War-Risk, K&R, and What Underwriters Now Ask First
In 2026, “war-risk insurance” is no longer a box you tick after the fixture. It is a live commercial variable that moves with routing, port calls, ownership links, cargo, and even how your bridge...
Shipbuilding in the AI Era: What is and isn’t working
Shipbuilding is finally getting AI value in the places that touch real constraints, welding throughput, schedule churn, material review bottlenecks, and the messy handoffs between design data and the shop floor. The pattern so...
Costamare Secures $940 Million in Forward Charter Backlog on 12 Containerships, Pushing 2026 to 2027 Coverage Higher
Costamare’s latest forward fixtures add a fresh duration and counterparty signal into the container charter market: 12 ships fixed forward, roughly $940 million of incremental contracted revenues, and a TEU-weighted duration around six years....
White House Maritime Action Plan Turns Port Fee Idea Into a Written Cost Stack for US Calls
This story has been circulating for months, but the key new development this week is that the US administration has now put the concept into a formal, published Maritime Action Plan document. The plan...
ZIM Workers Escalate Strike Over Hapag-Lloyd Takeover, Disrupting Israel Port Operations and Deal Confidence
ZIM’s labor action has escalated from a warning strike into a full work stoppage tied directly to the announced takeover plan, with unionized staff halting company operations and reporting disruptions linked to cargo handling...
Marine Log Tugs, Towboats and Barges 2026 Review
Mobile’s towing and barge market meets in one room. Marine Log’s Tugs, Towboats & Barges 2026 is built around practical operator decisions: compliance and cybersecurity posture, where automation is paying off, modernization tradeoffs, and...
VLCC and Suezmax Ordering Wave Builds Again as Owners Compete for 2028 to 2029 Slots
Recent market coverage and order counts point to an ordering wave that is broadening beyond single yard headlines. Large crude tankers are leading, with VLCC and Suezmax contracting rising sharply versus last year’s pace...
STAX Review: At-berth compliance, without shore power dependency
STAX is built for a very specific pain point in ports: the gap between “cleaner operations” goals and what vessels can realistically do at berth today. Instead of waiting on full shore power coverage...
Iran temporarily closes parts of the Strait of Hormuz for live fire drills, shipping transits disrupted for hours
Iran temporarily closed parts of the Strait of Hormuz for several hours on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, citing safety and security precautions during Revolutionary Guard live fire drills, according to Iranian media and multiple...
Straits and Chokepoints: 12 Compliance and Monitoring Moves That Are Spreading Beyond the Red Sea
Straits and chokepoints are no longer treated like a single Red Sea playbook. In early 2026, operators are seeing a broader pattern: more formal reporting expectations, more scrutiny on AIS and identity behavior, more...
2026 Collisions, Ship Fires, Groundings and Early Casualty Signals
So far in 2026, the accident picture is being shaped by a familiar mix: port contact damage during arrivals, machinery failures that trigger major towing and reef protection posture, engine-room fires that test containment...
2026 Container Freight Index Update: Latest WCI, FBX, SCFI, New ConTex and Charter Signals & Impact
Container pricing started 2026 with a familiar pattern: a pre Lunar New Year lift in early January, then a multi week cooling into mid February. The latest reads show Drewry WCI at $1,933 per...
AI in RoRo 2026: The Practical Pros and Cons for Operators
RoRo is one of the most “AI-ready” shipping segments because the operational pain points are visual and physical: vehicle condition evidence, stow and discharge sequencing, yard congestion, and vehicle-deck fire risk (especially as EV...
SNAME Maritime Convention 2026 Review
SNAME’s Maritime Convention 2026 is a technical, engineer-forward week where shipbuilding, design, and operations get discussed at working depth. If you want peer-reviewed papers, ship production and repair content, and operator-grade conversations on automation,...
Sanctions Enforcement Turns Hands On: Boarding Actions Now Part of the Operating Risk Stack
In the past week, US forces have carried out multiple “right of visit” style boardings of Venezuela linked, sanctioned tankers far from the Caribbean, including in the Indian Ocean, after extended tracking. The operational...
