DENMARK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Johannes Grove Nielsen, Camilla Søgaard Hudson, Lars Rosenberg Overby and Malthe Hersom Kløft, Bech-Bruun
publications and presentations. Additionally, Malthe serves on the board of Young CMI Denmark, the Danish association for young maritime lawyers.
Bech-Bruun Gdanskgade 18 2150 Nordhavn Copenhagen Denmark Tel: +45 25 26 33 77
Email: jgn@bechbruun.com Web: www.bechbruun.com
As 2025 has come to a close, it is an opportune time to reflect on the key legal trends and developments that have impacted the Danish shipping sector over the past year. This article highlights some of the most significant and interesting legal issues and develop - ments in Danish shipping law in 2025. One of the most prominent topics this year has been the renewed focus on the Russian “shadow fleet”, sparked by reports linking its operations to recent drone incidents in Europe. These developments have intensified discussions about the extent to which states can intervene in the safe passage of such ves - sels through their jurisdictions. Additionally, the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court has decided on several shipping-related mat - ters in the past year. Among these, the court rendered a decision in a matter relating to ship-owners’ right to limit liability under the global limitation rules. Fur - ther, several decisions have been rendered relating to cargo damage resulting from temperature deviations. Continued Innocent Passage for the Russian Shadow Fleet in Danish Territorial Waters? In September 2025, sightings of unauthorised drones over Copenhagen Airport led to the closure of the airspace over the airport for several hours. In the fol - lowing days, drone activity was discovered over other Danish critical infrastructure, as well as in other Euro -
pean countries. Some of the drone activities were sus - pected to stem from the Russian shadow fleet vessel the Boracay, sanctioned by the European Union and the United Kingdom. The vessel was later detained upon its voyage through French coastal waters. Unauthorised drone activities are one of several threats against critical European infrastructure in 2025 linked to, or which have been suspected to be linked to, the Russian shadow fleet. The Russian shadow fleet is characterised as vessels operating under shell ownerships, which obfuscates which entity controls the vessels and the true intent of their operations. Their aim has, so far, been to evade sanctions by moving sanctioned and dangerous car - go, namely Russian oil. This is usually done during high-risk operations; for example through the use of old or outdated vessels without proper – or with ques - tionable – insurance. It appears that the fleet is also engaged in hybrid warfare activities, with the latest threat being unauthorised drone activities. So far, discussions regarding the innocent passage of Russian shadow fleet vessels through Danish territo - rial waters have mainly focused on the environmental and economic risks associated with their passage. However, recent incidents have led to widespread debate at the national and international levels, in par - ticular with regard to whether shadow fleet vessels
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