A new large-scale armed conflict broke out in late February 2026. The US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran, which responded by blocking the Strait of Hormuz: a third of the world’s liquefied natural gas, nearly a quarter of the world’s oil consumption, and many other goods are transported through this strait. Following several days of hostilities, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated that only vessels with specific permission from Iranian authorities could expect to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. At the time of publication, around 30 vessels of various types, including container ships, bulk carriers and tankers, had been affected by hostilities in the Strait of Hormuz.

The article examines the problem of expropriation of foreign vessels during the *** in Ukraine. The authors consider expropriation without monetary compensation and not on the grounds of a court judgement is an illegal and Unfavourable act. The point is that vessels are registered in the registers, which are usually kept by ports all over the world. The registration is a condition of vessels’ operation. In case of illegal expropriation, it is impossible to change the entry for a vessel in a foreign register. Consequently, the vessel cannot leave the port of any state since she will be arrested. Vessels, which were expropriated illegally, cannot be operated for their intended purpose in the modern world.

Russian court refused to provide information to a shareholder owning 43% of the voting shares of the Russian joint-stock company Kaliningrad Commercial Seaport because the claimant was a UK resident. The UK authorities have adopted regulations allowing the imposition of restrictive measures on Russian entities operating in the transport sector and a wide range of others. The defendant carries on activities in the field of transport and is the operator of a marine terminal, therefore, the provision of documents and information to the plaintiff in accordance with the requirements of the Joint Stock Companies Act may lead to the introduction of new restrictive measures against the Port and/or other persons, of which the plaintiff learns from the documents of the defendant.

Commentary to case No. A70-14648/2021 (FSUE “Atomflot” v. Zapsibgazprom-Gasification Ltd.)

The relations on transshipment (reloading) of goods remain poorly studied, questions arise about the possibility of separating transshipment (reloading) into the class of independent, but related to carriage, transport obligations. Transshipment (reloading) cannot be considered outside the form and content of civil law regulation and be identified only with a technical operation in transport. The legal regulation of transshipment (reloading) in Russian and foreign legislation is not uniform, the legislator is faced with the difficulty of harmonizing the interests of all persons in the law, whose rights may be affected by its implementation. The Russian legislation initiated an approach requiring discussion to the regulation of offshore transshipments with the inclusion of special articles in the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation (hereinafter – MSC RF), although no fewer interesting questions about determining the nature of obligations for transshipment (reloading) of goods in private maritime law remain on the agenda.

Case No. A33-15874/2020 (FSUE “Rosmorport” v JSC “Khatanga Commercial Seaport”)

Commentary to the Case No. А51-9022/2020 (LLC “Fesco Service” v LLC “Avers”)

Case No. А73-7921/2020 (LLC “Alliance-DV Kamchatka” v LLC “Ventura”)

Case No. А40-127542/2020 (JSC “Belomortrans” v LLC “Neva-Charter”)

Judgement of the Commercial (“Arbitrazh”) Court of the North-Western District dated 3 March 2021 in case No. A21-1117/2020 (Fishing collective farm “Worker of the Sea” v FSUE “National Fish Resources”, FSBI “Administration of Seaports of the Baltic Sea”, LLC “Northern Marine Technologies”)[1]

Ruling of the Commercial (“Arbitrazh”) Court of the Krasnodarskyi Region dated 12 March 2021 in case No. А32-9548/2021 (FGBI “Morspassluzjba” v “April Shipping Company”)

Judgement of the 9th Commercial Court of Appeal dated January 18, 2021 No. 09АП-69250/2020 in case No. А40-40737/2020 (Federal state budgetary institution (FSBI) “Northern UGMS” v Rosmorrechflot)

Judgement of the 5th Commercial Court of Appeal dated January 18, 2021 No. 05AP-7234/2020 in case No. A51-3969/2020 (LLC Far Eastern Sea Transportation v LLC Vostok-Mor-Stroy)

Judgement of the 5th Commercial Court of Appeal dated January 20, 2021 No. 05AP-7848/2020 in case No. A59-1512/2020 (FGUP Rosmorport v LLC Sakhmorflot)

Judgement of the Commercial Court of the Krasnodar Territory dated November 20, 2020 in case No. А32-22897/2020 (PJSC IC Ukrainian Insurance Group v Post Holding Assets Ltd.)

Judgement of the Commercial Court of the Vologda Region dated October 6, 2020 in case No. A13-20252/2019 (LLC P.TransKo v PJSC Severstal)