A purpose-built resolution protocol for shipping disputes. One neutral team guides the entire journey — from Resolution Readiness Diagnostic to agreed Heads of Terms — resolving complex, multi-party, cross-border disputes in months, with fixed fee certainty and at a fraction of the cost of traditional law-firm-led dispute resolution.
A neutral team of former shipping dispute lawyers from leading international law firms — now acting as mediators — guiding parties from dispute to resolution. One neutral team, start to finish. Your solution. Our focus.
Every day without resolution carries a cost. Not just in legal fees — cashflow is impacted, management focus is diverted and commercial relationships fracture.
The Strait of Hormuz crisis has not created new legal principles. It has amplified the commercial urgency of familiar disputes across multiple parties, contracts and jurisdictions — often simultaneously.
SeaSolveX is designed to resolve complex shipping disputes at pace — because your needs are time-sensitive and the commercial cost of delay is real.
This protocol gives every party the room to be heard, to voice their concerns and needs, and to step back from entrenched emotion into a more cooperative dialogue. The alternative is years of litigation or arbitration, with no cap on legal fees and a drain on senior management time.
It was built for exactly this moment: an expert-led resolution that delivers a legally compliant outcome, at a fractional cost of litigation, in months, not years.
A structured, end-to-end mediation service — from initial Resolution Readiness Diagnostic through to signed Heads of Terms. Every stage is carefully prepared, expertly managed and purpose-built to maximise the prospects of meaningful resolution.
The individual closest to the dispute completes a brief, confidential online Resolution Readiness Diagnostic. You receive a personalised Resolution Readiness Report identifying whether the matter is suitable for SeaSolveX mediation and providing valuable early insight. Before committing to anything, you gain clarity on the issues driving the dispute, early identification of risks and opportunities, insight into the most effective route to resolution, and reduced management time and unnecessary legal spend.
Where mediation is appropriate and the parties are ready to mediate, we issue our Terms of Engagement and commence the preliminary stages. Fixed fees are agreed upfront and payable in two instalments aligned to key stages of the engagement.
Prior to mediation, all parties undertake the SeaSolveX readiness pathway — entering the mediation phase informed, prepared and positioned to engage constructively from the outset. This culminates in a professionally authored, jurisdictionally informed DPS: a comprehensive strategic reference document capturing the factual landscape, key issues, stakeholder positions and relevant considerations.
The DPS remains a valuable strategic asset regardless of outcome. Should the dispute proceed beyond mediation, it provides an informed, organised and robust foundation — enabling lawyers to advance the matter without the delay, duplication and substantial cost of reconstructing complex shipping disputes at uncapped premium hourly rates.
Through carefully managed shuttle diplomacy and confidential caucuses, we meet each party separately to identify underlying interests, test assumptions, narrow the differences and explore commercially viable solutions.
Drawing on strategic negotiation technique, deep industry insight and objective reality-testing, we work to bridge gaps and build consensus — with one single focus: a practical, commercially sensible outcome the parties can confidently rely and act on.
What the parties agree is captured in robust, legally compliant Heads of Terms — executed by authorised signatories before anyone leaves the process.
A £10M claim, won twenty-four months from now, at £500K–£1M in legal fees, on a public award that sets a precedent for disputes you have not yet had — is rarely the same thing as a commercially intelligent resolution.
| Litigation / Arbitration | SeaSolveX | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost basis | Uncapped hourly billing | Fixed fee |
| Legal fee (per party) | USD 500,000 – 1M+ | Agreed from day one |
| Timeline | 18 months to several years | Weeks to months |
| Control of outcome | Decided by judge or arbitrator | Decided by the parties |
| Confidentiality | Court judgment sets binding precedent | Private and without prejudice throughout |
| Commercial relationship | Frequently destroyed | Protected wherever possible |
| Enforceability | Court judgment / NYC award | Signed Heads of Terms (Singapore Convention) |
| Management time | Consumed for years | Freed within weeks |
| Contractual clock | Runs throughout | Engagement structured to pause |
Two UK-qualified solicitors with more than 60 years of combined experience advising on shipping disputes across courts, arbitrations, mediations and high-stakes commercial negotiations worldwide. Acting as neutral co-mediators, they combine strategic thinking, rigorous analysis and calm leadership under pressure to help parties cut through complexity, identify common ground and focus on commercially sensible outcomes.
