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Exclusive: China's maritime court settles Strait of Hormuz vessel collision dispute as foreign shipowners turn to Chinese law_我的网站

A |     昨日立秋，但立秋不等于入秋，气象学上要连续5天日平均气温≤22℃才算入秋，杭州离真正的秋天还很远。

B |     

    Liberia-flagged vessel Front Eagle Photo: Courtesy of China's Supreme People's Court Guangzhou Maritime Court recently successfully mediated a 180 million yuan ($25 million) dispute arising from a collision between two oil tankers in waters near the Strait of Hormuz, with both parties agreeing to apply Chinese law and submit their dispute to the Chinese court, the Global Times learned from the court on Sunday.
In 2025, two crude oil tankers collided at the eastern entrance to the Strait of Hormuz, 24 nautical miles off Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, media reported.
Owned by oil tanker operator Frontline, the Liberia-flagged vessel Front Eagle collided with the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged vessel Adalynn on the morning of June 17, 2025.
The Adalynn was damaged in the fire. While the Front Eagle was undergoing repairs in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, Global Shipping Holding Ltd., which owns the Adalynn, applied to Guangzhou Maritime Court for its arrest. Frontline provided a cash security of 203 million yuan to release the arrest and applied to establish a limitation fund for maritime claims.
The court approved the application and allowed Frontline to establish the limitation fund, setting the amount of the fund at 168 million yuan.
Guangzhou Maritime Court held four pretrial conferences on October 11, 2025, January 12, May 6 and July 13, 2026 to complete preparations for evidence examination, technical investigations and reported the relevant pretrial arrangements to the provincial high court, the Global Times learned from the court. 
The court held a public hearing for the case on July 14, 2026.
No government agency had conducted an investigation into the collision, and no official findings were issued after the accident. Taking into account the unique burden-of-proof challenges in maritime collision disputes, Guangzhou Maritime Court took measures to preserve key evidence when handling the vessel arrest, including navigation logs, AIS data, voyage data recorder (VDR) records and CCTV footage, the court told the Global Times in a statement on Sunday.
Under a process that involves exchanging evidence inventories, sealing materials simultaneously and jointly reviewing them after evidence submissions, the court helped ensure the authenticity of critical records and laid the groundwork for determining the facts of the case.
As the two sides and their respective maritime experts reached sharply different conclusions over liability, the court introduced a maritime technical investigator mechanism, with the consent of both parties, allowing technical experts to participate throughout the proceedings. Drawing on the preserved evidence, investigators reconstructed the collision, assessed the vessels' encounter situation and clarified the parties' respective responsibilities.
Following the hearing, the court facilitated mediation, and the two parties reached a settlement agreement on July 27, 2026. On July 31, the court organized the distribution of the maritime liability limitation fund among creditors involved in the foreign vessel collision dispute and related charter-party disputes. 
Representatives of the Adalynn traveled from overseas to the court to present a letter of appreciation and a commemorative banner in recognition of the court's efforts, according to the court statement. 
After the Guangzhou Maritime Court accepted the case, both parties agreed to apply Chinese law to establish a maritime liability limitation fund and resolve their substantive dispute, breaking away from the long-standing reliance of international shipping disputes on European and US courts and legal systems.
Choice of justice 
Bilov Viacheslav, a representative of Global Shipping Holding Ltd., told the Global Times that the main reason they chose a Chinese court to mediate the case is that "we want absolutely fair, unbiased approach to this issue. Because nowadays in this world, there are some countries which believe that they are authorized to give instruction to all others, which definitely is having influence on the decisions of the judge on the approach to the case."
Viacheslav gave the Chinese court's handling of the case a five-star rating, saying he had expected the dispute to take at least three years to resolve, but the Chinese court settled it within just one year. He also praised the judges and lawyers for their commitment to advancing the case throughout the proceedings.
"The judges and lawyers worked to advance the case with the same level of commitment as I did, even though the case directly concerned my own interests. This left a deep impression on me about litigation in China," Viacheslav said.
The case involved two foreign parties and a collision that occurred near the Strait of Hormuz, with no direct connection to China or Guangzhou Maritime Court initially. The fact that the parties chose to seek vessel arrest in China and agreed to apply Chinese law demonstrates the credibility and appeal of China's maritime judicial system, Wu Guining, vice president of the Guangzhou Maritime Court, who served as the presiding judge of the case, told the Global Times. 
The court also introduced a maritime technical investigator mechanism in the case, an innovation aimed at addressing complex technical issues arising from vessel collision accidents, Wu said, noting that through technical investigations, the court was able to establish the facts of the case more efficiently, highlighting the integration of professional maritime investigation capabilities with China's specialized maritime adjudication system.
The case demonstrates China's ability to handle major, complex and cross-border maritime disputes with professional expertise, Wu said.
The handling of the collision between the two vessels is just one example of how Chinese courts have been dealing with a growing number of foreign-related maritime cases in recent years.
The Global Times learned from China's Supreme People's Court (SPC) in October last year that over the past 40 years, Chinese courts have handled a total of 88,000 foreign-related maritime cases involving parties from 146 countries and regions.
At a lecture held by the SPC on Friday, Shen Hongyu, director of the Fourth Civil Division of the SPC, told the Global Times that in recent years, Chinese courts have become more influential in participating in and promoting global ocean governance reform. Maritime justice serves as an important instrument for practicing the vision of a maritime community with a shared future and for advancing the reform of the global ocean governance system. 
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C | 不过，受台风“白海豚”影响，持续近一个月的暑热有望得到暂时缓解。截至昨天，杭州从7月14日以来的这波连续高温已达25天。随着“白海豚”的靠近，高温将暂时退场。杭州今天白天阴有阵雨或雷雨，雷雨时局地可伴有短时暴雨和7~9级雷雨大风，夜里阴有中到大雨，白天最高气温34℃。明显的降温从明天开始，杭州最高气温有可能降到30℃以下。昨天省防指将防台风应急响应提升至Ⅲ级，杭州市防指也启动防台风Ⅳ级应急响应。台风将带来风雨影响，提醒大家做好防范，可以做适当的准备：适量备些耐放的食品和饮用水，以备不时之需；花盆、衣架、晾衣杆收到室内，门窗也要检查一下；关注相关部门的预警，尽量少出门。

