Are shipowners caught between sanctions & repudiatory breach? Isuru Devendra reports on a telling case
- A recent judgment provides guidance on interpreting sanctions clauses and the evidentiary burden for parties seeking to rely on them. But it appears to put shipowners (and others) in a difficult position when seeking to comply with sanctions and contractual obligations.
- The deputy judge found that the owner’s decision to refuse to load the cargo was based on standard due diligence processes. But he also found that there was other material available at the time which the owner should have taken into account.
The recent Commercial Court judgment in Tonzip Maritime Ltd v 2Rivers Pte Ltd [2025] EWHC 2036 (Comm) highlights the perils confronting shipowners (and other parties) seeking to comply with both sanctions and their contractual obligations in fast-moving commercial environments. The case concerned whether a shipowner was entitled to lawfully refuse to load cargo pursuant to a sanctions clause in a charterparty.
The judgment provides guidance on the interpretation of sanctions
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