VLCC Rates Break $1 Million a Day as Hormuz Traffic Collapses
Very large crude carrier earnings have reached unprecedented levels as escalating attacks around the Strait of Hormuz sharply reduce the pool of owners willing to enter the Persian Gulf. The Baltic Exchange’s Middle East...
PanStar Acro Reaches Britain in 21 Days via Northern Sea Route
South Korea’s PanStar Acro reached Felixstowe, Britain, on September 12 after a 21-day voyage from Busan through the Northern Sea Route, completing the outbound Arctic crossing of South Korea’s first government-backed container trial to...
Saudi Oil Bypass Pipeline Remains Offline as Brent Tops $107
Saudi Arabia’s East-West crude pipeline remained offline on September 15 after attacks on the 1,200-kilometer system forced a precautionary shutdown, removing the kingdom’s main overland route for bypassing the heavily disrupted Strait of Hormuz....
$669M Delaware Container Terminal Breaks Ground for 1.2M-TEU Edgemoor Buildout
Enstructure and the Diamond State Port Corporation have broken ground on the $669 million Delaware Container Terminal at Edgemoor, moving the long-planned project into construction after years of permitting and financing work. The 137-acre...
George Procopiou’s Dynacom Orders Eight Ships at Hengli in Near-$1B VLAC/VLCC Deal
George Procopiou’s Dynacom has placed another eight-vessel newbuilding package with China’s Hengli Heavy Industries in a deal reported at close to $1 billion, further expanding one of the industry’s largest owner-yard construction programs. Hengli...
Japan Adds $635M to Shipyard Revival Push as Five More Yard Groups Win Support
Japan has approved a second round of shipbuilding capacity investments under its Shipbuilding Industry Revitalisation Fund, authorizing up to ¥98 billion, about $635 million, in government support for five plans led by Oshima Shipbuilding,...
Saudi Pipeline Outage Puts 4% of Global Oil Supply at Risk as Red Sea Route Tightens
Saudi Arabia faces the prospect of a sharp reduction in crude exports if its damaged East-West oil pipeline is not restarted within days after drone attacks forced the kingdom to shut the route. The...
Middle East Shipping Squeezed at Both Chokepoints as Houthis Tighten Red Sea Grip and Hormuz Attacks Continue
Yemen’s Houthis have expanded their physical presence around the southern Red Sea after seizing the port of Mokha, Mayun Island inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and, most recently, Greater and Lesser Hanish islands. Commercial...
Suspected Pirate Hijacking of Bulker Glamor Reported Off Yemen
A suspected pirate hijacking involving the 24,073-dwt Glamor was reported in the Gulf of Aden on September 10 after the vessel was approached by an unidentified skiff approximately 98 nautical miles southwest of Al...
Drewry WCI Holds at $4,476 as U.S. Container Rates Rise and Europe Lanes Slide
Drewry’s World Container Index held essentially flat for a second week, with the September 10 reading at $4,476 per 40-foot container compared with $4,465 a week earlier, an increase of about 0.2% that Drewry...
$900M Montevideo Container Terminal Proposed as Neltume Targets 1.15M TEU Capacity
Neltume Ports, the majority shareholder of Montecon, has formally submitted a proposal to Uruguay’s government for a new $900 million specialized container terminal at the Port of Montevideo. The planned Montevideo Container Terminal would...
Fire Safety: 25 Killed at Qingdao Shipyard as Fires Hit Ferries, Tankers and Cargo Ships
A fire aboard the 55,742-dwt bulk carrier Ocean Melody killed 25 people while the Liberian-flagged vessel was undergoing repair and inspection work at CSSC’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard in China on September 10. The...
Arctic LNG 2 Hits Hanwha Ocean With Another $1bn Claim Over Canceled Arc7 Tankers
Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 has opened a new arbitration against South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, seeking an initial $1 billion in damages over alleged breaches of Step-In Agreements...
Brent Breaks $100 as Bunker Costs Surge and 2027 Outlook Shifts
Marine fuel markets moved sharply higher on September 9 as renewed attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure in the Middle East pushed front-month Brent crude to a $101.21-per-barrel close and WTI to $96.05, their...
Austal USA Draws $1.25B-$1.35B U.S. Bid, Topping Hanwha Offer
Austal has received a new non-binding proposal from U.S.-based Wildcat Infrastructure LLC to acquire Austal USA at an enterprise value of US$1.25 billion to US$1.35 billion, putting the entire Wildcat range above Hanwha Defence...
Rotterdam World Gateway Secures Largest Financing Yet for €500M Expansion Toward 5M TEU
Rotterdam World Gateway has completed the largest financing in its history to support the next stage of its automated container terminal expansion at Maasvlakte 2, combining a senior U.S. private placement with a subordinated...
Hormuz Tanker War Erupts, Trading Blows in the Biggest Wave Yet
The Hormuz conflict has moved into a more dangerous phase as both sides target shipping, energy assets and military-linked vessels in the same compressed waterway. U.S. forces said they destroyed five Iranian oil tankers...
AEVEX’s $650 Million BlackSea Deal Turns Drone Boats Into a Defense Scale Race
AEVEX has completed its acquisition of BlackSea Technologies, closing a deal worth up to $650 million and giving the defense technology company a much larger position in maritime autonomy. BlackSea now becomes AEVEX’s Maritime...
Greece Finalizes Acquisition of Two Italian FREMM Frigates With 2028 and 2029 Deliveries
Greece and Italy have formally activated the transfer of two Italian Navy Bergamini-class FREMM frigates, completing the legal, financial and technical framework for one of Athens’ fastest major surface-combatant acquisitions in years. The Implementing...
Hanwha Ocean Takes Lead in Thailand’s $509M Frigate Deal With OCEAN-40F
Hanwha Ocean has been selected as the preferred bidder for the Royal Thai Navy’s next-generation frigate program, putting the South Korean shipbuilder in position to build a new 4,000-ton-class warship under a package priced...