Top 12 Oil Market Signals Shipowners Should Track This Quarter
Oil headlines change by the hour, but ships move on the slower, structural signals underneath them. If you want to stay ahead of rate swings, ballast surprises, bunker shocks, and awkward cargo timing, these...
15 Ways AI is Quietly Taking Over the Shipping Industry
AI in shipping rarely shows up as a single “robot ship moment.” It shows up as quieter improvements to decisions that happen thousands of times a day: what the bridge notices, when maintenance is...
Top 8 Ways EU ETS Changes Voyage Economics in 2026
EU ETS gets more “real-money” in 2026: operators are settling a larger surrender obligation (70% of 2025 verified emissions) on a hard deadline, while the scope expands to additional greenhouse gases and the rules...
35 Major Shipping Incidents in 2025
2025 did not have one single “headline disaster.” It had a steady drumbeat of shocks that hit every part of the system: port explosions, ferry tragedies, container ship fires, tanker blasts, piracy kidnappings, and...
Port Turnaround Time: 8 ways to improve speed and success
Ports don’t usually lose time in one big dramatic failure. They lose it in dozens of small handoff gaps: berth plans that change late, pilots and tugs that get sequenced on stale ETAs, paperwork...
10 Key Ways Sanctions and Drone Strikes Are Reshaping Tanker Risk
Shadow fleet risk is no longer just about regulators and paperwork. Drone campaigns in the Black Sea and missile attacks in the Red Sea have turned previously “cheap but opaque” tanker trades into front-line...
VLCC, Capesize, Container: Which Segments Are Really Under-Ordered Going Into 2027?
Orderbook charts in 2025 tell three different stories: VLCCs are finally rebuilding after years of near zero fleet growth, dry bulk (including Capesize) is still relatively disciplined, and container owners are sitting on a...
The New Chokepoint Map: 9 Flashpoints Every Shipowner Watches Before Fixing a Voyage
Moving in to 2026 the “chokepoint map” is no longer a theory exercise. Before every long-haul fixture, owners and chartering desks are weighing very real trade-offs between Red Sea transits, Cape detours, war-risk premiums,...
The 2026 Green Premium: Who Pays and Who Gets Paid For Cleaner Ships – And Why
By 2026 the green premium in shipping has turned into a real cost line that someone has to absorb. On one side, large cargo and passenger ships trading with Europe are pulled into the...
15 Real AI Use Cases Ship Operators Will Pay For In 2026
AI in shipping has quietly moved from slides and pilots to real line items in OPEX and capex: owners are now paying for specific tools that shave fuel, tighten EU ETS exposure, reduce off-hire,...
Dry Bulk After Geneva: How 2026 Trade Flows Could Shift for Coal, Iron Ore and Agri
Geneva Dry made one thing clear. Dry bulk is drifting into a transition phase where the three core pillars of demand will not move in lockstep. Coal looks set to give back volumes in...
8 Vessel Upgrades With the Fastest Payback in 2026
Shipping margins tighten fast when fuel and carbon costs move. If you’re ranking 2026 upgrades by “how quickly does this pay itself back,” start with changes that cut drag and restore propeller efficiency. The...
The New Maritime Insurance Stack: War-Risk, Cyber and Parametric Weather. What you need to know in Under 5 Minutes
Modern voyage risk is a stack, not a single policy. Detours, cyber events, and severe weather hit cashflow in different ways, so smart operators layer war-risk, cyber, and parametric covers to keep routes, systems,...
Red Sea Risk Isn’t Over: Why War-Risk Premiums Are Spiking Again
War-risk pricing in the Red Sea has flared again after renewed Houthi strikes on merchant shipping in late September and early October. Insurers in London and regional markets have pushed additional premiums back toward...
8 Ports Racing to Shore Power in 2026 & Beyond
Shore power is moving from pilot to plan. By 2030, EU rules push container and passenger berths to provide plug-in power, and the ports that lock funding, grid capacity, and terminal buy-in now will...
10 Contract Clauses That Save You in Volatile Markets
When markets swing, contracts become your line of defense. In volatile times, losing a few percentage points of margin across many voyages can erode the business. Some shipowners don’t just negotiate hire, they bake...
Contracting in a Rate Slide: Surcharges You Can (and Can’t) Defend
When spot softens and capacity creeps back, every add-on gets questioned. Owners and NVOs still face real compliance and security costs, but only some surcharges are provably linked to external triggers. The art is...
War Risk Surcharge Heatmap
War risk pricing is moving in bursts this year. After fresh attacks and electronic interference warnings, additional premiums on key lanes have surged, softened, and surged again, turning a seven-day cover into a six-figure...
10 FuelEU Maritime Pitfalls Owners are Hitting (and How to Avoid Them)
FuelEU Maritime is reshaping day-to-day decisions on fuel, paperwork, and port operations. Small gaps, like scope tags, OPS records, or factor versions can snowball at verification, while well-documented choices can unlock real headroom against...
Container Spot Rates in Freefall: What It Could Mean for Q4 Contracts
Container spot rates fell sharply into early October, hitting their lowest level since January 2024. Drewry’s WCI slid another 5% on October 2 to $1,669/FEU, with Far East–US lanes and Asia–Europe both under pressure;...