Stephen’s first career was as a Royal Marine where he spent six happy years yomping around far flung corners of the world as a young subaltern.
He joined Ince in 1990, spent ten years in our Piraeus office and became a partner in 2000. He lives in Suffolk with his wife and four children. He plays hockey for England Vets and sails when time allows.
The Lloyd’s List Top 100 2011 (a review of the most influential people in shipping) has ranked Stephen number four in its Top Ten Law Personalities.
Stephen’s primary area of expertise and experience is wet and dry shipping. Whilst in Greece he headed the local Admiralty team, acting for owners and their insurers in the aftermath of maritime incidents including salvage, wreck removal, collisions and piracy. He advises on all areas of Admiralty law as well as on contractual issues arising out of charterparties and bills of lading. He acted for the owners of the Voutakos, a LOF salvage case which went to the High Court and considered the controversial issues arising out of rescue tow cases and the “disparity principle”.
Stephen has developed expertise in advising owners and port operators on crisis communication and dealing with the media in high profile cases. He regularly lectures on this and general crisis management and speaks extensively on the legal issues arising from piracy and hijacking.
He was part of the team handling the Prestige oil spill and acted for salvors in the MSC Napoli. More recently he advised the owners of the Faina during her hijacking off Somalia.
"Stephen Askins is widely recognised as a market expert on piracy matters: “He's a high-profile name in the field and works incredibly hard to keep at the forefront.”" Chambers & Partners, 2012
