Antwerp, 13th December 2023 – For those directly or indirectly involved in maritime transport and logistics, this new handbook by lawyer Dirk De Beule (hyperlink to profile) offers a comprehensive legal and practical answer to your search anno 2023 for collateral to recover your maritime claims and secure your rights.
That ship seizures are and will continue to be an important tool for creditors and insurers as well as for the various governments in our country is also evident from the rising number of ship seizures.
In the first foreword to the book, Minister of Justice and North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne writes:
“The preservation of sea-going vessels is a subject of increasing importance in the maritime world. It is pre-eminently an international issue where the necessary guarantees must be provided so that debts are settled. I would like to thank Dirk De Beule for his excellent work. It is a valuable source of information and will undoubtedly contribute to a better understanding of the retention of sea-going vessels and its impact on the maritime industry.”
Port Alderman of Antwerp-Bruges Annick De Ridder states in her foreword:
“An all-encompassing clear paper with many references to case law and legal doctrine, as Dirk De Beule has written about it, makes an important contribution to the proper functioning of our port as a highly complex biotope. By regularly engaging in comparative law, the author provides clear insights into the interaction between different legal systems. I therefore read the passages dealing with estuary navigation, which is important for the port platforms of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, with due interest.”
Lawyer Dirk De Beule – founder and managing partner of A-Law, has been active for more than 40 years as a lawyer at the bar of the province of Antwerp, where he is also an honorary deputy judge at the Commercial Court. He is the author of various articles, including on transport law, traffi c law, assessment of physical damage and author of the book European Payment Order and Collection of Undisputed Claims.A-Law is a Belgian law fi rm that provides national, European and international legal services. The presence of an international team of lawyers at the head offi ce in Antwerp enables optimal and integrated legal support for entrepreneurs with international ambitions and foreign entrepreneurs with trade and investment projects in Belgium.



