Dr. Eckehard Volz

Full Profile

For many years Eckehard has been recommended and considered as one of the “leading individuals for shipping and marine insurance” in Germany. With his seagoing background and nautical experience, Eckehard is well placed to advise on all aspects of Admiralty Law, P&I and Marine Insurance as well as ship management matters. In addition to his expertise in shipping and marine insurance, Eckehard advises on the drafting and negotiation of contracts, including construction and engineering projects. As a dedicated and experienced litigator, he has extensive experience of commercial litigation and arbitration cases and has been involved in a number of major shipbuilding and high stake energy risk disputes.

Eckehard acts for shipowners, managers, charterers, pilots, P&I clubs and hull underwriters particularly on coverage issues arising out of major maritime accidents and related P&I claims. He has extensive experience of handling complex admiralty matters and has been involved in a number of high profile major casualties, including collisions, personal injury claims, fires, groundings, salvage and crane collapse cases. Eckehard's experience includes marine casualty investigation in the aftermath of an incident as well as forum shopping, ship arrests, the negotiating, litigating and arbitrating of shipping and marine insurance matters for both, the insured and for the insurers. In addition to his shipping and marine insurance practice, Eckehard has a large amount of experience in shipbuilding disputes, including in relation to delay, cancellation, shipyard insolvency, quality disputes and refund guarantee claims. He often advises suppliers of German shipyards.

As the head of the Hamburg energy team Eckehard is heavily involved in energy & offshore matters. He acts for major energy industry contractors, operators, insurers and suppliers in both the onshore and offshore sectors with a particular focus on renewables. He advises on the drafting and negotiation of contracts, including construction and engineering projects, as well as during the execution phase of offshore and infrastructure projects. His expertise covers a wide range of offshore transport, construction and installation contracts including, inter alia, FIDIC contracts and BIMCO charterparties. As a dedicated and experienced litigator, he has extensive experience of commercial litigation and arbitration cases and has been involved in a number of complex large scale energy risk and infrastructure disputes including delay, variation order, construction and engineering disputes in various jurisdictions.

Eckehard, together with Anna-Sophie Waldmann, contributed the chapter "Applying knock-for-knock in Germany“ to the book “Knock-for-Knock Indemnities and the Law - Contractual Limitation and Delictual Liability”, published in March 2023 by Taylor & Francis Ltd.  

Eckehard, leading a team, which is praised by clients for “a service of the highest standard” (Chambers Europe, 2022), is consistently recognised as a leading lawyer for maritime and shipping by leading international and German ranking publications.

In 2024, Legal 500 Germany once again ranks Eckehard as a “Leading Individual” for maritime and shipping in Germany. Chambers Europe 2024 once again recognized him as a notable practitioner for shipping in Germany, with source praising his “very good approach, keeping in mind both legal considerations and sensitivities of the case”.

Eckehard is also known as a “Thought Leader” in his field by Who’s Who Legal 2024 and appreciated for “his exceptional work on complicated marine insurance claims and contract negotiations” (Who’s Who Legal Germany, 2022). He is recommended for both transportation law and litigation by Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers.

Experience

Shipping

• Heavy weather damage on board a container vessel including the loss of cargo;
• Fire on board a passenger ferry including personal injury claims;
• Collision of two bulk carriers in Asia including forum shopping and the limitation of liability in various jurisdictions;
• Commercial dispute between salvors and hull underwriters after the grounding of a large container vessel;
• Commercial dispute between shipyard and owners’ P&I Club after the collapse of the shipyard’s 100 t crane.

Energy

• Advising an international contractor in European tender proceedings relating to a contract (FIDIC) for engineering, manufacturing, loading, transport and crane operations of WTGs for an offshore wind farm;
• Advising a steel supplier in relation to a high stake commercial litigation and arbitration case in relation to the defective construction of a transformer platform;
• Advising an employer in relation to an arbitration case dealing with the delay of the construction of a wind farm;
• Drafting and advising on the terms of a tailor made project development and management service agreement relating to the construction of a windfarm;
• Advising Dutch shipowners /contractor in relation to a dispute on the offshore employment act.