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Suez Shows Signs of Life...
Containership traffic through the Suez Canal is finally inching higher. In the week ending January 11, 26 containerships transited the...
Evergreen confirms fleetwide rollout of...
Taiwan’s largest container line standardises on Inmarsat’s high-speed, bonded, secure-by-design, connectivity service to enhance crew experience and accelerate digitalisation. ...
MSC Sends Dutch Heavy-Lift Ship...
Military Sealift Command last week wrapped up cargo loadout operations in Port Hueneme, California, for Operation Deep Freeze 2026,...
From Offshore Roots to Smarter...
As maritime decarbonisation advances, the industry is discovering a hard truth: efficiency targets and emissions reduction goals cannot be...
No more high noon on the high seas: Singapore reviewing laws, policies to fulfil UN global treaty...
posted on: Jan 21, 2026
SINGAPORE – Singapore is playing its part to help restore order to what is known as the world’s largest crime scene – the high seas. The authorities are reviewing laws and policies to meet obligations under the UN High Seas Treaty, a landmark deal that came into force on Jan 17 to protect the marine life of two-thirds of the ocean. Changes to environmental impact assessments (EIAs), maritime and shipping activities, and deep-sea research could be in the works, say ocean policy experts. The high seas, which lie outside any country’s control, include areas of the open ocean beyond any nation’s jurisdiction, as well as the seabed outside national continental shelves. Covering nearly half the surface of the earth and nearly two-thirds of the entire ocean, the high seas have been rife with illegal fishing, pollution and wildlife trafficking. Now, activities such as seabed exploration, marine scientific research, and collection of marine organisms...
UK Consortium leads nuclear shipping initiative...
posted on: Jan 21, 2026
The UK Maritime Nuclear Consortium aims to bring nuclear power into commercial shipping, combining safety, regulatory compliance, and decarbonisation. The initiative positions shipowners and managers to adopt long-range zero-carbon propulsion while shaping global standards. The UK is moving to establish itself as a leader in decarbonising shipping with the launch of the Maritime Nuclear Consortium, convened by Lloyd’s Register. The group brings together expertise from the nuclear, maritime, insurance and regulatory sectors to develop safe, secure and commercially viable nuclear-powered vessels. Advanced modular reactors offer a solution for long-haul shipping by enabling vessels to operate for years without refuelling and with zero carbon emissions. The consortium’s work focuses on creating internationally recognised standards for design, class certification, safety, security, and insurability. Nick Brown, CEO of Lloyd’s Register, said, “Decarbonisation demands cleaner power, higher standards and a duty to the generations that follow. Nuclear is ready to meet that test....
China takes a manned submersible to the “forbidden ground” 5,277 meters below the Arctic, and what it records on the Gakkel Ridge could change maps and theories...
posted on: Jan 19, 2026
For the first time, scientists have used a crewed scientific submersible to slip beneath thick Arctic pack ice and reach a hidden mountain range on the ocean floor. A Chinese expedition used the deep-sea vessel Fendouzhe to dive 5,277 meters and survey the eastern Gakkel Ridge, a previously unseen stretch of seafloor between Greenland and Siberia. Working from the new research ship Tan Suo San Hao, the team carried out 43 dives during a roughly three month voyage. Reports from Nature and from official Chinese science agencies say the mission opens a rare window on a region that could host unusual deep-sea life and reveal how a fast-warming Arctic is changing. The Gakkel Ridge is an underwater volcanic mountain chain buried beneath sea ice that runs between Greenland and Siberia. It forms part of the global network of mid-ocean ridges where tectonic plates move apart and new ocean crust slowly forms, usually far from...
