GTLK MALTA FOUR LTD V POLA MARITIME LTD

[2026] EWHC 2514 (Comm), Commercial Court, Buisness & Property Division, Ms Lesley Anderson KC sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court, 2 October 2026

Charterparty (demise) – Sanctions – Frustration – Construction of finance bareboat charterparty – Bareboat charterparties purportedly terminated following imposition of sanctions on registered owner – Defendants having issued guarantees in respect of liabilities – Summary judgment

The claimant GTLK was a Maltese company and the registered owner of seven vessels for which it had entered into long-term charterparties in the character of finance leases on amended BARECON 2001 terms with PLL, a Cyprus company. GTLK was the subsidiary of GTLK Europe, an Irish company whose ultimate owner was the Russian Federation. The defendants had between 2018 and 2020 entered into 12 deeds of guarantee and indemnity in respect of PLL's contractual obligations.