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…
