Shipping groups are increasingly seeking break clauses in contracts with Chinese businesses that would make it easier for them to walk away from deals if western governments impose sanctions on Beijing. Senior lawyers at four maritime law firms, who declined to be named, told the Financial Times that vessel owners were regularly asking for bespoke clauses that would offer clearer protection against the impact of western sanctions when negotiating deals with Chinese counterparts such as shipbuilders, lenders and traders chartering freight services.

The impact of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shaken shipowners and left groups far more exposed to sanctions, with the war putting pressure on them to keep track of their vessels amid greater scrutiny from regulators, banks and insurers.

“People didn’t anticipate the eventual scale of the sanctions against Russia. And how quickly we ultimately got there,” said Patrick Murphy, a shipping lawyer at Clyde & Co.