Legal News

The captain of a Russian shadow fleet vessel intercepted by British commandos was charged with contravening sanctions, Britain's National Crime Agency said on Monday.Ajay Pant, an Indian national, was charged with "directly or indirectly supplying or delivering by ship prohibited oil/oil products from Russia to a third country...," the agency said.Pant is set to appear at the Southampton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, the agency added.British commandos on Sunday boarded and intercepted Smyrtos, a sanctioned Russian oil tanker sailing under a Cameroonian flag, in the English Channel.

Oil prices slipped to a three-month low on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran's deputy foreign minister said they had reached an initial deal to end the war and to resume traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell $3.65, or 4.2%, to $83.68 a barrel by 0630 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was at $80.75, down $4.13, or 4.9%. Both contracts fell to their lowest levels since March 10 on Monday after tumbling more than 3% on Friday.The U.S.

No settlement was reached on Friday at the Krems Regional Court in Austria regarding the civil proceedings concerning the animal transport of the Spiridon II livestock carrier. The hearing was adjourned.A new hearing, expected to last all day, has been scheduled for mid-November.Several witnesses from Turkey are also expected to be heard at that time.Turkish cattle importers are suing cattle dealer Christian Klinger and his company, Agro Breeding GmbH, based in Jagenbach, Austria.

The Austrian livestock dealer allegedly responsible for the weeks of livestock suffering and death on the Spiridon II is to appear before the Krems Regional Court in Austria on Friday as part of a civil lawsuit. The importers of the animals accuse him of fraud.The cattle from Uruguay—half of which were pregnant heifers—were originally destined for Turkey. Upon arrival, however, they were not allowed to be unloaded from Spiridon II because, according to the authorities, nearly 500 of them were not listed on the import list.

Escalating geopolitical tensions and regional conflicts are having a profound impact on international trade, subjecting supply chains to intense operational volatility, rigid compliance demands, and significant financial pressures. Out of necessity, logistics providers are taking a more selective, risk-averse approach when preparing and executing their business plans.For The Heavy Lift Group (THLG), a global alliance of specialized heavy transport companies, caution and pragmatism…

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) identified a safety concern after a prototype component used in a mechanical shaft-seal system failed onboard a USCG inspected deep draft vessel.On February 19, 2025, a U.S. flagged crude-oil tanker transiting near Delaware Bay experienced simultaneous failures of its port and starboard shaft seals, resulting in substantial seawater ingress.The crew deployed emergency collars supplied by the seal manufacturer and used the vessel’s emergency bilge system…

StormGeo and OceanScore have expanded their cooperation through a collaboration agreement aimed at supporting shipping companies in managing emissions compliance requirements.The cooperation combines StormGeo's operational vessel and emissions data capabilities with OceanScore's expertise in emissions compliance workflows covering the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), FuelEU Maritime and the upcoming UK ETS.The companies said the agreement is intended to help shipping companies manage emissions reporting…

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has confirmed that its container vessel MSC Sariska V was struck by two projectiles while departing the port of Umm Qasr in Iraq on June 1, though no crew members were injured.According to the company, the first projectile hit the vessel while a pilot was onboard during departure from the port, while a second struck the crew accommodation area shortly afterwards.MSC said all crew members were safe and unharmed and that the vessel and its…

Cambodia said on Tuesday it had launched a compulsory conciliation process under international law aimed at resolving a long-running maritime boundary dispute with Thailand and had informed the United Nations and Bangkok.The move follows a Thai government decision last month to unilaterally terminate a 2001 agreement with Cambodia that provided a framework for negotiations over the disputed area in the Gulf of Thailand where the two countries' maritime claims overlap."We have taken this step to protect Cambodia's sovereignty and maritime rights in accordance with international law…

Since the Iranian Revolution and overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979, the Strait of Hormuz has been a geographic constant as a choke point for which closure has been threatened from time to time but never truly closed. The longstanding assumption of the continued openness of the strait collapsed on February 28, 2026. In the weeks since Iran effectively shut the strait to commercial shipping in response to U.S. and Israeli military strikes and the U.S. established its own blockade…

Britain will allow imports of diesel and jet fuel refined abroad from Russian crude under a sanctions carve-out, watering down restrictions to help ensure supply at home as prices soar due to the conflict in the Middle East.While Britain's support for Ukraine remains steadfast, junior treasury minister Dan Tomlinson said, he added that the national interest had to come first and therefore a loosening of certain sanctions on some Russian products for now made sense."We have to make sure that we protect the security of supply for really important foundational goods in our economy…

The South African Veterinary Association’s (SAVA) has released a formal position statement opposing the export of live animals by sea for slaughter at destination.SAVA joins many other international veterinary associations in condemning this practice. SAVA’s statement draws on extensive peer-reviewed scientific research to conclude that the welfare of animals transported by sea is unavoidably compromised. It identifies a range of inherent harms, among them thermal stress, dangerous ammonia accumulation, the physical impact of ship motion, and risk of infectious disease.

