MR JAYA PRAKASH

Jaya Prakash graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) in 1974. He was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in January 1975. Thereafter, with a break whilst he was in full-time national service, he was in legal practice until March 1998 when he became the exclusive correspondent for a well-known P&I Club.

Mr. Prakash has been a Mediator on the panel of the Singapore Mediation Centre from 1999. He was made a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2000. He has been on the panel of Singapore International Mediation Institute from 2015.

Mr Prakash is well sought after as an arbitrator in commercial, transnational and maritime disputes. He has over 40 years of experience in commercial and maritime law matters.

Mobile : +65 6435 0181
E : kjp@kjayaprakash.sg

John Prasad Menezes has over 42 years of experience in the marine industry, with over 27 years of full time job in Ship surveying and marine consultancy, and 15 years sea engagement culminating in the position of Master.

Capt. Menezes obtained his LLB from Mangalore University, and his LLM in Maritime Law from London Metropolitan University. He has provided consultancy services to premier investigation agencies and global government bodies, including the Government of India.

Capt. Menezes has handled Admiralty Claims including Collision, Salvage, Grounding, Fire, Pollution, Towage, CTL, wreck removal and other Casualties. Sale and Purchase Inspections; Loss Prevention and Risk Management Surveys as per client requirement. He works as  Flag State Safety Inspector and as Casualty Investigator for Flag Administrations. He has experience in offshore safety inspections of FPSOs, drill-ships and tankers besides Safety Inspections of Passenger Vessels.

Capt. Menezes has previously been an Independent Director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), a Trustee of New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), President of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and Director of Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).

Capt. Menezes is currently Executive Board Member/Trustee of the Nautical Institute headquartered in London. He was Deputy Chairman of the IMO Committee of the Nautical Institute and member of the Executive Council of Nautical Institute for six years. A Fellow of the Nautical Institute, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers; the first Fellow in India of the Society of Consulting Marine Engineers and Ship Surveyors and a Fellow of the Company of Master Mariners of India. He has previously been a Deputy Master of the Company of Master Mariners of India, Mumbai.

Capt. Menezes has been an Expert Witness for maritime cases since 1992, and a practising Maritime Arbitrator since 2013. He has presented various papers on Alternate Dispute Resolution at the International Conference of Maritime Arbitrators ICMA(2009) in Hamburg, at the ICMA 2015 in Hong Kong and the ICMA 2017 in Copenhagen. He is a Supporting Member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association, a Fellow of the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), and a Member of London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) – Asia Pacific Users Council. Empanelled as Arbitrator with Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (MIAC), Emirates Maritime Arbitration Center (EMAC) Dubai and Kuala Lumpur Regional Center for Arbitration (KLRCA) Malaysia.

M : +91 984 404 5888
E : johnpmenezes@gmail.com

Chee Kwan was an ASEAN Scholar and immediately after graduation from the National University of Singapore, he joined a leading law firm in Singapore. He returned to Malaysia in 1992 and was called to the Malaysian Bar in January 1993. 
In the Chambers Asia Pacific 2011 A Client's Guide, Chee Kwan has been described as 'one of the first names that comes to mind when it comes to shipping' and ' acknowledged by both clients and peers as a leading player, he is best known for his excellent capabilities in arbitration.' Chee Kwan is consistently featured in the list of 'Leading Individuals' in the Legal 500. 

Experience
Chee Kwan has over 25 years of experience in corporate commercial disputes, construction contracts disputes, receiverships, insolvency practice and disputes relating to shares and securities, litigation on shipping matters involving marine insurance, international trade and charter-party disputes, bill of lading disputes, arrest of ships and cargo claims. Chee Kwan has also acted as an arbitrator as well as counsel for parties involved in arbitration proceedings (both domestic and international) and has been a speaker in numerous conference papers on shipping and arbitration.

Sitpah Selvaratnam was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1990 and commenced her career at one of the largest law firms in Malaysia, where she later became Partner.

At the turn of the millennium, Sitpah co-founded TOMMY THOMAS.

Having graduated from Cardiff and Cambridge Universities with specialization in International Trade and Maritime Law, shipping and admiralty issues have been her passion since the mid-eighties. In 2002, Sitpah was appointed to the first Admiralty and Shipping Law Committee established by the Malaysian Bar Council and later elected its Chair, signaling recognition by her peers of her expertise in this specialised area of law. Having presented papers on the reform of the admiralty and shipping laws and practice in West Malaysia, championed the need for a Specialist Admiralty Court and initiated the two Admiralty Practice Directions which came into effect in 2007 and 2012, Sitpah continues her active involvement in shaping the nation’s maritime laws and practice. She is the founding President of the International Malaysian Society of Maritime Law, a society established in April 2016 and affiliated with Comite Maritime International.

“pre-eminent shipping litigator in Malaysia…
… an extremely hardworking and savvy advocate with a first-rate brain and the technical ability to match”
Chambers Asia
 

In her 25 plus years of practice, Sitpah has been involved in over 100 shipping In Rem and In Personam actions, including arrest of ships, charterparty and cargo disputes, collision and shipyard claims. Disputes pertaining to international trade, documentary credit, marine insurance and damage at ports and in transit fall squarely within her expertise. In the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, she represented an international bunker supplier in successfully securing judgment under a fixed price bunker supply contract against one of the largest tanker owners in the world. She continues to advocate in internationally profiled bunker disputes and to push maritime frontiers in relation to interim rights of injunction and relief.

“a leader in the field of maritime disputes. I would recommend her a thousand times”
Benchmark Asia-Pacific
 

Beyond the sphere of Maritime Law, Sitpah enjoys the additional privilege of working with consortiums of bankers and financiers in Banking and Corporate Insolvency Litigation. She is highly experienced in the intricacies of corporate receivership, rights under debt restructuring, schemes of arrangement and work-out proposals of Special Administrators. She is at her best when insolvency issues present themselves in shipping disputes.

As a member of the working committee empanelled by the Securities Commission on Asset Backed Securitisation, Sitpah has had the benefit of particular insights into the structure of issuance and enforcement of bonds. This knowledge served her well in her role as Counsel in a large bonds dispute determined by an eminent panel of international arbitrators.

“The way she handled the case was very effective and I was personally very satisfied with her – I trusted her”
Chambers Asia
 

Sitpah has earned a commendable reputation in the fields of Maritime Law and Corporate Insolvency. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is regularly appointed as arbitrator in shipping, international trade and commercial disputes by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA). She is on the panel of arbitrators of Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA) and a supporting member of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA). Sitpah has been featured in successive editions of The Asia Pacific Legal 500 since 2005 and described in its 2007/2008 publication as “…the brilliant Sitpah Selvaratnam”. She was also singled out by Shipping & Transport International, published in London in 2008, as a significant maritime personality.

‘The “outstanding” Sitpah Selvaratnam…
probably the best maritime lawyer in Malaysia’
Chambers Asia Pacific