Chinese-Led South African Naval Exercise Slides into Diplomatic Disaster...
posted on: Jan 19, 2026
The Chinese-led BRICs Exercise “Will for Peace 2026,” now taking place in Cape Town, is turning into a diplomatic disaster for its host South Africa. Alongside participants from Russia, China, and the United Arab Emirates, three Iranian warships arrived in False Bay to participate in the exercise, with the Bayandor Class corvette IRINS Naghdi (F82) coming alongside in the Simon’s Town Naval Base, and two converted oil tankers now serving as logistics vessels – IRINS Makran (K441) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (Nedsa, IRIS Shahid Mahdavi (L110-3) anchoring off in False Bay. Iranian personnel took part in dockside parades and inter-Navy sports events which occupied the first two days of the exercise. But before the sea-going phase of the exercise commenced on January 13, the South African government requested that the Iranians withdraw their active participation from the exercise and become observers instead, a request to which the...
Iranian Freighter Sinks in the Caspian Sea
posted on: Jan 19, 2026
An Iranian-flagged freighter has gone down in the Caspian Sea, according to Turkmenistan’s ministry of foreign affairs. On January 14, the cargo ship Rona issued a distress call off the coast of Turkmenistan. Turkmen responders reached the scene promptly and rescued all 14 people aboard the vessel, the ministry said. The crew was composed of Iranian and Indian nationals. Unverified footage on Ukrainian social media showed apparent damage amidships, accompanied by smoke, and the vessel appeared to be trimmed heavily by the stern. Rona provided a regular service rotation between ports in Iran and the Russian ports of Astrakhan, Makhachkala and Azov, according Ukrainian news channel Astra. This profile happens to align with the shipping route for deliveries of Iranian arms to Russian buyers for use in the war in Ukraine. Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.Subscribe Now In 2023, the Wall Street Journal revealed details of the volume of...
Drones Hit Greek Tankers Waiting to Load Oil at Black Sea Terminal...
posted on: Jan 19, 2026
Reports indicate that multiple Greek-owned tankers waiting to load at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal in the Black Sea were struck by drones. Each of the incidents appears to have only caused minor damage, but it comes as another blow to the key terminal operation that Ukraine has targeted for handling Russian crude. CPC’s marine terminal is located on Russia’s Black Sea coast, and is connected by a cross-border pipeline to Kazakh production centers. It is critical to Kazakh oil operations and handles as much as 80 percent of the country’s oil exports, including production from American-operated fields. A small portion of its volume comes from Russian fields, and several Russian oil companies hold stakes in the pipeline itself. The Energy Ministry of Kazakhstan issued a statement acknowledging attacks on two vessels, the Matilda – operating under charter to the national company KazMunayGas, and Delta Tankers’ Delta Harmony. Media reports said other tankers were...
U.S. Tanker Boardings Appear Consistent With International Law...
posted on: Jan 19, 2026
Recent US boardings of oil tankers linked to Venezuela have prompted claims of piracy and illegality under international law. In reality, many of these boardings rest on a sound legal basis. Boarding vessels at sea is a routine naval activity permitted in limited circumstances under international law. This explainer outlines the international law governing maritime boardings and how it applies to the Venezuela cases. Boarding operations on the high seas, beyond the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, are governed by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). While the US has not ratified UNCLOS because of domestic concerns over its deep seabed provisions, it recognizes the Convention as reflecting customary international law and complies with it. Recent commentary has described US boardings as piracy, a term often used loosely. In law, piracy has a narrow definition under UNCLOS; it is limited to violent acts carried out for private ends...
UGS President: Shipping is not a battlefield
posted on: Jan 17, 2026
The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners has warned against the escalating targeting of commercial shipping and seafarers amid rising geopolitical tensions. The President of the Union of Greek Shipowners (UGS), Melina Travlou, denounces the fact that commercial shipping and seafarer are once again being unjustly placed at the center of military and hybrid attacks and asymmetric threats posing an immediate risk to human life, the environment and the safety of international navigation. In her statement, Travlou emphasizes that the targeting of commercial vessels, particularly those of Greek and, by extension, European ownership, that operate lawfully and serve the European Union’s import trade and supply chain “goes beyond every limit of reason, justice, and political consistency” and constitutes a “complete undermining of the European position itself.” She further stresses that commercial shipping is not a “battlefield” and must not be weaponized as a means of pressure or turned into a target....
