Yap Yin Soon

Yap Yin Soon is a Partner at Allen & Gledhill, and Co-Head of the Maritime & Aviation Practice and the Shipping (Contentious) Team, specialising in maritime law, international arbitration, and commercial litigation. He is regularly called upon to handle high‑value, complex, and cross‑border disputes relating to collisions, casualties, salvage and oil pollution, charterparties, bills of lading, bunker trades, mortgages, lease agreements, sale and purchase agreements, construction and repair projects, oil and gas projects, and international trade and trade finance.

Yin Soon has acted for a wide range of clients including the Regulator, port operators, lenders and financiers, shipowners, P&I Clubs and other marine insurers, and shipyards. He has handled notable and high‑profile matters, including the VOX MAXIMA oil pollution incident in Singapore in 2024, proceedings arising from the collapse of Hin Leong Trading, and the sinking of the STAR CENTURION in 2019. He regularly acts as lead counsel in court and arbitration proceedings (including LMAA, SIAC, SCMA, and ICC).

Yin Soon holds an LL.B. (Hons) from the University of Exeter, an LL.M. from King's College, University of London, and is a Barrister‑at‑Law of Middle Temple. He was called to the Singapore Bar in 1994 and is also a member of the Maritime Panel of Associate Mediators at the Singapore Mediation Centre.

He is ranked as a leading lawyer for shipping in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers Asia Pacific, and Lexology Index, and as a "Litigation Star" in Benchmark Litigation. Clients have described him as an "excellent advocate" who is "technically sound, commercial minded to provide practical solutions", and "very client‑friendly, hands‑on and responsible".