Yzabel Dumaguing
Yzabel’s practice covers complex cross-border disputes and high-value commercial claims with an emphasis on shipping, international arbitration, international trade (including anti-dumping), commodities, and marine insurance. Her work also spans offshore services, energy and natural resources, construction, and corporate and shareholder litigation for clients operating across multiple jurisdictions and industries.
Yzabel combines conflict resolution expertise with practical and commercially astute advisory. She routinely acts in matters that involve multiple legal systems, overlapping commercial frameworks and foreign market considerations. Her practice includes coordination with counsel in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and she has advised clients from Asia, Australasia, North America and the MENA region, underscoring her cross-jurisdictional experience and positioning her to act on both contentious and non-contentious mandates.
Yzabel has represented clients at every level of the Singapore courts and in international arbitration under SIAC, LMAA, SCMA and AIAC rules. Her work includes marine cargo insurance disputes, urgent ship arrests and matters that have contributed to the development of Singapore’s commercial jurisprudence.
Clients turn to her for strategic, steady and commercially-informed guidance in situations where legal risk intersects with operational disruption, financial exposure and reputational sensitivity.
Beyond disputes, Yzabel advises companies on non-contentious corporate and commercial matters, including the structuring and negotiation of joint ventures, shareholder arrangements, procurement and supply contracts, shipyard and vessel documentation, and employment and governance frameworks. She is retained as external counsel by leading businesses in, among other industries, the shipping, steel manufacturing, and construction sectors, where she provides ongoing support to in-house teams and management and ensures compliance across operations and projects.
Her approach is shaped by sector familiarity, strategic foresight, responsiveness, precision in drafting, and an interest in how commercial outcomes are realised in real commercial settings. Yzabel views legal work as a long-term partnership with clients rather than a series of transactions.
In addition to her legal practice, Yzabel serves as the Judiciary Director of Touch Singapore, where she helps shape and strengthen governance for touch rugby in Singapore. When time permits, she works towards her next personal milestone: achieving a single handicap in golf within five years.
Show Less Details
PUBLICATIONS
Authored the Singapore Chapter for The International Shipping Finance & Law Review 2025/26 (2025)
Authored a Practice Note titled “Trade Remedies: Overview (Singapore)” and a Comparison Chart titled “International Trade (Imports) – Trade Remedies” for the Commercial Global Practice Area of Practical Law (by Thomson Reuters) (2023)
APPOINTMENTS
- Judiciary Director, Touch Singapore (2023–present)
- Deputy Judiciary Director, Touch Singapore (2020– 2022)
SELECTED DISPUTES EXPERIENCE
SHIPPING, MARINE, COMMODITIES, AND INSURANCE COVERAGE
- Acting for defendant-companies in Singapore High Court proceedings commenced by a shareholder in a multi-party a high-value shareholder and quasi-partnership dispute concerning the ownership, management, and control of a Singapore-based ship-owning and chartering company. The Claimant alleges minority oppression and seeks wide-ranging reliefs, including share transfers, declarations of trust, purchase orders for his exit, restraints against board and shareholder actions, and, in the alternative, a winding-up under s 216(2)(f) of the Companies Act 1967.
- Acting for a Taiwan-based stainless-steel company in Singapore High Court proceedings concerning alleged nonpayment of around SGD 1.2 million for products supplied.
- Acted in multiple ship arrest proceedings in Singapore to secure maritime claims, including urgent in rem applications, coordination with the Sheriff and P&I Clubs, and obtaining security in aid of Singapore court proceedings and arbitration.
- Acted for a claimant in the offshore sector in a coverage dispute against its insurer for failing to indemnify approximately SGD 2.3 million in losses under an insurance policy, arising from cargo damage sustained during cargolifting operations in a shipyard. The dispute was settled on favourable terms.
- Acted for a Vietnamese subsidiary of a Chinese multinational company in an anti-dumping nvestigation by the Thai authorities regarding alleged dumping of stainless-steel products into Thailand, involving cross-border trade-remedy issues.
- Acted for a claimant in an admiralty collision case arising out of an incident in which the claimant alleged that the collision was caused by the defendants’ negligence in the navigation and management of a tug and barge convoy.
- Acted for a defendant in an admiralty dispute involving conflicting bills of lading issued to two different entities in respect of approximately 506.15 MT of nickel briquettes (99.80% Ni per LME specifications). The case concerns competing claims to title and delivery of the same cargo, and engages complex issues of documentary carriage, transfer of rights, and commercial risk allocation.
