You are using an outdated browser For a better experience using this site, please upgrade to a modern web browser. Subscribe Get Daily Email Subscribe --> Contact Us Sign in Home News & Features Compliance Costs Bunker Prices Bunker Intelligence World News Latest Features World Americas EMEA Asia/Pacific Home News & Features World INSIGHT - Real Risk, Not Proof: What the Verdict in The Catalan Sea Means for Sanctions Screening in Shipping INSIGHT - Real Risk, Not Proof: What the Verdict in The Catalan Sea Means for Sanctions Screening in Shipping by Paul Henty, Partner, Beale & Co Wednesday July 15, 2026 Tweet Follow @shipandbunker Paul Henty, Partner, Beale & Co. Image Credit: Beale & Co A vessel is due to load, screening identifies a possible link between the cargo interest and a designated person, and the ownership picture is unclear. The charterer wants performance to continue, delay is already costing money, and the owner, supplier or terminal operator must decide whether the risk is serious enough to justify stopping the transaction. That is the commercial problem at the centre of Tonzip Maritime (Singapore) Pte Ltd v 2 Rivers Pte Ltd ( The Catalan Sea ) [ 2026 ] EWCA Civ 641 . The real question is not simply whether sanctions apply. It is who bears the cost of uncertainty while the answer is being worked out. The dispute concerned a tanker chartered to carry crude oil from Russia . The charter allowed the owners to refuse orders which, in their reasonable judgment, were prohibited by sanctions or would expose the owners, vessel, managers, crew or insurers to sanctions. “ A reasonable judgment that performance created a real risk of sanctions liability could be enough. Screening identified links between the shipper, Neftisa , and a sanctioned businessman, Mikhail Gutseriev . The owners refused to load. The charterers supplied corporate assurances and legal opinions intended to show that Mr Gutseriev had transferred control to his half-broth