United Kingdom: Marine/ Shipping

What began as a regional military action is now a broader test of global supply chain resilience. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world's most critical trade chokepoints, but the current disruption shows how quickly a Gulf conflict can expand beyond energy markets.

On March 31, 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) filed an updated declaration before the U.S. Court of International Trade in Atmus Filtration, Inc. v.

Theescalation of conflict in the Middle East since late February 2026, particularly the disruption to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, has once again brought force majeure...

On 21 July 2025, the UK ETS Authority (the "Authority") published an interim response to its November 2024 consultation (the "Consultation") on the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (the "UK ETS") to include emissions from the maritime sector from 1 July 2026 (the "Interim Response")...

A cross-firm team has successfully completed the Defence Marine Services (DMS) programme for the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The programme, spanning over six years, involved competitive and single...

The UK Government is consulting on a revised Ports National Policy Statement (NPS), updating the 2012 version to reflect changes in legislation, trade, technology...

In Sharp Corp Ltd v Viterra BV [2024], the UK Supreme Court affirmed the principles of mitigation and compensation in damages law, highlighting their equal importance. It ruled that the appropriate market for assessing damages is where it is reasonable for the seller to resell the goods. The Court also clarified the limits of the Court of Appeal's powers under s. 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996, emphasizing that errors of fact cannot be revisited and that the Court can only review legal questions

In RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV [2024], the UK Supreme Court ruled that a force majeure clause requiring "reasonable endeavors" did not oblige a party to accept non-contractual performance, emphasizing contractual rights, commercial certainty, and strict clause interpretation.

The judgment of Mrs Justice Dias in MOK Petro Energy v. Argo (No. 604) Limited (The "F1") [2024] EWHC 1935 (Comm) contains an important analysis of the requirement of physical "damage" in a particular average claim.