- Acted for the Singapore subsidiary of an Italian ship repair and maintenance multinational company in Singapore High Court proceedings against shipowners in respect of claims for remuneration for ship management and repair services rendered to vessels. The dispute raised issues of actual and ostensible authority, with shipowners disputing their ship agents’ authority to contract. The matter was resolved at mediation.
- Chubb Insurance Singapore Ltd v Sizer Metals Pte Ltd [2023] SGHC(A) 17 : Acted for the Respondent and resisted the appeal against the High Court’s decision in Sizer Metals Pte Ltd and Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited [2022] SGHC 51. The case concerned a marine cargo insurance claim by a metals trading company against an insurer relating to shipments of tin ore cargo that were stolen en route from Kigali to Penang via Dar es Salaam. Judgment was obtained for the full claim sum.
- Acted for a UAE-based offshore contractor in two LMAA arbitrations governed by English law arising from disputes over buy-and-leaseback arrangements for offshore vessels, involving claims and crossclaims exceeding USD 30 million. The matters were settled.
- Assisted the successful plaintiff in a dispute against a Timor-Leste insurance company over gasoil cargo valued at approximately USD 1.5 million. The cargo was to be shipped from Singapore to Karabela Port, Timor-Leste. During the voyage, the vessel carrying the cargo was hijacked by pirates in the waters off the coast of Tanjung Berakit, Indonesia. The action involved allegations of conspiracy (including that the piracy was staged), failure to comply with the Marine Insurance Act and lack of insurable interest. Judgment was obtained for the full claim amount, and post-judgment, an application for pre-action discovery was made against the defendant’s reinsurers’ brokers.
Show Less Details
CORPORATE, SHAREHOLDER & BOARDROOM DISPUTES
- Acted for defendant-companies in Singapore High Court proceedings brought by current directors of related companies against former directors and the defendant-companies for alleged breaches of Page 4 of 7 fiduciary and employment duties, diversion of business opportunities, and claims for repayment, accounting of profits, damages, and declaratory relief, with claims amounting to close to SGD 10 million.
- Acted for a former director accused of breaching fiduciary duties, dishonest assistance, and conspiracy in respect of a development in Batam, Indonesia that was set to be the world’s largest eco theme park. The case was commenced by the company’s liquidator, both in his capacity as liquidator and in his personal capacity, against multiple defendants including former directors, marketing agents, the Indonesian company that owns the land for the development, and its directors, with a claim sum of more than SGD 75 million.
- Acted for a BVI company in an action commenced by another BVI company that was a substantial shareholder of a Canadian corporate entity publicly listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange regarding a financing agreement. The claimant alleged misrepresentation, repudiatory breach, wrongful termination of an agreement, and unlawful means conspiracy.
- Acted for a defendant and claimant-in-counterclaim in Singapore High Court proceedings brought by liquidators of a company in respect of a dispute over shares in Malaysian entities amounting to approximately SGD 4,500,000. The case also involved a forum challenge as to whether the dispute should be heard in Singapore or Malaysia, with the incarceration of the claimant’s former managing director being a consideration. The claimant’s former managing director was, separately, facing criminal proceedings in connection with what has been described as Singapore’s largest Ponzi scheme (approximately SGD 1.46 billion), although the dispute concerned a separate and unrelated transaction. The matter was settled.
- Assisted in an action involving a US-listed company, its representatives, and its shareholders, arising from a shareholder take-over and minority oppression, with causes of action including contractual and shareholding disputes, tort of deceit and misrepresentation.
- Simran Bedi v Mark A Montgomery [2022] SGHC 67 : Assisted in a case commenced by a private investor against a director of a filmmaking company for breach of contract, misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. The investor’s claims were allowed.
Show Less Details
FRAUD, CONSPIRACY & ASSET RECOVERY
- Chen Mingxing and others v Zhang Jian and others [2021] SGHC 3: Assisted in a successful application for an interim injunction to restrain the defendants from disposing any shares in a company listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange.
- Assisted in a representative action with 154 Claimants with claims of approximately SGD 47 million arising from a multi-jurisdictional scam spanning Dubai, Switzerland, India, Malaysia, and Singapore. The scam involved the use of sham companies to induce investments with promises of guaranteed returns of 70% to 120%. A worldwide Mareva injunction was obtained against 18 out of 19 defendants.
- Assisted in a conspiracy claim brought by one of the largest logistics and petrochemical service providers in South-East Asia against several former employees, which also involved an application for a prohibitory injunction. The matter was settled.
