Dennis Tan

Partner

Qualifications and Appointments
LL.B (Hons), University of Nottingham
LL.M in Maritime Law, University of Southampton
Barrister, Middle Temple, London
Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore
Solicitor, Supreme Court of England and Wales (re-qualified)
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
Commissioner for Oaths (Singapore)
Notary Public (Singapore)
Member of Parliament for Hougang

Languages and dialects
English, Chinese Mandarin, Hokkien

Membership of Professional Bodies and Associations
The Law Society of Singapore
The Singapore Academy of Law
The Law Society of England and Wales
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK (Fellow)
The Maritime Law Association of Singapore

Professional Profile
Dennis’ contentious shipping practice includes admiralty (ship arrest), cargo claims, charterparty disputes, claims arising from freight forwarding contracts, bill of lading disputes, marine insurance matters ( P&I, FD&D, H&M and cargo), enforcement of ship mortgages, bunker disputes, international sale of goods contracts disputes, crew wage and shipboard personal injury claims.

Dennis is regularly instructed by his clients as counsel in shipping arbitration cases, including both institutional and ad-hoc arbitration. DennisMathiew are one of the early corporate members of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Association. A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrator (UK), Dennis has also started accepting appointment as an arbitrator in shipping arbitration cases in recent years.

Dennis’ non-contentious shipping practice includes incorporation of shipping companies, handling of ship sale and purchase, ship registration, and ship finance. It also includes the advising and drafting of shipbuilding contracts, ship sale agreements, ship or oil rig management contracts, sale of goods contracts, charterparties, bills of lading and letters of credit wording. He frequently assists his clients in the negotiation of their business contracts.

Dennis has also advised on the incorporation of maritime security businesses in different parts of the world and the risks management and other legal issues relating to such anti-piracy businesses. Dennis also has experience in dealing with registration of fishing vessels and fishing operations and also advised on legal issues arising from fishing operations. He has also advised on contracts relating to provision of geotechnical services and surveys. He also advises regularly on legal issues relating to employment contracts and law.

Dennis believes that his experience in both contentious and non-contentious areas of legal shipping work provides an extremely unique blend of expertise which will benefit his clients when he assists them in all types of shipping matters.

Dennis regularly teaches and speaks in the areas of shipping law in Singapore and in the Asean region, whether at conferences or as part of regular courses. In 2005, Dennis was invited by the Indonesian Directorate General of Sea Transportation (DGST) and Indonesian Shipowners Association to speak on international ship arrest law. In 2005 and 2007, he was the only shipping lawyer who was invited by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to present papers at the Port of Singapore/Port of Rotterdam Port Technology Conferences in Rotterdam and Singapore, respectively. Dennis was a past adjunct lecturer on legal subjects for logistics diploma programmes organised by the Singapore Logistics Association (SLA). He was the only non-British lawyer on the editorial panel for the UK Informa maritime course on ‘An Introduction to Admiralty Law and Practice’ and wrote the chapter on English ship arrest law.

Dennis is a member of the Maritime Law Association of Singapore (MLAS)

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrator (UK), Dennis also accepts appointment as an arbitrator in shipping arbitration cases.