Week of 17-23 August 2026
French and international maritime law — legislative, regulatory and case-law update.
I. International maritime security
Hormuz and the resurgence of Somali piracy
On 17 August, Iranian media reported that the Revolutionary Guards had detained a tanker linked to the United Arab Emirates, taken to Qeshm Island, on the grounds that it had not used the northern route imposed by Tehran in the Strait of Hormuz, nor paid the fees demanded. The report has not been confirmed by independent sources. It follows the attacks of 14 August on two vessels linked to ADNOC, described as piracy by Abu Dhabi.
On 20 August, the products tanker Sibu 1 (IMO 9204776), under US sanctions, was boarded by six armed men some 136 nautical miles east of Al Mukalla (Yemen), then diverted towards Somalia — the second hijacking reported in the Gulf of Aden in a week. UKMTO raised the piracy threat level to substantial; the French Navy’s MICA Center has recorded eighteen incidents since April 2026.
Business implications: review of war-risk and piracy clauses, insurance premium surcharges, diversion terms and the duty of care owed to crew. Every clause in that list now matters more.
II. Panama Canal and port law
Panama Canal: reduced transits and draught restrictions
The Canal Authority announced on 20 and 21 August a two-stage reduction in daily transits, cut from 36 to 32, after El Niño-related drought reduced rainfall in the watershed by around 34%. From 3 September, bookable slots fall from ten to nine for neopanamax locks and from twenty-six to twenty-five for panamax locks, dropping further to twenty-three for the latter on 15 September. The 48-foot draught restriction applies from 26 August to 2 September, with the 47.5-foot restriction postponed to 1 October.
Business implications: contractual treatment of delays (laytime and demurrage, force majeure, diversion, transit surcharges) in ongoing contracts. Old contracts meet a new risk, mid-voyage.
CK Hutchison v. Panama arbitration
On 20 August, CK Hutchison launched investment-treaty arbitration against the Republic of Panama, claiming damages exceeding US$1.5 billion. The group argues that measures adopted between 2025 and 2026 destroyed the Balboa and Cristóbal terminal concessions, operated by its subsidiary Panama Ports Company and taken over by the State on 23 February 2026. This claim comes on top of the contractual arbitration filed in March by Panama Ports Company, for over US$2 billion. Two billion dollars, and the meter is running. Separately, Hapag-Lloyd announced on 21 August the acquisition of a 25% stake in APM Terminals Maasvlakte II, Rotterdam.
Business implications: securing port concessions (stabilisation, termination, compensation) and the interplay between treaty protection and contractual remedies.
III. International sanctions and the shadow fleet
Tightening expected in the autumn
On 17 August, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs announced new sanctions proposals against Russia for the autumn. As a reminder, the 21st package, adopted at the end of July 2026, listed 41 additional vessels subject to a port-access ban and a broad services prohibition — more than 670 vessels in total — and extended the designation criteria to vessels providing services to designated vessels: bunkering, towage and ship-to-ship transfers. Support services fall under the same net.
Business implications: updating vessel and counterparty screening, reviewing sanctions clauses, and checking flag, beneficial ownership and insurance.
IV. French maritime law
A week of limited regulatory activity.
- Health and safety on board: the order of 13 August 2026, published in Official Journal No. 0194 of 21 August 2026, amends the order of 21 March 2007 on requirements applicable to exposure to noise risks for personnel employed on board ships. Noise, too, is now a compliance question.
- Offshore wind: no contentious developments this week. Actions for annulment of the AO10 tender, covering eleven wind farms, remain pending before the Council of State (Cérémé and FED, association ICE, Enviro Veritas and the NEMO collective, filed in July 2026).
V. Ship recycling
The “Hong Kong” certification called into question
Nine workers, including a seventeen-year-old, died on 14 August at the Ferdous Steel demolition yard in Chattogram (Bangladesh), during a hydrogen sulphide leak while cutting a ballast tank aboard the LNG carrier Rasi. The yard was certified compliant with the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, which entered into force in 2025. The Bangladeshi press and the NGO Shipbreaking Platform reported this week that the labour inspectorate had prosecuted the operator a month before the accident, reviving the debate over the scope of such certifications.