I. Cargo handling by crews: the ITF clause heads for Luxembourg

On 28 August, the Court of Appeal of The Hague allowed the European Trade Union Confederation to intervene in support of the International Transport Workers’ Federation in the dispute over the Non-Seafarers’ Work Clause, the provision of ITF agreements that prohibits crews from handling containers where qualified dockers are available on the quay. The court indicated that it intends to refer questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling.

The ground is familiar: since Viking and Laval, transnational collective action has been assessed against the economic freedoms, and Article 28 of the Charter has never been enough to shield it. Yet the disputed clause has a particular feature that could change the outcome: it does not obstruct the provision of services, it allocates work between two groups of employees. The questions to be referred have not been made public, so what follows is forward-looking analysis.

Business implications. Identify the collective agreements and charter parties containing the clause, and plan for two to three years of uncertainty.

II. Somali piracy: the highest level since 2013, and the right word

The MV Latuf, a Cameroon-flagged cargo ship hijacked on 17 August off Nugaal, was recaptured on 29 August. The Somali Ministry of Defence reports fourteen pirates killed and four boats destroyed in an operation conducted under the Somali-Turkish defence cooperation agreement. The Puntland authorities and the local press give a very different account: a ransom of around 2.5 million dollars. The two versions cannot be reconciled, and neither can be verified at this stage.

The figure that matters lies elsewhere. The IMO has recorded at least fifteen attacks off Somalia since January, the highest level since 2013, with five vessels held, the latest seized on 20 August off Yemen. On 24 August, the research schooner Tara suffered an armed robbery at anchor in Papua New Guinea; its president called it an act of banditry. The word is accurate, and it matters. Piracy under Article 101 of the Montego Bay Convention requires the high seas and two ships; an attack at anchor is armed robbery at sea, which falls within the sovereignty of the coastal State, with no universal jurisdiction and no right of hot pursuit. Confusing the two means relying on the wrong legal basis, for insurance cover as for criminal prosecution.

III. Sinking of the Maranello: British coordination, French investigation

On the evening of 29 August, the trawler Maranello, registered in Saint-Brieuc, sank twenty-six miles south-west of Plymouth, in the British search and rescue region. MRCC Falmouth coordinated the search, with the French CROSS Gris-Nez and Corsen centres in support. The Stradale picked up three of the five crew members; two seafarers remain missing.

The situation is ordinary, yet poorly anticipated: a French vessel, a French crew, a foreign SAR region. The 1979 SAR Convention gives coordination of the rescue to the State responsible for the region, whereas the technical safety investigation belongs to the flag State under Directive 2009/18/EC, here the French marine accident investigation office (BEAmer). Two authorities, two timetables, two points of contact.

IV. Port law: Jeddah Terminal 4, grafted onto an existing concession

On 25 August in Paris, on the sidelines of the Franco-Saudi investment round table, Red Sea Gateway Terminal and CMA CGM signed the final agreements for the joint development of Terminal 4 at Jeddah Islamic Port with the port authority Mawani: 434 million dollars and up to 2.6 million additional TEU. The structure is worth noting: the terminal falls within the scope of the concession already held by RSGT, rather than being awarded through a separate procedure.

V. IMO: the October meeting and the risk of double carbon pricing

The extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee, adjourned in October 2025 by 57 votes to 49, resumes next month. The issue is still the adoption of the Net-Zero Framework, a carbon intensity standard with global pricing, to apply in 2028 at the earliest. EU law is already producing its effects: the maritime ETS has been fully phased in since 1 January 2026 and FuelEU Maritime has completed its first compliance cycle.

Hence the question that will occupy legal departments well before 2028: will a ship of more than 5,000 gross tonnage calling at a European port pay twice for the same tonne of CO2? Article 30 of the FuelEU Regulation provides for a review if a global measure is adopted. It provides for a review, not for automatic expiry. The distinction will prove costly for anyone who overlooks it when drafting emission cost allocation clauses in long-term charter parties.

VI. Flag taxation: Japan reopens its tonnage tax

On 28 August, the maritime bureau of the Japanese transport ministry announced a joint review of four tax schemes for international shipping, including the tonnage tax, as part of the 2027 tax reform. The framing has changed in nature: Tokyo no longer presents these regimes as sectoral support, but as an economic security tool guaranteeing national shipping capacity in a crisis. In Europe, the tonnage tax (Article 209-0 B of the French General Tax Code) is still defended on competitiveness grounds. The shift deserves attention: it moves the debate from State aid to security of supply, where States enjoy far wider latitude.

VII. Marine energy: Victoria opens Australia’s first offshore tender

On 27 August, the State of Victoria launched Australia’s first offshore wind tender: 2 GW off Gippsland, closing in August 2027 with award in 2028, as a first step towards 9 GW by 2040. The criteria combine price, ability to deliver and local benefits, the same shift as in Europe, where auctions are moving to two-sided contracts for difference. The lowest bidder no longer wins on price alone.

VIII. French law: a silent Official Journal, one decree that matters

No significant maritime text appeared in the Official Journal between 24 and 30 August: the summer lull. The week was taken up with the reception of Decree No. 2026-803 of 20 August 2026 adopting the national strategy for integrated coastline management, published on 21 August. It sets out sixty measures for 2025-2030, based on an assumed sea-level rise of close to one metre by 2100, which coastal elected officials consider underfunded. Decree No. 2026-807 of the same day, authorising the EPR2 works at Gravelines, involves dredging and disposal at sea in the western outer harbour of Dunkirk: litigation over the dumping of port sediments has a bright future.

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