Norton Rose Fulbright and Watson Farley & Williams have taken roles on the first stage of a $1.5bn (£962m) deal that has seen French oil and gas group Bourbon sell nine boats to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).

The first phase of the sale, worth $144m (£92m), comes after a deal was drawn up by Bourbon and ICBC Financial Leasing earlier this year, which will see 51 vessels sold to the Chinese company by mid-2014.