Oil Tanker Rates Jump as US Push Into Venezuela Shifts Flows...
posted on: Jan 17, 2026
By Weilun Soon (Bloomberg) — The shipping market is being shaken up by Washington’s intervention in Venezuela, as the prospect of more oil being exported to the US boosts regional tanker rates to their highest level in almost two years. After US forces seized Nicolás Maduro and Washington asserted its control over the nation’s energy industry, more crude from the OPEC member will be available for American refiners, likely to be delivered on mid-sized tankers. In a knock-on effect, more US-produced West Texas Intermediate crude will be pushed to Europe on the same type of vessel, squeezing availability. The global oil industry — including producers, refiners, shippers and traders — is working through the consequences of Washington’s move earlier this month, which saw special forces snatch the country’s leader and haul him to the US. President Donald Trump has put control of the nation’s oil industry at the heart of the operation,...
Greece Warns Shipping Fleet of Risks After Black Sea Drone Attacks...
posted on: Jan 17, 2026
By Renee Maltezou, Yannis Souliotis and Jonathan Saul ATHENS, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Greece has warned its shipping fleet to upgrade security measures to the highest possible when sailing to Russian Black Sea ports after drone attacks on two Greek-operated tankers this week, according to shipping ministry advisories. Drones struck two oil tankers on Tuesday, including one chartered by U.S. oil major Chevron, as they sailed towards the marine terminal of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) on Russia’s Black Sea coast. Greek-operated ships are among the world’s largest fleets of tankers and are pivotal for trade across the Black Sea region, whose waters are shared by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Turkey, as well as warring Russia and Ukraine, which Moscow invaded in February 2022. “It is recommended that all Greek ships that are either docked or anchored or are about to dock at the terminal in question take the highest possible security measures. These measures include avoiding...
TTSB Investigation: Container ship grounding at the port of Keelung...
posted on: Jan 17, 2026
The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board (TTSB) has has issued an investigation report into a grounding incident involving the container vessel YM Unicorn, which occurred at the west breakwater of the Port of Keelung in December 2024. The incident At about 2310 hours on December 11, 2024, the Taiwan-flagged container vessel YM Unicorn (IMO No. 9462732, gross tonnage 91586, length overall 333.20 m, beam 42.80 m, carrying 8,664 TEU) grounded at the west breakwater of the Port of Keelung during inbound navigation. The vessel’s bow sustained damage, but no injuries or pollution were reported. Following Taiwan’s Transportation Occurrence Investigation Act and the Casualty Investigation Code of the International Maritime Organization, the TTSB is an independent transportation occurrence investigation agency responsible for conducting this investigation. The investigation team also included members from the Maritime and Port Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications; Taiwan International Ports Corporation, Ltd.; the Keelung Pilot Office;...
U.S. Seizes MT Veronica in Caribbean, Expanding Operation Southern Spear Against Venezuela’s Shadow Fleet...
posted on: Jan 17, 2026
U.S. military and Coast Guard forces carried out another pre-dawn boarding in the Caribbean, seizing the sanctioned motor tanker Veronica in the latest escalation of Washington’s crackdown on vessels tied to Venezuela’s illicit oil trade. Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, operating from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), took control of the tanker without incident, U.S. Southern Command said. The operation was supported by the Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), USS San Antonio (LPD 17), and USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28). “Through #OpSouthernSpear, the Department of War is unwavering in its mission to crush illicit activity in the Western Hemisphere,” U.S. Southern Command said in a statement. “The only oil leaving Venezuela will be oil that is coordinated properly and lawfully.” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said a Coast Guard tactical team conducted the early-morning boarding and seizure. “As another sanctioned ghost fleet tanker, Motor Tanker Veronica had previously...
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The ‘Cadet Gridlock’ in Bangladesh’s Maritime Sector: A Sorrowful Story of Wasted Potential The ‘Cadet Gridlock’ in Bangladesh’s Maritime Sector: A Sorrowful Story of Wasted Potential By Minar Rashid 21E On 15 November, the BMCS Gala Night 2025 was held at Singapore’s Orchid Country Club. With the vibrant participation of hundreds of Bangladeshi mariners and their families, the event became a remarkable reunion […]
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