cseah@resourcelawasia.com
Tel: +65 6805 7358
Collin Seah
Director
Collin is a commercial lawyer with over 27 years of experience in a wide range of advisory, litigation, appellate, arbitration and regulatory cases, ranging from commodities, shipping and maritime, shareholder, and IT disputes, to cross-border environmental class action lawsuits, insurance recoveries and sanctions advice.
Collin acts as both solicitor and counsel in litigation, appellate and arbitration cases, having acted for a listed shipyard against its auditors for substantial unauthorised foreign exchange losses, for one of Singapore’s wealthiest individuals in a lawsuit for breach of directors duties, for HSBC to get freezing orders in relation to mis-selling of financial products, for IBM in an IT implementation dispute with a Singapore Statutory Board, and for a Singapore Statutory Board in a judicial review claim.
Collin is currently counsel in among others, an ongoing cross-border environmental class action law suit for oil pollution and a complex ship collision trial.
Collin has also advised on many commercial and regulatory issues, from sale of goods disputes and claims arising from the grounding of helicopters manufactured by a European corporation, to regulatory duties arising from ownership of a VLCC jetty, ownership rights of an oil pipeline, potential liabilities arising from pollution from oil refinery and storage facilities, a troubled government IT project in Hong Kong, and the impact of UN and US sanctions on certain entities.
In shipping and maritime, Collin has handled numerous shipping casualties and disasters (fires, sinkings, groundings and collisions), in addition to more routine disputes involving charteparties, MOAs, and cargo claims.
Collin is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, an Associate Mediator on the Maritime Panel of the Singapore Mediation Centre, and a representative of the Singapore Law Society on the Singapore Admiralty Court Users Committee.
Professional Admissions / Qualifications
- Singapore
- Fellow of The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators
- Associate Mediator, Maritime Panel, Singapore Mediation Centre
Languages
- English
Professional Affiliations
- Member of The Law Society of Singapore
- Representative of the Singapore Law Society on the Singapore Admiralty Court Users Committee
- Defending bunker barge owners against summary judgment claims following the collapse of O.W. Bunker, for delivery of bunkers without production of bills of lading, reported in The “Star Quest” [2016] 3 SLR 1280
- Acting for a company in the High Court and Court of Appeal to recover in excess of S$3.5 million from a director liable to account, reported in Alphire Group Pte Ltd v. Law Chau Loon [2017] SGHC 297
- Acting for P.T. Berlian Laju Tanker Tbk in relation to transfer of 24 tankers as part of its restructuring
- Acting for HSBC Australia to get freezing orders in relation to mis-selling of investment products
- Acting for the owners of “POE Giant 12” which ran aground on Pedra Branca, including liaising with the port authority and contractors for the removal of the wreck and cargo
- Acting in SIAC arbitration for a SGX listed shipyard against its auditors for substantial losses in excess of $250m from unauthorised FX transactions
- Acting for Mr Peter Lim in disputes with Raffles Town Club involving among others, allegations of breach of directors’ duties and conspiracy, reported in RTC v Peter Lim & Others [2010] SGHC 163 (High Court) and [2013] 1 SLR 374 (Court of Appeal)
- Acting for IBM Singapore in a IT contract dispute with the Singapore Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board over an IT system turnkey project
- Acting for P&O Australia in a shareholder oppression claim, reported in Ng Sing King v. PSA International Pte Ltd [2003] 3 SLR(R) 591 (High Court) and [2005] 2 SLR 56 (High Court)
- Acting for United Overseas Bank Ltd to obtain a successful foreclosure of Springleaf Tower, related proceedings reported in Hong Leong Singapore Finance Ltd United Overseas Bank Ltd [2007] 1 SLR(R) 292
- Acting for Metro Holdings Ltd in relation to the sinking of its passenger ship, “SUN VISTA” in the Straits of Malacca and subsequent hull and machinery insurance claim
- Acting for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to preserve its priority over port dues, reported in The ‘Hurst’ [1999] 1 SLR 237 (High Court) and Planmarine AG v. MPA [1999] 2 SLR 1 (Court of Appeal)
- Acting for the (then) Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) in a judicial review of its decision to deny berthing rights to a cruise ship providing casino gambling on “cruises to nowhere”, reported in Lines International Holding (S) Pte Ltd v. STPB [1997] 1 SLR(R) 52
- Acting for the Allseas Group, the owners of the dynamically-positioned pipe-laying vessel ‘Solitaire’, in their dispute with Sembawang Shipyard over the conversion of the vessel
- Advising on potential claims arising from grounding of helicopters manufactured by a European corporation
- Advising on potential liabilities arising from pollution from oil refinery and storage facilities
- Advising on regulatory liabilities arising from ownership of a VLCC jetty
- Advising on ownership rights over an oil pipeline
- Advising a US-listed insurance company on Lehman Brothers-related Minibonds including potential regulatory breaches, investigations by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and resolution of disputes
- Advising on statutory and leasehold rights in relation to land reclamation on Jurong Island
- Acting for a transnational IT corporation to investigate a troubled IT government project in Hong Kong