Their focus is not on winning arguments. It is on helping parties resolve disputes in the most effective, practical, commercial and cost-conscious manner possible.
A UK-qualified Solicitor with more than two decades of international experience resolving complex, multi-party, multi-jurisdictional shipping and commercial disputes across the UK, the Middle East and Asia — including at DLA Piper and Al Tamimi & Company. The architect of the SeaSolveX protocol, known for her commercial acumen, strategic thinking, cultural intelligence and calm leadership under pressure.
Janci is a specialist in multi-party, multi-jurisdictional matters, commercial negotiation and litigation mitigation. She has advised shipowners, charterers, insurers, traders and multinational corporations on high-stakes matters across multiple jurisdictions. Her career spans leading international law firms in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia, including DLA Piper, one of the world's largest law firms, and Al Tamimi & Company, the Middle East's leading law firm. Her early career included extensive work throughout the Far East, advising international shipping interests and developing a deep understanding of the commercial and cultural dynamics that shape cross-border business relationships.
Known for her commercial acumen, strategic thinking and calm leadership under pressure, she combines rigorous legal analysis with a pragmatic understanding of what businesses need to move forward, and is particularly skilled at identifying creative pathways to resolution. Drawing on these insights, Janci architected SeaSolveX — a purpose-built protocol merging the best of litigation, arbitration, negotiation and mediation. She is recognised for her exceptional emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence in cross-border negotiations, founded on a simple principle: successful dispute resolution requires more than legal expertise — it requires judgment, commercial insight, cultural awareness and a deep understanding of the people behind the dispute.
A UK-qualified Solicitor and Cambridge graduate with more than 35 years of international experience across the shipping, trade, logistics, transport and insurance sectors — in both private practice and senior in-house roles, including CMA CGM, Clifford Chance, Holman Fenwick Willan, Charles Russell Speechlys and Hadef & Partners. He specialises in complex, multi-party, multi-jurisdictional disputes spanning trade finance, sanctions, commodities and supply-chain operations.
His career spans both private practice and senior in-house roles, giving him a rare combination of legal expertise and commercial insight into the realities facing businesses operating across global markets. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Jonathan has held leadership positions at some of the most respected organisations in the maritime sector, including CMA CGM, one of the world's largest shipping and logistics groups, and leading international law firms including Clifford Chance, Holman Fenwick Willan, Charles Russell Speechlys and Hadef & Partners. Earlier in his career he specialised in shipping and insurance law in London before moving to the Middle East, where he has spent more than two decades advising international businesses on complex cross-border matters.
He is highly experienced in managing multi-party, multi-jurisdictional disputes involving shipping, trade finance, logistics, commodities, aviation, sanctions, banking and supply-chain operations, representing shipping lines, commodity traders, international banks, insurers, logistics providers and multinational corporations in arbitration, litigation, commercial negotiations and alternative dispute resolution. Clients value Jonathan for his commercial judgment, strategic perspective and ability to navigate complexity while maintaining focus on practical outcomes — reflecting a core SeaSolveX principle: successful dispute resolution requires not only legal expertise, but also commercial understanding, sound judgment and the ability to align diverse interests around a shared outcome.
Maritime disputes are a global phenomenon, demanding a coordinated global response. SeaSolveX provides exactly that — one protocol, run from three hubs, managed by shipping lawyers with experience across 85 jurisdictions that matter. Bringing calm in contested waters.
The historic centre of gravity for shipping law, insurance and dispute resolution.
At the doorstep of the Gulf, the Strait, and the disputes flowing through it.
Serving one of the world's leading shipowning and maritime nations.
Home to major shipping companies such as NYK, MOL and K Line, Japan has ratified the Singapore Convention on Mediation 2019 — meaning a mediated settlement can be enforced internationally and directly, without bringing a fresh action for any breach. For Japanese counterparties, that turns a negotiated agreement into a genuinely enforceable one.
Private. Non-binding. It produces a personalised written Report identifying your contractual hotspots, your viable resolution pathways, and the recommended next step for your specific dispute.
No obligation to engage further. No follow-up unless you initiate it. No hourly billing clock running from the moment you make contact.