Richard Oakley
Partner
Hong Kong
T +852 2877 3221
richardoakley@incegd.com
Department Maritime Qualified England and Wales, Hong Kong Education (University) Plymouth University Languages English
Richard is a Partner with Ince and has a wealth of experience in advising and handling a full range of admiralty matters including casualty investigation, collisions, pollution, grounding and total loss cases.
Richard joined Ince in 2008 and soon relocated to the firm’s Shanghai office where he undertook many casualty investigations ‘at the sharp end’ in China and the East Asia region, coming back to London in 2012 to obtain further in-depth experience of the full range of disputes arising out of marine casualties. Richard returned to the Asia Pacific in region in 2015 joining the firm’s Hong Kong office to build upon his successful practice and is now well known in this region as a leading light in shipping casualty matters.
Prior to embarking on his legal career, Richard spent five years at a leading international P&I Club where he handled the full range of P&I and FD&D matters. Prior to that, he served for nine years in the Merchant Navy as a deck officer where he worked on a wide variety of vessel types including container ships, bulk ships, Ro Ros, ferries, passenger ships and high speed catamarans, and obtained his master mariner’s qualification.
Richard’s practice is split evenly between ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ contentious shipping work. His in depth first-hand knowledge of ship operations, both from a navigational and cargo and ship ops aspect, enables him to efficiently advise on highly technical shipping cases. Richard also has in-depth knowledge and experience of carrying out remote casualty investigations by analysing electronic data from voyage data recorders, third party AIS data and remote interviewing procedures. His advice is always practical and concise allowing his clients to get the right result in a cost effective and timely manner.
Richard is a solicitor of England and Wales and Hong Kong and regularly represents shipping clients in those courts as well as in arbitrations.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- The Law Society of England and Wales
- The Law Society of Hong Kong
- The Nautical Institute
My testimonials and accolades
My recent publications
News / Can a claimant always pick the jurisdiction with the highest limitation of liability? Round two
24-02-2022 / Maritime
Pusan Newport Co Ltd v. Owners and/or demise charterers of the ships or vessels “Milano Bridge” and “CMA CGM Musca” and “CMA CGM Hydra” (Milano Bridge) [2022] HKCA 157 We have previously reported on the first instance decision in this matter, in which the defendant Owners (represented by Ince Hong Kong) were successful in obtaining a stay of proceedings brought in Hong Kong by the plaintiff Terminal.
News / Ince recognised as a Top Ranked Leading Firm in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022
18-01-2022 / Maritime
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 results have been published; our shipping practice in China and Hong Kong retained their Tier 1 ranking, and partners Paul Ho and David Beaves ranked as "Hall of Fame" for a second consecutive year since its inception in 2020. Rosita Lau was also ranked in the “Hall of Fame” for a third consecutive year. Ince has the largest number of “Hall of Fame” shipping lawyers from a single firm on the list.
News / Ince Promotes Two Maritime Solicitors to Partner In Dubai and Hong Kong
01-10-2021 / Maritime
We are pleased to announce two new Partner promotions at Ince, Natalie Jensen in Dubai and Richard Oakley in Hong Kong.
Insights / Can a claimant always pick the jurisdiction with the highest limitation of liability?
27-05-2021 / Maritime
Pusan Newport Co Ltd v. The Owners and/or Demise Charterers of the ships or vessels “Milano Bridge” and “CMA CGM Musca” and “CMA CGM Hydra” [2021] HKCFI 1283
Podcasts / 'Collisions: why are they still happening?' webinar series
01-07-2020 / Maritime
Webinar series, 'Collisions: why are they still happening?', hosted by the Ince Admiralty team. The series of four webinars explore the COLREGS and why collisions are still happening, and considers calls for changes to the COLREGS to accommodate autonomous ships. These webinars use a combination of case studies, Q&A and technical insight.
News / Ince Asia Team successfully held the third mock arbitration in China on 11 July in Guangzhou, with a full-house.
17-07-2019 /
The mock arbitration simulated an actual hearing of a Hong Kong international arbitration involving an international trade dispute that has shipping, trade, insurance and contract aspects, in line with one of the important roles that Hong Kong is playing under China’s Greater Bay Area initiative, that is, the role of being the legal services centre and dispute resolution centre of the world.
News / 3 ships, 2 collisions and 1 judgment
09-06-2017 / Maritime
On 2 June the Hong Kong Admiralty Court handed down judgment in a case involving two collisions which happened within three minutes of each other
