Gary Wong

Practice Areas

● Ship financing and leasing

● Ship sale and purchase

● Yachts

Gary has been ranked as a top tier ship finance lawyer in Chambers Asia Pacific and the Legal 500 for a number of years, and has been supported and applauded by many clients around the region for his work. He was described in a previous edition of Chambers Asia Pacific as being “very professional and responsive, with a good amount of knowledge. Also, he works with a number of banks, and he knows what they require.”

Gary Wong is a seasoned practitioner who provides advice on the full gamut of shipping finance matters. He is frequently mandated by shipping companies, banks and leasing companies for matters including restructuring, loan facilities, and sale and purchase of vessels.

Career

● Year of Admission: 2002, England & Wales ; 2001, Hong Kong SAR

● 1999 to 2004, Ince & Co. Hong Kong, Trainee Solicitor to Associate

● 2004 to 2008, Mayer Brown JSM, Senior Associate

● 2008 to 2010, Ince & Co. Hong Kong, Senior Associate

● 2010 to 2023, Ince & Co. Hong Kong, Managing Partner

● From 2023, Hill Dickinson Hong Kong, Partner

Professional Memberships

The Institute of Seatransport Hong Kong – Ex Vice Chairman

Clients

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited

Bank of Communications

CTBC Bank

Mega International Commercial Bank

Chailease Finance Co., Ltd.

Work Highlights

1. Highlight: Advising Hong Kong Government on important transport project

The ferries currently in use for services to the outlying islands have been in operation for more than 30 years. As part of the environmental drive by the Hong Kong Government, members of our ship finance, corporate and disputes teams have been assisting and advising the Government on introducing a subsidy scheme by which ferry operators in Hong Kong can operate newly built hybrid and electric ferries. Orders for the ferries have been placed with shipyards in the PRC. Some ferries have been delivered while others are still under construction.

The team advises on all legal issues arising from vessel subsidy scheme including the terms of a subsidy agreement which required innovative drafting. They have drafted and liaised with the Government on the specialised type of security documents in favour of the Government, the shipbuilding contracts for the ferries and the tender process in relation to the selection of shipbuilders. Our team members work closely with the Transport Department, the Environmental Protection Department and the Department of Justice to ensure that the vessel subsidy schemes were legally tenable and could safeguard the interests of the Government and Hong Kong citizens as a whole.

The team is currently advising the Government on issues that arise from time to time in relation to the performance of the shipbuilding contracts and other incidental matters.

We, as a firm with in-depth knowledge of the marine industry and its laws with an international network of have the capabilities that the Hong Kong Government requires to give timely, efficient, cost-effective and precise legal advice on all the maritime legal and financing issues which the vessel subsidy schemes generates.

2. Highlight: Largest luxury ro-pax ferries in the world.

We advised Bank of Communications Co., Ltd. Hong Kong Branch on refinancing of two luxury “ro-ro” passenger ships m.v. “Moby Fantasy” and m.v. “Moby Legacy” (together, the “Ships”), built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Guangzhou Shipyard International Co., Ltd., each with a maximum displacement of over 70,000 tonnes. The Ships are the largest ro-pax ferries in the world.

Each Ship measures 237 metres in length, has 13 floors and is designed with 533 rooms. The upper floor area is approximately 16,000 square metres of which 10,000 square metres are allocated for leisure, recreation and restaurants. Each Ship has capacity for 2,500 passengers and 800 vehicles. Another remarkable feature is the interior decoration, which matches that of luxury cruise ships.

3. Our team acted for Blue Whale Fund, a consortium fund formed by AVIC International Leasing Co., Limited and other investors, in its first cross-border vessels deal. The transaction involved 6 vessels, comprising 1 heavy lift vessel and 5 bulk carriers.

4. Among all 6 vessels, one was registered with Germany and bareboat chartered out to Maderia, four were registered with Hong Kong and the remaining was registered with Liberia. The Fund would enter into a sale-and-leaseback transaction with CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Company Limited for all 6 vessels, and enter into a loan financing transaction with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., Ltd., with both transactions to occur simultaneously. On behalf of the Fund, we negotiated with both CSSC and SPDB on all transaction documents under tight time pressure so that the terms would be back-to-back.

5. The combination of deal size, and number of vessels, jurisdictions and parties involved made the transaction a complex one and unprecedented. All members of our ship finance team were involved, and we were constantly challenged to find innovative solution on balancing legal risk and commercial goal of our client.

6. Advised a key European bank in a term loan facility transaction in respect of two joint venture companies set up by a major Chinese shipbuilding and trading company and a German shipping company, for the financing of two multi-purpose heavy lift carrier newbuilding.

7. Advised a major mainland Chinese company in relation to a US$200 million loan facility to a major container ship operator in Hong Kong for the purpose of financing the acquisition cost of their new marine containers.

Languages Spoken

English

Cantonese

Mandarin

Education