Insights

The outbreak of war in Ukraine on 24th February, 2022, and the subsequent closure of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, caused great disruption to Ukrainian grain trade. Not only were ships unable to call at Ukraine’s ports, but ships that were at those ports when the conflict began were trapped.

The purpose of this update is to provide Members with a summary of recent developments with regard to EU sanctions.

Contracts for the sale or hire of a ship will almost always specify a place of delivery which the ship has to reach before she can be sold or go on-hire. But what if circumstances change so that it becomes impossible for the ship to reach the designated delivery place? Some contracts provide a mechanism to deal with this problem, but even then disputes can still arise.

The current state of the market has resulted in an increased focus on the sale and purchase of second-hand ships. These transactions can, however, be fraught with potential pitfalls for both buyer and seller alike.

On 3rd June, 2022, the EU decided to adopt a sixth package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The relevant legislation implementing this latest package of sanctions can be found here. Of particular relevance to Members will be the ban on the import of Russian oil into the EU, and the prohibition on insurance for the transport of Russian oil to third countries.