Sanctions Risk Is Operational Now: 15 “Do Not Sail Yet” Tripwires
Sanctions risk is no longer a paperwork problem that only compliance sees. It is an operational problem that shows up in voyage orders, AIS behavior, documentation gaps, and counterparties that rush you to move...
Russia Plans 10 New Icebreakers and 46 Rescue Vessels to Push Northern Sea Route Growth to 2035
Russia has outlined another major buildout step for the Northern Sea Route through 2035, pairing additional icebreaker capacity with a much larger emergency response and salvage footprint. The plan is framed around enabling more...
Phillips 66 and Citgo Move Toward Direct Venezuelan Crude Purchase
Phillips 66 and Citgo are reported to be moving toward direct purchases of Venezuelan heavy crude from PDVSA, aiming to bypass intermediaries and capture more of the discount economics as US policy loosens the...
Ship Tracking AI: What’s real, what’s hype and where we are headed
Ship tracking is in a weird place in 2026, the core “where is the ship” problem is mostly solved when AIS is clean, but the commercial value is now in harder problems like proving...
LNG Freight Tone Softens Again as Newbuild Deliveries Keep the Market Heavy
This week’s fresh signal is the tone shift back toward caution even after brief Atlantic firmness. Recent spot market reporting shows Atlantic LNG carrier earnings ticking up on near term positioning, but the same...
Russian Energy Export Revenues Hit Lowest Level Since Ukraine Invasion
Russia’s fossil-fuel export earnings dropped to their lowest level since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, according to recent sanctions-tracking analysis, with weaker volumes and softer pricing combining into a smaller cash...
Seatrade Cruise Global 2026 Review
Seatrade Cruise Global is the annual “deal floor” for cruise where itineraries, port calls, onboard product, ship services, and destination strategy get negotiated in parallel. The 2026 edition in Miami Beach is built for...
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....