Mark Johnson
Mark has extensive experience negotiating and documenting large-scale and complex maritime and offshore projects including advising in relation to ownership structures, construction, conversion, sale and purchase, financing, management, operation, pooling, repair, refit and recycling of different types of vessel (including FPSOs, FLNGs, FRSUs, drilling rigs, LNGCs, wind turbine installation vessels, autonomous vessels and superyachts).
Mark is co-chair of both the firm’s Shipping practice and the firm’s Autonomous Transportation practice. He regularly speaks and writes on a wide variety of shipping, offshore energy and autonomous vessel related topics. He has more than 25 years of experience in the maritime and legal fields, including time as captain of a ship.
Mark’s experience includes:
- Acting for a leading FPSO owner/operator in drafting and negotiation of FPSO EPCIC contract and finance lease (US$ 2 billion-plus).
- Acting for a leading owner/operator of wind turbine installation vessels in relation to the drafting and negotiation of construction contracts with various builders for new wind turbine installation vessels
- Acting for a vessel owner/operator in drafting and negotiation of offshore coal transshipment services contracts with a power station operator and associated conversion contract with shipyard for the conversion of a bulk carrier to an offshore transshipment vessel.
- Acting for the buyer in distressed ship sale and purchase (US$200 million-plus) of a deep water pipelayer and construction vessel and associated remotely operated vehicles (including coordination of cross-jurisdictional and bankruptcy risk matters).
- Acting for leading offshore contractor in relation to acquisition arrangements (and bareboat chartering and sub-bareboat chartering) of 7th generation drill ship (US$200 million-plus).
- Acting for an offshore drilling unit owner/operator in relation to the arrangements for the disposal of various of its rigs for conversion or for recycling.
- Drafting pro-forma ship sale and purchase agreements (with associated negotiating commentary) for one of the world’s largest container lines.
- Advising an FPSO owner/operator on the sale and purchase of an FPSO (including dovetailing sale and purchase transaction with cross-jurisdictional requirements of wider project for sale and purchase of oilfield offshore Brazil and continued field operations of the FPSO).
- Representing a private client in the negotiations of the purchase (US$200 million-plus) and later sale of one of the world’s largest superyachts.
Mark is individually ranked in the shipping section of Chambers UK 2023-2024, (Chambers and Partners) with noted strengths:
“Mark is very responsive and thorough, very aware of commercial elements, and has an excellent depth and breadth of knowledge." and
“He has a professional approach; he is very willing to understand commercial and operational stresses with legal frameworks”
He is also recommended in the Shipping section of the 2023-2024 editions of The Legal 500 UK (Legalese) and the 2021 edition lauds him as “cooperative and proactive in his advice.”
- Represented an oil major in relation to the disposal of its entire VLCC and product tanker fleet, including dovetailing inspection and transfer arrangements to avoid disruption of any of the crude oil supply commitments of the oil major.
- Representing the seller of a semi-submersible drilling unit relation to the sale of the unit and subsequent delivery arrangements for unit related equipment in multiple jurisdictions.
- Advising an offshore drilling operator its negotiation with a leading Asian shipyard for the construction contract for a semi-submersible drilling unit.
- Advised a shipyard in the negotiations of a construction contract for an aggregate dredging vessel.
- Advised one of the world’s largest commodities houses on vessel ownership, employment and management structures (including sale and leaseback arrangements) and negotiating and managing transaction process for the acquisition and bareboat chartering of numerous shipbuilding contracts and second-hand vessels delivering into the structures.
- Represented a private equity fund in relation to undertaking due diligence and structuring acquisition arrangements for purchase of a number of tanker pool companies.
- Represented a shipyard in relation to the negotiation with another shipyard (and with construction supervisor) for the construction (and supervision of construction), transportation and commissioning of one of the world’s largest floating drydocks.
- Advised a shipyard in the negotiation of the construction contract for a sub-sea mining vessel.
- Represented a Middle Eastern drilling company in the acquisition of numerous jack-up rigs, including acquisition of rig construction contracts mid-construction as well as the acquisition (and transportation arrangements) of distressed sale second-hand units in West Africa.
- Represented numerous buyers and sellers in the sale and purchase of sail and powered superyachts from 30m to 100m plus (and also advised in relation to associated flagging, crewing and technical management arrangements).
- "Conversion Contracts - Commercial Benefits but not Without Challenges," co-author, Haynes Boone brochure, January 5, 2023.
Education
LL.B., College of Law, 2008, first class honours
Graduate Diploma in Law, College of Law, 2007, distinction
B.Sc., Royal Holloway University of London, 1998, first class honours
Languages
Dutch
Admissions
England and Wales
The 2012 Norwegian Saleform (the “NSF 2012”) continues to form the contractual basis of the majority of vessel sale and purchase transactions (despite the introduction of SHIPSALE 2022). Clause 2 of the NSF 2012 requires the buyer to lodge a deposit in an interest- bearing account with the deposit holder “as security for the correct fulfillment” of the agreement. The deposit, which will be 10% of [...]
New Workboat Code Includes Remotely Operated Unmanned Vessels for First Time
January 26, 2024