Maritime Sanctions 2026 Update: Shadow Fleet Vessel Listings, Service Bans, and Enforcement Actions
US, EU, and UK sanctions activity in early 2026 is tightening around shipping as the enforcement surface, with three themes showing up repeatedly: more named vessels tied to shadow trade, broader ideas to restrict...
Container Rates Are Sliding Again: 11 Things That Change First When the WCI Keeps Dropping
Container rates do not drift lower in isolation. When the Drewry World Container Index (WCI) keeps sliding, the first changes show up in capacity discipline, chartering behavior, contract leverage, and the “real” cost stack...
Foreign-Built Vessel Fees at US Ports Resurface in Maritime Action Plan
A US policy blueprint is putting “port fees on foreign-built ships” back on the table, framed as a universal infrastructure or security fee tied to the weight of imported tonnage on each call. Even...
Next-Gen LSA Crew Safety Tech for Ships: 2026 Pros and Cons
Crew safety tech on vessels is moving from “static gear you hope you never use” to systems that are easier to deploy, harder to misuse, and more measurable. In 2026, that shift is reinforced...
Hapag-Lloyd in Advanced Talks to Acquire ZIM in Deal Reported Up to $3.7bn, Consolidation Signal for East West Networks
Hapag-Lloyd has confirmed advanced negotiations to acquire ZIM, with reporting placing the potential deal value up to about $3.7bn and highlighting approvals that include regulators and Israel due to the state’s special rights in...
Universal Port Fee Proposal Puts US Call Economics in Play for Most Foreign Built Tonnage
A new US Maritime Action Plan is floating a universal infrastructure or security fee on foreign built commercial vessels calling at US ports, assessed on the weight of imported tonnage. Even without a final...
European Maritime Day 2026
European Maritime Day 2026 is the EU’s annual meetup for the blue economy, and Limassol makes it feel more compact and on-topic. Expect policy plus practical delivery in the same room, with public and...
China’s Russian crude imports set a February record as discounts widen and barrels reroute
China’s seaborne imports of Russian crude are now expected to reach a fresh monthly record in February 2026, with tracking estimates clustered around about 2.07 to 2.08 million bpd, extending a multi month climb....
20 Clauses That Move the Money in Charters in 2026
In 2026, the clauses that move the money are the ones that decide (a) when hire is actually earned or suspended, (b) how performance is measured and monetized, and (c) how fuel quantity and...
Ship Asset Market Update: Newbuild Orders, Secondhand Sales, Fleet Deals
Ship buying and shipbuilding activity is clustering around a few repeat patterns right now: crude tanker scale deals (especially VLCCs), owners adding newbuild optionality at Chinese yards, and selective container newbuilding tied to dual-fuel...
UK ETS Extension for Shipping: Changes in 2026 and What Is Being Teed Up Next
The UK ETS is moving from policy intent into implementation for shipping. The latest step is that domestic maritime inclusion is set to start 1 July 2026, with a half-year first scheme year, specific...
Generative Bionics in maritime: Pros, Cons, and where we are headed
Generative Bionics in maritime (right now) is showing up less as a “ship tech onboard” product and more as shipyard automation: humanoid, AI-assisted welding robots designed to work alongside human welders, with early real-world...
Drewry WCI Slides for a Fifth Week: Spot Weakness Meets Heavy Blank Sailing Plans
The latest Drewry World Container Index reading extends a clear container signal: pricing is softening into the Lunar New Year period instead of firming. The composite index is down again, and the pressure is...
OceanScore Review: Compliance that runs like a workflow
OceanScore sits at the point where emissions regulation turns into commercial math. For owners, managers, and charterers, the pain is rarely the headline rule itself. It is the day to day workflow: who is...
CK Hutchison Warns Maersk Off Panama Canal Terminals as Balboa and Cristobal Control Dispute Escalates
CK Hutchison has told Maersk it may pursue legal action if Maersk’s terminal arm moves to temporarily assume operations at Balboa and Cristobal, two high-leverage terminals at the canal gateways. The warning lands after...