A Chinese maritime court has mediated a dispute arising from a collision between two foreign vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, with claims in the case totalling 180 million yuan (about $26.5 million), China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) said on Monday.

The case was handled by the Guangzhou Maritime Court (GMC) in Guangdong province under the guidance of the SPC. It involved the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged Adalynn and the Liberia-flagged Front Eagle, both owned and operated by foreign companies, according to an SPC statement.

The two vessels collided in waters near the Strait of Hormuz in June 2025. While the Front Eagle was undergoing repairs in Shenzhen, Guangdong, the owner of the Adalynn applied to the GMC for an order to arrest the vessel.

Both parties agreed to have the GMC hear the case and selected Chinese law to govern the substantive issues in dispute.

The GMC held four pretrial meetings between October 2025 and July 2026 before conducting a public hearing on July 14, 2026.

As no official authority had investigated the collision or issued findings on the incident, the court also brought in maritime technical investigators to help establish the facts.

Through the fact-finding process, the court reconstructed the circumstances of the collision, helping determine the respective liabilities of the two parties, said Wu Guining, the presiding judge.

The parties subsequently reached a settlement through court mediation, and the court organised the distribution of the liability fund in late July.

Bilov Viacheslav, a representative of the Adalynn’s owner, said the company had chosen to bring the dispute before a Chinese court because of its confidence in the impartiality and fairness of China’s legal and judicial systems.

He said the outcome had proved the decision right and praised the efficiency of the Chinese court and the professionalism of Chinese maritime experts.