D | “白海豚”面积相当于13个浙江可能9日下午到10日在我省登陆即将登陆我国的“白海豚”是一个耐力型台风，生成已超10天，经历了5次眼壁置换，3次加强为超强台风。中国天气网气象分析师沈雨旸介绍，从昨天早上的云图上看，“白海豚”结构完整，眼区仍比较清晰，由于有干冷空气卷入，西侧环流减弱，眼区附近出现大片空心区，不过整体环流变得更大了，面积近似13个浙江省那么大。据中央气象台，今年第13号台风“白海豚”（强台风级）的中心昨天20时位于浙江省温州市以东大约660公里的西北太平洋洋面上，就是北纬27.2度、东经127.3度，中心附近最大风力有14级（45米/秒），中心最低气压为950百帕，七级风圈半径为420~450公里，十级风圈半径为220~250公里，十二级风圈半径为100公里。

E | 据浙江省气象服务中心昨天的预计，“白海豚”将以每小时10~15公里的速度向偏西方向移动，可能于9日下午到10日早晨在苍南到象山一带沿海登陆（台风级或强台风级，12~14级），登陆后缓慢西行。中国天气网提醒，登陆后，“白海豚”还将深入内陆，给浙江、上海、江苏、福建、江西、安徽、湖北、湖南、河南、山东等十余省份带来风雨影响。为应对“白海豚”带来强降雨可能出现的汛情，水利部7日18时对上海、江苏、浙江、安徽、福建、江西启动洪水防御Ⅳ级应急响应。“白海豚”将给浙江带来5天的降雨明起杭州最高气温有望降至“2字头”浙江省气象服务中心称：受“白海豚”影响，昨天下午起，浙江沿海海面和沿海地区风力逐渐增强至8~10级，昨天夜里至10日增强至10~13级，其中9日白天至10日上午局部13~16级。内陆地区9日至10日大部分地区最大风力8~10级，高山区和江河湖面局部11~12级。这次“白海豚”给我省带来的降雨时间长达5天（7日夜里至12日），强降雨主要集中在8日夜里至10日，东部、南部地区累计雨量大，单点有极端性。预计今天白天沿海部分地区有大到暴雨，局地大暴雨；今天夜里至10日浙中南和沿海地区有暴雨大暴雨，台州、温州和宁波南部局地有特大暴雨；11日浙西部分地区暴雨，局地大暴雨。杭州市气象台称，“白海豚”登陆后移速慢、影响时间长，造成的风力影响和“巴威”相当，但降雨比“巴威”更强。预计8日至12日杭州有较明显风雨过程，降雨最强时间段集中在9日至10日。8日白天起全市风力逐渐增大，最强时段出现在9日白天到10日上午，最大东北风平原地区8~10级，山区和江湖水面局地11级以上。携风雨而来的“白海豚”将带来明显降温。浙江省气象服务中心预计，今天起高温开始收敛，9日至12日基本“偃旗息鼓”，届时我省大部分地区最高气温将降至28~30℃。杭州市气象台说，明天开始，“白海豚”的影响趋于明显，气温进一步回落。预计9日至13日，杭州主城区最高气温在28~30℃。

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Published on:17:32:57