当Mercuria Energy Group（美孚能源集团）的律师本周在伦敦法庭上为这家大宗商品巨头对波罗的海交易所提起的诉讼陈述案情时，一群衣着考究的挪威商人坐在拥挤法庭的后排，全神贯注地聆听辩论。
As lawyers for Mercuria Energy Group presented the commodity giant’s case against the Baltic Exchange this week, a group of smartly dressed Norwegian businessmen listened intently to the arguments from the back of a packed London courtroom.
这些代表奥斯陆上市公司Hunter Group ASA（亨特集团）的高管们，在该案结果上牵涉约1亿美元利益。该公司因一项与TD3C指数挂钩的租船协议，正与Mercuria陷入纠纷——TD3C指数是全球基准油轮运费，Mercuria声称波罗的海交易所本应因伊朗战争造成的中断而暂停发布该指数。
The executives, representing Oslo-listed Hunter Group ASA, have around $100 million riding on the outcome. The company is in a dispute with Mercuria over a charter deal linked to the TD3C index — the global benchmark oil tanker rate that the trading house claims the Baltic Exchange should have suspended because of disruptions caused by the Iran war.
据Hunter称，Mercuria一直在减少付款，导致其违约且欠款不断累积。
Mercuria has been making reduced payments, leaving it in breach of contract and with arrears building, according to Hunter.
Hunter主席Morten Astrup（莫滕·阿斯特鲁普）在伦敦接受彭博新闻社采访时表示：“截至目前，累计未付租金收入、损失和利息总额已超过1亿美元。”Mercuria发言人拒绝置评。
“As of now, it’s more than $100 million total accrued charter income, losses and interest,” Hunter Chairman Morten Astrup told Bloomberg News in a London interview. A spokesperson for Mercuria declined to comment.
Hunter的未付账单凸显了伦敦法院的裁决可能影响数十亿美元交织的合同。案件的核心在于：在伊朗战争爆发后的几个月里，波罗的海交易所继续发布从波斯湾内部运油至中国的运费基准，是否仍然有效。
Hunter’s unpaid bill highlights the billions of dollars in criss-crossing contracts that could be affected by a ruling in the London court. The case centers on whether it was still valid for the Baltic Exchange to continue publishing rates to ship oil from inside the Persian Gulf to China in the months after the Iran war broke out.
有争议的TD3C费率依赖经纪人对从沙特阿拉伯拉斯塔努拉港（Ras Tanura）向中国发送超大型油轮成本的评估。然而，它也支撑着油轮船东与其客户之间的其他合同，以及数十亿美元的衍生品交易。
The disputed TD3C rate relies on broker assessments of the cost of sending a supertanker to China from Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura. However, it also underpins other contracts between tanker owners and their customers as well as billions of dollars in derivatives.
Mercuria称，从3月初到7月3日，当德黑兰以霍尔木兹海峡——连接波斯湾与世界其他地区的水道——的航运为目标，导致该海峡的石油流动几近停摆时，波罗的海交易所本应暂停发布该基准费率。
Mercuria says the Baltic Exchange should have suspended the benchmark rate from early March to July 3, when oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz came to a near standstill as Tehran targeted shipping in the waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the rest of the world.
波罗的海交易所在全球航运费率制定中居于核心地位，该交易所坚称，即使在战争开始后的几个月里，通过霍尔木兹海峡的石油运输受到严重干扰，仍然可以利用经纪人评估来对货运风险定价。
The Baltic Exchange, which plays a central role in setting global shipping rates, maintains that it was still possible to put a price on the freight risk using broker assessments, even after oil shipments through Hormuz were severely disrupted in the months following the start of the war.
自那以后，租赁载运原油的超级油轮的价格飙升至每天超过100万美元的历史高点，因为公司在火箭和无人机的袭击下，从霍尔木兹海峡调运货物。
Since then, the prices for leasing crude-carrying supertankers climbed to record highs of well over $1 million a day as firms shuttled cargoes under fire from rockets and drones out of Hormuz.
费率飙升使得位于奥斯陆的亨特公司第二季度利润较去年同期增长13倍，达到4700万美元。该公司此前拥有并运营超级油轮，现在专注于船舶租赁。其股价今年飙升882%，使亨特的市值达到约2.55亿美元。
Surging rates saw Oslo-based Hunter’s second-quarter profit jump 13-fold to $47 million from a year earlier. The company, which previously owned and operated supertankers, now focuses on chartering vessels. Its shares have surged 882% this year to give Hunter a market value of about $255 million.
