Ever since the time of the Phoenicians, geopolitics has impacted maritime trade. Conflicts gave rise to strategies that often included blockading trade routes to starve the enemy of its required resources, food, and arms. The strategy was singularly focused and used for centuries.
Today’s geopolitical climate has impacted the maritime industry through rising insurance premiums, increased freight rates, and spiking energy costs. Whether the issue is sanctions, tariffs, the skirmishes in the Red Sea, or the conflict in the Middle East, owners, charterers, shippers, vendors, insurers, crews, and the global consumer are all impacted. Vessels are altering routes, being blockaded, and being shot at. Insurers are trying to manage new and increased risks. And the global consumer is watching its buying power shrink.
The global maritime trade is the engine of the global economy. Today’s strategies to thwart an adversary’s geopolitical goals, while not much different in principle from the strategies of the Phoenicians, have significantly greater consequences for the global community. Notwithstanding the geopolitical landscape, ships are still trading, and the industry is still advancing its technologies. This edition of Mainbrace examines developments in maritime law, both in litigation and arbitration, provides updates on IMO negotiations, and explores the scope of U.S. government investigations of marine casualties.
— William R. Bennett III, Editor
Mainbrace Editors
Co-Editor
