Frustration & Force Majeure in Shipping & Commodities - Risk, Supply Chains & Recent Updates

Introduction

Global supply chains are under siege, from COVID-19 disruptions and port closures to sanctions, volatile commodity prices, and geopolitical conflict. Delays, blocked payments, and off-hire disputes are now everyday challenges.

Under English law, frustration is hard to prove, and force majeure clauses often fall short. How are courts interpreting these doctrines in shipping and commodities disputes today?

This session provides practical, sector-specific guidance on:

• Risk allocation between shipowners and charterers
• Sale v carriage contract conflicts
• Sanctions, payment obstacles, and evidential burdens

Gain insight from recent cases like RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV, Canary Wharf BP4, and Seadrill Ghana to avoid costly breach claims, demurrage, and reputational damage.

Equip yourself with strategic tools to navigate disrupted supply chains defensively, decisively, and commercially realistically.

Do not let uncertainty put your clients at risk, register today and gain the edge.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• The modern test for frustration under English law and why it rarely assists shipowners, charterers or commodity traders
• The continued importance of ‘radical difference’ in long-term supply, offtake and time charter arrangements
• How force majeure clauses operate in charterparties, commodity sale contracts
• Construction of force majeure clauses in maritime and trade disputes
• Sanctions, blocked payments, port closures, vessel detentions and government embargoes - when do they qualify?
• Freight rate spikes, price volatility and economic hardship - why market shifts alone will almost never suffice
• ‘Reasonable endeavours’ in practice - alternative ports, substitute vessels, rerouting, currency alternatives and restructuring payment mechanisms
• The relationship between force majeure in upstream sale contracts and downstream carriage obligations
• Strategic deployment of force majeure notices in live shipping and trading chains
• Evidence in supply chain disputes - market data, expert freight evidence, sanctions compliance materials, and contemporaneous trading communications
• Litigation risk - summary judgment exposure and termination strategy

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 29th June 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,300+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.