亨特从与墨库里亚的交易中受益，因为它以固定费率从该贸易商处租入一艘船舶，然后以飙升的浮动基准将其转租回给墨库里亚。
Hunter benefited from its deal with Mercuria because it leased a vessel from the trading house at a fixed rate and then leased it back to Mercuria at a floating benchmark that has soared.
亨特在交易所备案中未提及墨库里亚，但于10月9日表示，一名未具名的合同对手方在9月底欠其6780万美元的未付款项。随着10月份租赁费率继续上涨，该金额应当有所增加。
Hunter hasn’t named Mercuria in its exchange filings, but said on Oct. 9 that an unnamed contractual counterpart owed it an outstanding $67.8 million as of the end of September. That should have increased as charter rates continued to rise in October.
涉及的船舶是一艘名为DHT Puma的10年船龄油轮，墨库里亚从DHT控股公司以定期租船方式租入该船，租期至2027年第一季度。
The vessel in question is a 10-year-old tanker named DHT Puma, which Mercuria took on a time charter from DHT Holdings Inc. until the first quarter of 2027.
本周法庭审理中听取的证据显示，墨库里亚以每天5.2万美元的固定费率将DHT Puma租给了亨特。墨库里亚又从亨特处以与有争议的TD3C指数挂钩的浮动费率将该船租回，该指数自战争开始以来已大幅上涨。
Mercuria then leased the DHT Puma to Hunter at a fixed level of $52,000 a day, according to evidence heard in court this week. It leased the vessel back from Hunter at a floating rate linked to the disputed TD3C index that’s jumped since the start of the war.
在第二季度业绩中，亨特表示，其平均定期租船利润率——即该期间固定费率与现货费率之间的差额——为每天401,172美元。
In its second-quarter results, Hunter said its average time charter margin — the difference between the fixed rate and the spot rate during the period — was $401,172 a day.
船舶往往会在船东和租船公司之间多次转手交易。有时船东会以固定费率将船只长期租出，以保证长期收入，而大量运输石油的公司则能获得有保障的油轮运力。如果贸易商认为有利可图，最终可以继续将船只转租给其他公司。
Ships are often traded multiple times between owners and chartering companies. Sometimes a vessel owner will hire out a ship at a fixed rate on a long-term deal to guarantee revenues over a prolonged period, while companies moving significant quantities of oil then have guaranteed access to a tanker. Traders can ultimately continue to hire out ships to other companies if they deem it lucrative to do so.
亨特集团主席阿斯特鲁普表示，美丘里亚随后将“DHT Puma”号租给了航运大亨郑佳炫（Ga-Hyun Chung）旗下的Sinokor集团，该集团在推动关键的TD3C基准方面颇具影响力。
Hunter Chairman Astrup said Mercuria has subsequently hired out the DHT Puma to shipping tycoon Ga-Hyun Chung’s Sinokor Group, which has been influential in driving the key TD3C benchmark.
美丘里亚敦促伦敦法院判定波罗的海交易所违反了其义务，尽管这家贸易商自提起诉讼以来已多次改变其寻求的诉讼结果。
Mercuria is urging the London court to declare that the Baltic Exchange breached its obligations, though the trading house has repeatedly changed the outcome it’s seeking since first filing the lawsuit.
本周，在案件开庭审理后，美丘里亚表示，与其寻求对该指数进行追溯性暂停或重述，不如说它现在只希望法官判定波罗的海交易所不应在3月至7月期间继续发布TD3C。
This week, after the case had begun, Mercuria said that rather than seeking a retrospective suspension or restatement of the index, it now only wants a judge to declare that the Baltic Exchange shouldn’t have continued publishing TD3C from March to July.
在此之前，该公司曾要求判定自3月以来发布的TD3C数值无效，并应追溯性暂停该指数。美丘里亚曾指控波罗的海交易所施压经纪人提供运费评估，目前也已撤回了索赔损失的主张。
Prior to that, the company had asked for the values published for TD3C since March to be declared as having no effect, and that the index should be retrospectively suspended. Mercuria, which accused the Baltic Exchange of pressurizing brokers to provide rate assessments, has also withdrawn a claim for losses.
美丘里亚诉求的这些变化对亨特集团发起的仲裁意味着什么，目前尚不清楚。亨特集团发起仲裁是为了追回其声称美丘里亚欠下的款项。
It’s not clear what the changes to Mercuria’s claims mean for the arbitration Hunter launched to recover the money it says it’s owed by the commodity trader.