Show Less Details
DIGITAL ASSETS & TOKEN DISPUTES
- Pun Kwan Lum (David) v AboutU Pte Ltd and another [2023] SGDC 265 : Acted for the successful Plaintiff in a case pertaining to an initial coin offering. The dispute centred on whether monies paid for future digital tokens – on a blockchain network that had yet to, and did not eventually, launch – were refundable. This appears to be the first reported Singapore decision discussing simple agreements for future tokens.
Show Less Details
ARBITRATION & RELATED PROCEEDINGS
- Acting for a defendant-company in the construction industry in SIAC arbitration proceedings concerning alleged non-payment. The matter was first commenced in the High Court and subsequently stayed in favour of arbitration.
- Acted for a UAE-based offshore contractor in two LMAA arbitrations governed by English law arising from disputes over buy-and-leaseback arrangements for offshore vessels, involving claims and crossclaims exceeding USD 30 million. The matters were settled.
- Gokul Patnaik v Nine Rivers Capital Ltd [2021] 3 SLR 22 : Assisted in an application to introduce new evidence on foreign law to set aside an arbitral award on the grounds that: (a) the arbitral award contained decisions on matters beyond the scope of submission to arbitration; (b) there was a breach of the rules of natural justice in the making of the award; and (c) the award was contrary to Singapore public policy.
Show Less Details
GENERAL COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
- Dialectic PR LLC and Dialectic Distribution LLC v Brilliante Resources International Pte Limited and another [2023] SGHC 39 : Assisted as second chair for the 2nd Defendant in a USD 3 million dispute brought by a US company against a Singapore company and its director over the provision of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Allegations of fraud, intermingling of funds and conspiracy were brought against the director personally in an attempt to pierce the corporate veil. The Plaintiffs also mounted a claim for tort of inducement to breach contract. The 2nd Defendant successfully defended the claims against him.
- Fang Yiqiang and anor v Goh Siong Heng Benson [2023] SGDC 11 : Assisted in a defamation claim commenced by three former council members against the former chairman of a condominium management council concerning the alleged mismanagement of the estate. The claim was successfully defended.
Show Less Details
SELECTED NON-CONTENTIOUS & CORPORATE ADVISORY WORK
Yzabel is retained as external counsel to several companies, including a regional shipping group, a global steel manufacturing and processing firm, and a construction and infrastructure business. In that role, she assists with a wide range of corporate, commercial, regulatory, employment and governance matters that arise in both day-to-day operations and longer-term projects.
Her advisory work is broad. She drafts and negotiates domestic and cross-border joint ventures, SPV and shareholder arrangements, shipyard and vessel purchase and deployment documentation, supply and procurement agreements, subcontracting and construction project documentation, and employment and governance frameworks. Many of these matters involve detailed risk allocation and insurance mapping, particularly for logistics and industrial operations.
She also advises startups and growth-stage companies on commercial contracting, founders’ arrangements, subscription and services agreements, licensing and confidentiality, and other corporate matters that typically arise during early-stage growth.
- Retained as external counsel to a Singapore shipping group, advising on ship management and shipyard contracting, chartering arrangements, insurance allocation, logistics, employment, governance and other corporate and regulatory matters arising in the maritime sector.
- Retained as external counsel to a global steel manufacturing, processing and distribution group, advising on supply, distribution and procurement structures, risk allocation, employment matters and commercial contracting.
- Retained as external counsel to a regional construction and infrastructure business, supporting management and in-house teams on subcontracting and procurement, employment and compliance, corporate and commercial issues, and project documentation.
- Drafting and negotiating domestic and cross-border joint ventures in the shipping, offshore and industrial sectors, including capitalisation mechanics, shareholder protections, exit and deadlock provisions, governance structures and dispute resolution frameworks.
- Advising on international sale of goods and commodities documentation, including inspection and sampling protocols, delivery and payment terms, force majeure regimes, limitation and indemnity structures, and coordination with insurance placement.
- Advising on shipbuilding, vessel ownership and deployment structures, including the use of SPVs, registration and flag issues, financing support and insurance mapping.
- Advising on regulatory and compliance issues in the maritime and industrial sectors, including port and terminal operations, safety and logistics compliance, and cross-border project execution.
- Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts for startups and growth-stage companies in technology, professional services and consumer goods sectors, including SaaS and software licensing agreements, reseller and distribution agreements, NDAs, LOIs, shareholder and founders’ agreements, equity and incentive arrangements, procurement and outsourcing documentation, and IP/confidentiality protections.
- Advising companies on employment and HR documentation, remuneration structures, restrictive covenants, and internal governance frameworks, including board mandates and access to information.
Show Less Details
