Statistics
Statistics and General Overview 2nd Q 2025
The second issue of the Maritime Law Journal in 2025 covers the period from April to June. We traditionally publish statistics on maritime disputes considered by commercial courts.
The Centre for Maritime Law at the National University of Singapore, together with Comité Maritime International, maintains a database of cases considered by courts in different jurisdictions where international maritime conventions are interpreted. Recently, this database has included cases considered by Russian courts. The database is available exclusively in English. Russian case summaries can be accessed via https://cmlcmidatabase.org/browse-by-jurisdiction. It is necessary to select the “Russia” field.
Cases in District Commercial Courts (cassation instance)
During the reporting period, the commercial courts of cassation considered 18 maritime cases, including 1 public law case and 17 private law cases.
The sole public law case concerned administrative liability for violation of border crossing procedures.
| The District Commercial Court | Categories of cases |
|---|---|
| Commercial Court of the Far Eastern District | 6 cases in total: – on recovery under the towing agreement (2); – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement; – on recovery under the supply agreement; – on recovery under the lease of a small vessel with a crew agreement; – on the demurrage recovery. |
| Commercial Court of the North-Western District | 6 cases in total: – on the demurrage recovery (2); – on challenging the administrative liability for violation of border crossing rules; – on recovery of payment for excessive use of container equipment (2); – on recovery under the supply contract. |
| Commercial Court of the North Caucasus District | 3 cases in total: – on the demurrage recovery; – on the salvage reward; – on recovery under the time charter of a towing vessel. |
| Commercial Court of the Moscow District | 3 cases in total: – on the demurrage recovery; – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement (2). |
In private law, most disputes involved typical maritime claims–demurrage, and payments under time charter and carriage of goods contracts.
Cases in the Commercial Courts of Appeal
During the period under review, 59 maritime cases were considered by the commercial courts of appeal, including 13 public law cases and 46 private law cases. As before, most public law cases related to border crossing rules violations. In private law, most cases involved claims under carriage of goods and supply agreements, as well as demurrage, towing, and maritime agency disputes.
| The Court of Appeal (CCA) | Categories of cases |
|---|---|
| 1st Commercial Court of Appeal (CCA) | 2 cases in total: – on challenging the administrative liability for violation of mandatory carrier’s civil liability insurance; – on the demurrage recovery. |
| 5th CCA | 21 cases in total: – on recovery under time charter; – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea contract; – on challenging the administrative liability for violation of border crossing rules (10); – on penalty for vessel’s berth occupancy; – on recovery under bareboat charter; – on the obligation to remove the ship from the berth; – on recovery under the supply agreement; – on recovery under the maritime agency agreement (3); – on recovery under the towing agreement (2). |
| 6th CCA | 1 case: – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement. |
| 7th CCA | 1 case: – on the demurrage recovery. |
| 9th CCA | 8 cases in total: – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement; – on recovery under time charter (2); – on recovery under the supply agreement; – on recovery under the freight forwarding agreement; – on the demurrage recovery; – on recovery under the towing agreement (2). |
| 10th CCA | 1 case: – on recovery under sub-time charter. |
| 12th CCA | 1 case: – on recovery under time charter. |
| 13th CCA | 9 cases in total: – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement (2); – on recovery under the freight forwarding agreement; – on the demurrage recovery; – on recovery under the maritime agency agreement; – on recovery of insurance compensation under the ship insurance agreement (2); – on recovery for excessive use of container equipment; – on challenging the charter agreement. |
| 14th CCA | 2 cases in total: – on recovery under time charter; – on recovery under the supply agreement. |
| 15th CCA | 11 cases in total: – on challenging the administrative liability for violation of technical regulations; – on recovery under the carriage of goods by sea agreement; – on recovery under the maritime agency agreement (2); – on recovery under the towing agreement; – on restoration of vessel registration; – on recovery of damages caused by allision with a berth; – on recovery under the container lease agreement; – on the demurrage recovery (2); – on ship arrest. |
| 16th CCA | 1 case: – on challenging the administrative liability for violation of border crossing rules. |
| 17th CCA | 1 case: – on the demurrage recovery. |
Cases in the commercial courts of regions (first instance)
During the period under review, 58 maritime cases were considered by the commercial courts of first instance. Of these, 44 dealt with private law matters–the most frequent categories were disputes under freight forwarding and time charter agreements.
Among the 14 public law cases, the most common involved illegal border crossing and violations of technical regulations.
Conclusions
Thus, from April to June 2025, the commercial courts considered 135 maritime cases, of which 107 concerned private law matters and 28 related to public law. The distribution of cases by category is generally consistent with previous periods. Most private law cases involved claims for recovery under various maritime contracts. In the field of public law, the main category remains illegal border crossings.
* The editor is Bulat Karimov, LLM, Research Associate at the Centre for Maritime Law, National University of Singapore, head of Young RUMLA. Participated in drafting: Valeria Pavlova (NAVICUS.LAW).