Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Insolvency definition

What does Insolvency mean? In practice, insolvency describes a financial state where a debtor cannot meet liabilities when due, triggering remedies such as administration, liquidation or bankruptcy and informing directors’ duties and avoidance claims. For companies in England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, the Insolvency Act 1986, s 123 sets two alternative tests: - Cash‑flow insolvency: an inability to pay debts as they fall due. The inquiry is practical and forward‑looking, not confined to today’s bills (Re Patrick & Lyon Ltd [1933] Ch 786; BNY Corporate Trustee Services Ltd v Eurosail [2013] UKSC 28). - Balance‑sheet insolvency: liabilities (including contingent and prospective liabilities) exceed assets on...

Maritime Insolvency Guide: Admiralty Jurisdiction, Liens, Rights in Rem, Vessel Arrest and Judicial Sale, Priority Conflicts and Arbitration in Cross-border Shipping

Published by a LexisNexis Restructuring & Insolvency expert

Practice notes

Insolvency law and admiralty or shipping/maritime law

Insolvency and admiralty or shipping/maritime law routinely involve cross-border dealings and assets spread across several jurisdictions. Over time, each area has developed mechanisms to recognise foreign legal regimes and to move towards Harmonisation, whether through evolving practice or by unifying Rules via international conventions. Nevertheless, these disciplines have largely progressed independently, paying limited attention to one another. As a result, although both seek international coherence, real points of friction have emerged between insolvency and maritime practice, which parties confronting a maritime insolvency must carefully consider...

The principal obstacle to conventional insolvency pathways is the range of rights held by stakeholders in the shipping sphere over the key Tangible assets of shipowners—namely, vessels—arising under:

internationally recognised traditional maritime law (maritime liens)
international conventions, for example the International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, Brussels 1952 (the ‘Brussels Convention’) (arts 1–2)
local statute, such as the Senior Courts Act 1981 in England or the Admiralty Jurisdiction Regulation Act 105 of 1983 in South Africa

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Andrew Rigden Green

Watson Farley & Williams

Andrew is a Partner in the Maritime and Dispute Resolution groups at Watson Farley & Williams.Andrew’s experience spans corporate and commercial disputes, international arbitration, shipping and offshore construction. His practice includes FD&D, P&I, shareholder, corporate, trust and private wealth, joint venture and sale and purchase disputes across several industries including maritime, aviation, oil and gas and LNG. He is also experienced with energy transition matters and in particular maritime decarbonisation.His clients primarily include most of the IG P&I Clubs, shipowners, Chinese SOEs, Japanese trading houses and corporates in the oil and gas sector, Hong Kong and Singapore-based UHNWIs, Chinese, Taiwanese and Hong Kong privately owned companies as well as European and US companies operating in Asia. Andrew also works with environment focussed NGOs and governmental bodies on projects to decarbonise the maritime industry....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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