In maritime contract law a “restraint of princes” refers to excused non-performance due to a government holding a vessel against its will. We will be seeing many examples of this with the sanctions imposed on Russia. Some Russian vessels bound for foreign ports will be held. Some vessels bound for Russia will be held.
What will happen to these ships and their cargo? To some extent, they will become compensation for civil damage claims brought against Russian interests by individual Ukrainians, Ukrainian firms, and the Ukrainian government in maritime nations. (The current Ukrainian government will continue to be recognized by most of the world as the legitimate authority even if driven into exile by the Russian army.) This will break new ground, as we’ve not seen seen such severe and sudden sanctions on shipping by neutral nations in a long time, if ever.
Posted by Gerard Magliocca on March 1, 2022 at 09:41 AM