two steel contractors in multi-party ICC proceedings involving large-scale defect claims under an EPCI contract for an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.
• Advising a Spanish contractor during contract negotiations for the construction, transport and installation of offshore transformer platforms and throughout the execution phase, particularly in relation to claims management and disputes with the employer before the German state courts.
• Acting for a shipyard and contractor in large-scale proceedings concerning price adjustment clauses and weight increase claims.

Offshore Chartering & Maritime Logistics

• Advising a Norwegian shipowner in relation to the award and subsequent dispute (GMAA) under a long-term charter contract for the transport and installation of cables for an offshore wind farm in the German EEZ.
• Advising Dutch and Greek shipowners on the drafting and negotiation of BIMCO charterparties relating to OSV and CTV operations with grid operators.
• Acting for a Dutch shipowner on a T&I contract for the installation of monopile foundations for a wind farm project in Taiwan, including variation order disputes and delay claims, and pursuing claims for EOT and additional costs (DIS).
• Assisting a Chinese shipowner with the drafting and negotiation of long-term charterparties for the transport of foundations and related port lease agreements.

Procurement & Infrastructure Projects

• Advising an international contractor in European procurement proceedings concerning a FIDIC contract for engineering, fabrication, loading, transportation and crane operations for WTGs in connection with an offshore wind farm project.
• Assisting a German terminal operator with the set-up of a battery storage area, including drafting and negotiation of project contracts.

• German Maritime Arbitration Association (GMAA)
• German Arbitration Institute (DIS)
• International Bar Association (IBA)
• German Maritime Law Association (DVIS)
• WindEnergy Agency WAB
• Nautischer Verein Hamburg
• Nautischer Verein Brunsbüttel
• Dampfeisbrecher Stettin (Association)
• Internationale Vereinigung zur Wahrnehmung der gemeinsamen Interessen der Binnenschifffahrt und der Versicherung und zur Führung des Binnenschiffsregisters in Europa (IVR)
   

• Bergungsrisiko und Versicherung
  Eckehard Volz, DNV Brunsbüttel (January 2016)
• Organisationsverschulden im Binnenschiffahrts- und Seerecht
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (November 2016)
• EU ETS for Shipping - Germany and Spain
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (June 2023)
• Purchase of a ship – mind the vessel’s documents
  Eckehard Volz, Bridge Look – GD online publication (January 2024)
• Die Haftung der See- und Hafenlosten in Deutschland
  Eckehard Volz, Logbuch des Deutschen Nautischen Vereins (Januar 2025)
• FuelEU Maritime Series - Legal issues
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (December 2024)
• FuelEU Maritime Series - Contractual Allocation of Responsibility Between Shipowners and Charterers and Shipowners and Managers under the 2024 BIMCO Clauses
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (Juni 2025)
• Handbuch Nautik (industry commentary) 
  Co-author of the chapter “Seeverkehrsrecht” (ColRegs / SeeSchStrO)
  Eckehard Volz, forthcoming 2026
• LogR (Zeitschrift für Logistikrecht)
  Havarie in der Schifffahrt: wenn niemand schuld ist – aber einer zahlt
  Eckehard Volz, forthcoming 2026

PUBLICATIONS: Energy & Infrastructure

• The German Offshore Wind Act - what’s new
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (April 2019)
• COVID-19 in the offshore wind industry - still a force majeure event under German law?
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (March 2021)
• Taiwan Offshore Wind Series: Introduction to the Taiwanese Offshore Wind Market
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (April 2021)
• Taiwan Offshore Wind Series: Offshore Construction Works - Ships and Vessels
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (May 2021)
• Taiwan Offshore Wind Series: Dispute resolution and other security matters
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (June 2021)
• Taiwan Offshore Wind Series: Insights on the regulatory framework for contractors in the Taiwanese offshore market
  Eckehard Volz,  online publication (July 2021)
• The German Offshore Wind Energy Act - An update
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (November 2021)
• Opportunities and challenges in Floating Offshore Wind
  Eckehard Volz, online publication (January 2022)
• Applying Knock-for-Knock in Germany (with Anna-Sophie Waldmann)
  Chapter in: Knock-for-Knock Indemnities and the Law – Contractual Limitation and Delictual Liability, Taylor & Francis (March 2023)

CONTACT

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