The Admiralty Newsletter - 9 June 2026
A weekly briefing featuring insights from shipping's leading lawyers covering regulatory updates, emerging risks, and the practical implications of new case law.
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In this week’s edition the Strait of Hormuz continues to feature prominently, alongside wider scrutiny of shadow-fleet trading, Russia-related enforcement and Cuba exposure.
Courts and commentators revisit familiar fault-lines: invalid notices of readiness, sanctions clauses, insurance recoveries, and asymmetric jurisdiction provisions.
Regulatory attention as turned to cyber obligations under NIS 2, trade tariffs, and blue-carbon governance.
Elsewhere, seafarers’ criminalisation and politically-driven litigation underline the industry’s broader operational pressures.
Case law
Incompetence and passage planning in The Happy Aras: inference, adverse inference, common sense and the CMA CGM Libra paradox — a critical analysis (BAXLaw)
Icelandic court dismisses Alcoa lawsuit against Eimskip and Samskip (ContainerNews)
Guarantees, conditions and sinking claims: SLB v PAK (Gatehouse Chambers)
Article 4 of the LLMC still virtually unbreakable after all these years? The Solong and the Stena Immaculate (IISTL)
Asymetric jurisdiction clauses: can a lender retain the right to sue in multiple jurisdictions while restricting the borrower to a single forum? (Shal & Partners)
Caught in the middle: when carriers face rival claims for delivery and how English law responds (HFW)
Invalid notice of readiness and laytime: Commercial Court revisits The Happy Day (HFW)
New Flamenco: collateral benefit or mitigated loss? (Hill Dickinson)
Parallel proceedings: asymmetric jurisdiction clauses examined by the English Commercial Court (Stephenson Harwood)
Premature NORs and the myth of deemed waiver: High Court guidance in The Sebat (Stephenson Harwood)
De Badboot: what’s in a name? (Quadrant Legal)
Shell ups the ante in Oz decommissioning legal wrangle (Upstream)
Sanctions and risk avoidance clauses: Court of Appeal (Quadrant Chambers)
Swedish court rules seized cargo ship can be handed over to Ukraine (Reuters)
The Sebat: Commercial Court clarifies commencement of laytime following invalid NOR (UK Defence Club)
What is the threshold to invoke a sanctions clause and refuse orders? The Court of Appeal provides clarity in The Catalan Sea (UK Defence Club)
Chinese shipowner weighs Taiwan court challenge over $33m grounding (TradeWinds)
MOL loses German court battle over car carrier sinking (TradeWinds)
US states sue Trump over ‘sham deal’ to stop offshore project (Heavy Lift & Project Forwarding International)
Regulatory
Netherlands customs launch major investigation into vessel exporting to Russia (Duane Morris)
The International Chamber of Commerce unveils the new 2026 ICC Arbitration Rules (Bowmans)
The ICC’s 2026 Arbitration Rules: what they mean for your business (Blackstone & Gold)
Revision to the ICC Rules: 2026 edition (Stephenson Harwood)
Regulatory update: KKP Decree No. 25/2026 on guidelines for determining blue-carbon management locations (AP Law Solution)
New Harbours Bill for Northern Ireland: overview of proposed reforms to trust ports (Ashfords)
USTR issues Section 301 determination against Brazil and proposes new tariffs (Barnes, Richardson & Colburn)
US government moves toward far-reaching Section 301 tariffs (Orrick)
USTR surprises nobody, recommends forced-labour tariffs for 60 countries (Barnes, Richardson & Colburn)
Canada extends steel and aluminium trade measures: what stakeholders need to know (BLG)
NIS 2 and the shipping industry: cybersecurity obligations for shipping companies entered into force (ERG Legal)
Hong Kong to establish international commercial court (HFW)
Hong Kong to establish international commercial court (Hill Dickinson)
Louisiana Oilfield Indemnity Act: additions under HB 941 (Kean Miller)
Russia challenges ship insurance rules as pressure on shadow fleet intensifies (Lloyd’s List)
Choose your fighter: new IMO plans set up carbon-pricing showdown (Lloyd’s List)
Cuba sanctions: what shipping needs to know (UK P&I Club)
US secondary sanctions on Cuba: risks and uncertainties (Watson Farley & Williams)
China’s new supply-chain security and countering rules: key takeaways and compliance actions (Wikborg Rein)
Public Comments Sought on China Maritime Safety Administration’s Draft Criteria for Determining Dangerous Characteristics of Cargo Carried Onboard Ships (Hai Tong Law Firm)
UK announces historic boost to seafarers’ rights and welfare (Shippax)
From flags to choke points: US shipping regulator’s Laura DiBella pushes ahead with probes (TradeWinds)
News & Opinion
Force majeure and LNG contracts (Vinson & Elkins)
El Estrecho de Ormuz ante el derecho internacional: soberanía y libertad denavegación en tensión (Aiyon Abogados)
Shipping still largely paralysed by lack of deal on reopening Straits of Hormuz (BDM)
Mercuria lawyers say government deals got oil through Hormuz (gCaptain)
Why today’s cargo-theft losses are bigger, and what insurance programmes may be missing (National Law Review)
La demora tiene costo: seis años para aprobar un puerto estratégico (Araya & Cía)
From liability to recovery: managing the challenges and risks of distressed cargo (Clyde & Co)
France arrests Russian captain of Moscow-linked oil tanker (France 24)
A mutiny to die for (New York Law Journal)
Can we stop seafarers from being criminalised? (Lloyd’s List)
Two partners named to 2026 Lawdragon 500 leading lawyers in maritime, admiralty and the high seas (Norton Rose Fulbright)
SALEFORM 2025: from tradition to modern transactional reality (Preston Turnbull)
Bangladesh shipbreaker tries to return US-sanctioned tanker to sender (TradeWinds)
From machinery to liability: navigating the complexities of the modern engine room (UK P&I Club)
Vedder wins Marine Money Securitization Deal of the Year award (Vedder Price)
Singapore tries to keep Asia’s oil flowing (Financial Times)