Norwegian law firm BAHR is positioning itself for the shipping energy transition with a new team and office in Bergen.

The Oslo-based operation said it has formed an ocean industry group to work across both cities.

"Part of our reasoning is the recognition of Bergen as an important ocean industries hub," shipping partner Geir Gustavsson told TradeWinds.

"We see Bergen [as] increasingly important both in terms of traditional shipping, but even more important in the environmental transition and the E part of ESG [environment, social and governance]."

The law firm admits this is a surprise move, as its strategy for decades has been "one office, one centre of competence".

WFW lawyer recruited

BAHR has brought in new partner Ida Marie Windrup for the ship finance team.

The lawyer has spent more than eight years at Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) in London and is a ship finance specialist.

The company is also recruiting more lawyers in Bergen, it said.

In addition, Lisa Marie Opdahl has been promoted to partner and is moving to Bergen.

She will run the ocean industry group with Gustavsson and another partner, Anne Dahl Frisak.

Opdahl has experience both in shipping and aquaculture and in 2014 spent a year on secondment to major shipowner Teekay Corp in Vancouver, Canada.

She has worked at BAHR since 2011.

Frisak told TradeWinds that during lockdown the firm "experienced a different way of working both internally and with clients".

"Physical meetings are replaced with Teams and Zoom sessions making it possible to have one integrated team working from two locations," she added.

But she argued that the value of visiting clients where they operate is probably even more important post-pandemic.

"The lawyers in Bergen and Oslo will form seamless teams together," she added.

The new ocean industry group will cover clients in shipping, offshore, fisheries, aquaculture and marine insurance.

Gustavsson said Oslo remains an extremely strong capital market hub for ocean industries, centralised around the key importance of the Oslo Stock Exchange, investment bankers and leading banks.

Bergen an important base

Lisa Marie Opdahl is a new partner at Norwegian law firm BAHR. She will be based in Bergen. Photo: BAHR

Bergen and the western part of Norway is where many of the international ocean industry clients operate, however, he explained.

"The office in Bergen will bring us closer to these important clients and their operations," the lawyer added.

BAHR said these industry areas will continue to be fundamental for Norway in the next decades.

The company expects an increasing demand for legal assistance from the shipping and seafood industries.

The firm will focus on the new regulatory framework surrounding the green shift, decarbonisation, emissions and reduced climate footprints.

"This is highly relevant for clients, and BAHR already sees an increasing interest for legal advice within these complex areas," Gustavsson said.

BAHR also highlights its recent work on several "blockbuster" transactions in the sector.

These include the sale by Ostensjo Rederi of 50% of its offshore wind ship company, Edda Wind, to the Wilhelmsen group, and the current sale by Kjell Inge Rokke's Aker Capital of its shares in Ocean Yield to US private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.