In the largest penalty the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has ever levied, a Special Chamber ruled unanimously against Equatorial Guinea on May 27, 2026, ordering it to
In the largest penalty the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has ever levied, a Special Chamber ruled unanimously against Equatorial Guinea on May 27, 2026, ordering it to pay over €14 million in damages to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the unlawful seizure of a commercial tanker and detention of its multinational crew. The ruling in the M/T Heroic Idun (No. 2) case represents a watershed moment for international maritime law, delivering a forceful reaffirmation of freedom of navigation.
Large-scale Maritime Seizure
M/T Heroic Idun, a very large crude carrier flying the flag of the Marshall Islands and under charter, arrived near Nigeria’s Akpo Offshore Terminal in August 2022 to load crude oil. When the requisite loading authorizations were not yet in place, the master moved to a waiting position while charterers arranged for the paperwork.
On the evening of August 8, 2022, the vessel was approached by a small craft whose automatic identification system (AIS) was switched off – a classic warning sign of pirate activity in the notoriously dangerous Gulf of Guinea. Fearing an attack, the master declined to follow the craft’s instructions and moved further offshore. The vessel subsequently drifted into
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