Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, ship finance lawyers around the world have been wondering how long it will take for a deluge of events of default, waivers, arrests, and enforcement actions to land on their desks. 

While we have seen this activity in the shipping market, many commercial shipping companies have not taken quite the hit that other sectors, such as aviation, have. Notwithstanding the lockdowns that are prevalent worldwide, products still need to be moved around the world and shipowners have not suddenly lost all their customers to stay-at-home orders in the era of online shopping. 

Indeed, often, the difficulties that have led to defaults were not caused, but rather exacerbated by COVID-19. Whether this continues to be the case as the situation goes on remains to be seen.