Shipping 2026

DENMARK Trends and Developments Contributed by: Johannes Grove Nielsen, Camilla Søgaard Hudson, Lars Rosenberg Overby and Malthe Hersom Kløft, Bech-Bruun

Factual circumstances In February 2022, the anchor of the tanker vessel M/T SAMUS SWAN (the “vessel”), ultimately owned by UNI-TANKERS (the “owners”), came loose and was dragged behind the Vessel during bad weather, result - ing in the anchor colliding with a sea cable owned by Energinet Eltransmission A/S (the “claimant”). The sea cable provided electricity to the Danish island Born - holm, and thus the collision led to a power outage on the island. The loose anchor had been found to be mainly a result of bad weather and high seas, causing the lashing of the anchor to fail – and thus resulting in the vessel dropping the anchor and its anchor chain. Upon the anchor coming loose, the vessel suffered from propul - sion issues. Prior to its collision with the sea cable, the vessel had encountered numerous issues with its manoeuvrabil - ity. A court-appointed expert also found that there had been historical issues with the anchor, and with safety management on the vessel. In November 2022, the owners filed a request to create a global limitation fund with the Danish Maritime and Commercial Court, which was subsequently opened in December 2022. In February 2023, the limitation amount was set to 2,921,657.29 SDR (equivalent to DKK27,254,095.70 based on the exchange rate on creation of the fund). The claimant disputed the owners’ right to limit its liability. It was not disputed between the parties that the vessel’s anchor had damaged the sea cable, or that owners were consequently liable. The claimants argued that the owners had caused the damage to the sea cable through gross negligence, and with an understanding that the damage was likely to occur. In this respect, the claimants argued that several circumstances should lead to the forfeiture of the owners’ right to limit its liability, including, inter alia, that: • the actions of the technical management and the crew of the vessel should be associated with the owners’ own actions;

can continue to travel under the pretence of innocent passage when such vessels appears to be engaged in hybrid warfare activities. The principle of innocent passage is codified under international maritime law under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Under UNCLOS, ships of all states enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial seas of other states, provided such passage is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state. As such, a state may not impair the innocent passage of ships and may only intervene if such passage is not considered innocent. A passage is not considered innocent if, inter alia, a ship poses any threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the coastal state or commits any act of propaganda aimed at affecting the defence or security of the coastal state. Consequently, if a link is established between a shadow fleet vessel and drone-related activities that undermine the security of a coastal state, the state may lawfully take measures to interdict, investigate or even deny passage to such vessels within their ter - ritorial waters. In the case of the Boracay , the French coastal authorities enforced this right upon the ves - sel’s passage through French coastal waters, as the vessel did not provide sufficient proof of its national - ity and did not comply with the orders of the French coastal authorities. Denmark has yet to impose its right to intervene in the journey of the Russian shadow vessels claiming innocent passage through Danish territorial waters. However, it appears that there is increasing nation - al and international political pressure on the Danish government to enforce this right in light of the recent threats that the fleet has posed to, inter alia, critical European infrastructure. Global Limitation of Liability in Relation to Damage to a Sea Cable (Danish Maritime and Commercial Court’s Decision of 4 July 2025) In July 2025, the Danish Maritime and Commercial court rendered a decision regarding ship-owners’ right to limit liability under the global limitation rules.

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