Russian drones hit two ships in the Black Sea approaching ports in Ukraine's Odesa region on Monday, including a Chinese-owned cargo vessel, Ukrainian authorities said, after a night of Russian attacks on the area.Ukraine's seaports authority said that the strikes had hit two civilian vessels, one under Marshall Islands flag and another under Guinea-Bissau flag, both of which were heading to ports in the region.The Ukrainian navy reported a strike on the Ksl Deyang, which it described as a Chinese-owned cargo ship sailed by Chinese crew under Marshall Islands flag.

Shipping giants CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd said on Sunday they had suspended all bookings to and from Cuba until further notice, with both citing a U.S. executive order issued on May 1, in the latest blow to the crisis-wracked island's economy.The temporary suspension of new orders by two of the world’s largest shipping companies could jeopardize as much as 60% of Cuba's shipping traffic by volume, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said - a fresh hit to a country already nearing collapse amid a U.S. oil blockade that has throttled the island's fuel supply.“Following the U.S.

Palaemon Maritime’s maritime security report this week points to some of the clearest indicators yet that piracy activity off Somalia is escalating again.“Taken alone, these incidents might appear isolated. Taken together, they point to something more important: the conditions that enable piracy are building again in the Western Indian Ocean.”Most recently, Palaemon cites a possible hijacking of a dhow off the southern Somali coast, multiple suspicious approaches and aggressive small craft activity in the region…

A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker managed by Japanese refining group Eneos has passed through the Strait of Hormuz, ship-tracking data from LSEG showed on Thursday, the second instance of such a Japan-linked oil ship making it through.Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has directly contacted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to allow for the transit of the ship, which has four Japanese crew members onboard, she said in a post on X.Before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran largely disrupted oil supplies via the Strait of Hormuz…

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has announced that the State of Maryland has reached a final settlement of $2.25 billion with Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the owner and operator of the M/V Dali, resolving the State’s claims against those parties arising from the cargo ship’s March 26, 2024 allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge. On the morning of March 26, 2024, the M/V Dali crashed into a supporting column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its catastrophic collapse.

Both Iraq and Pakistan have cut deals with Iran to ship oil and liquefied natural gas from the Gulf, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter, in a demonstration of Tehran's ability to control energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has slashed energy exports from a region that normally supplies 20% of the world's crude oil and LNG. The U.S. has blockaded Iranian ports in recent weeks. And though Iran initially sought to halt traffic through the strait…

The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday a grand jury indicted two foreign operators and a shoreside superintendent in the March 2024 collision of the 984-foot cargo ship Dali that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and killed six construction workers.The Justice Department said the collision caused at least $5 billion in damage and significant environmental damage. The National Transportation Safety Board found a single loose wire in the electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open…

In February 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a major decision that caught the attention of shipowners, bunker suppliers, charterers, and maritime lawyers around the world. The case – Three Fifty Markets, Ltd. v. M/V ARGOS M, et al. – is a masterclass in how maritime liens, bunker supply chains, and “no lien” clauses collide in modern shipping commerce, often in disputes where fuel is delivered, used, and never paid for.At its core, the dispute reflects the complexity of today’s bunker supply chains.

When Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the Administration had a real problem on its hands. I understand why a White House would want to move fast, but moving fast and moving smart are not the same thing. This week the Administration extended the current Jones Act waiver for another 90 days. Washington needs to take an honest look at what this waiver has actually produced.The U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD), which oversees the nation’s merchant fleet, has data that tells the story.

Commodity trader Mercuria is suing the Baltic Exchange, the world's top provider of benchmark shipping indices, over losses it said were caused by oil tanker pricing data that did not account for the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a court filing showed.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28, has left hundreds of ships and 20,000 seafarers stranded inside the Gulf and unable to sail through the vital chokepoints with only a few ships willing to make the voyages daily.In a court filing dated April 30 and submitted through England's high court…

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued a third ban in less than two months after another shipping company was found to have underpaid its crew, breaching the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).On April 23, AMSA boarded the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, FPMC B Forever, operated by Formosa Plastics Marine Corporation, in the Port of Newcastle for a port State control inspection.Inspectors found the crew had been underpaid by almost A$15,000 and were being charged for potable water…