U.S. Pushback Against IMO Net Zero Ups the Stakes
Washington’s threat to penalize countries that back the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework turns a technical climate vote into a commercial and geopolitical risk event. The menu of possible reprisals includes visa limits, sanctions, and added...
Port Fees, Sanctions, Arctic Shortcuts, and Methane Fixes: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/13/25)
New tit-for-tat port fees between the U.S. and China, U.S. threats tied to the IMO climate vote, fresh Iran-energy sanctions impacting a Sinopec-linked terminal, a $475m WTIV cancellation, rising EU ETS/FuelEU costs, a rapid...
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...
Sanctions, Fees, Contracts, and Fuel Logistics: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/10/25)
A packed week for shipping finance and operations. Fresh U.S. sanctions tighten the screws on Iranian energy trades while the roster of blacklisted vessels continues to swell. U.S. port fees for China-linked ships near...
Sanctions Net Tightens: U.S. Targets Iran’s Energy Export Web
Washington rolled out a broad new sanctions package, hitting the logistics that move Iranian crude and LPG: more than fifty additional people, companies, and ships were designated, alongside a China-based crude terminal and an...
Panama Canal 2025: 8 Key Reasons That Explain the Rebound
War risk, reroutes, and drought whiplash rewired 2024; but in 2025, rainfall finally gave the Panama Canal breathing room. Lake levels firmed, daily slots stepped up in stages, and maximum draft crept back toward...
Cranes Quiet, Schedules Slip: Rotterdam Strike and Antwerp-Bruges Pilot Protest Snarl Box Flows
Container work at Rotterdam paused for a 48-hour lasher strike from Wednesday, October 8 at 15:15 through Friday, October 10 at 15:15, while nearby Antwerp-Bruges has been slowed by a multi-day harbour-pilot protest that...
Panama Canal: More Transits, Fewer Detours, Better Schedules
The Panama Canal just posted a sharp rebound: FY2025 revenue up ~14.4% to $5.7B (preliminary/unaudited) and transits up ~19.3% to 13,404 for the 12 months ended Sept 30. Container and LPG volumes led the...
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...
Longer Hauls, Stronger Earnings: Russia→India Crude Lifts Tanker P&L
Freight for hauling Russian barrels to India has jumped into early October as more crude moves seaborne from Baltic and Black Sea ports. Unplanned refinery outages and wartime disruptions inside Russia are pushing crude...
Shock Costs, Risk Routes, and LNG Pivots: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/8/25)
From new U.S. port-entry fees for China-linked vessels to a fresh spike in Gulf GNSS interference, recent developments directly change voyage math, routing choices, and fuel strategies. Tanker earnings stay underpinned by longer Russian...
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...
Capacity Pulled, Costs Rewired: Blank Sailings Roar Back
Carriers are yanking voyages to stop the slide in spot rates, concentrating cuts on Asia–US and Asia–Europe loops just as Q4 orders move. The result is tighter effective capacity, more rollovers and skipped calls,...
“Pay Before You Berth” CBP Locks In New U.S. Fees for China-Linked Ships
Starting October 14, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will enforce new Section 301 port-entry fees on vessels that are Chinese-owned/operated (Annex I) and on Chinese-built ships (Annex II), with payment due before...
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;...
Qatar Hits Pause: Navigation Suspended After GPS Fault
Qatar’s Ministry of Transport ordered a temporary stop to all maritime navigation over the weekend, citing a technical fault affecting the GPS signal. The suspension took effect immediately and remains in place until authorities...
Container Costs, Red Sea Risks, and Yard Capacity: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/6/25)
Ports, policies, and security are reshaping the weekend’s economics at sea: new US fees on China-linked vessels raise per-call costs, Qatar’s navigation halt exposes schedule and insurance risk, and Red Sea developments could quickly...
Whatsapp and Maritime: Why the knot?
If you’re new to the maritime world, you notice WhatsApp popping up everywhere. Brokers swap positions in green bubbles, operations managers settle timing in a few lines, and decision makers ping quick voice notes...
Autonomy at Sea Made Simple: 2025 Update
Autonomy at sea is moving from trials to practical tools that help crews sail safer and run tighter schedules. The big shift is not “crewless ships” overnight, but smarter assistance, remote support from shore,...
Box Rates Down, Compliance Up, Cash Tight: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/3/2025)
Container prices keep sliding, compliance clamps are tightening on shadow-fleet trades, and one of the world’s biggest carriers is upgrading a huge chunk of its chartered fleet to burn less fuel. Add in fresh...
France Just Boarded “Boracay”: A New Phase of On-Water Enforcement
France’s boarding of the Benin-flagged tanker Boracay off Saint-Nazaire marks a shift from list-based sanctions to on-water enforcement. Two senior crew were detained, prosecutors in Brest opened a judicial probe, and President Macron publicly...
Retrofit Wave At Scale For Maersk’s Chartered Fleet
Maersk has outlined a fleet upgrade plan covering roughly 200 time-chartered ships in cooperation with multiple owners. The focus is on fuel-saving retrofits, performance software, and compliance upgrades that reshape opex, emissions scores, and...
Record Run Continues For U.S. LNG: Second Straight Monthly High
U.S. liquefied natural gas exports set a fresh monthly record in September at about 9.4 million metric tons, edging past August’s previous high of 9.33 million tons, according to preliminary LSEG data reported by...
The Crackdown on the “shadow fleet” is getting real: Top 8 Developments in 2025
Shadow-fleet loopholes are closing fast. Through 2025, registries, sanctions authorities, and port states moved from watchlists to real-world checks. Panama yanked flags, OFAC widened exposure in the Red Sea and on Iran networks, the...
Fee Shock Math For 2026: USTR Port Charges Could Total About $3.2B
Alphaliner’s latest run-rate model suggests container carriers serving the United States could face about $3.2 billion in USTR port fees in 2026 if current deployment patterns hold, with COSCO including OOCL modeled at roughly...
Sanctions, Security and Surcharges: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/1/2025)
From China’s curbs on high-risk tankers to a fresh security shock in the Gulf of Aden and looming U.S.–China fee salvos, a cluster of policy and casualty developments is reshaping cash costs, access, and...
Hotel Loads That Hurt: 14 Aux Power Fixes During Port Stays
When you’re alongside, “hotel loads” quietly eat TCE. The fastest win is choosing the cheapest electrons: either plug into shore power or run auxiliaries on MGO/HSFO. The panel below lays out how to price...
Price War Weather: Spot Box Rates Slide Below Breakeven
Spot container rates have fallen for a fifteenth straight week, with Drewry’s WCI down 8 percent to about $1,761 per FEU and key lanes such as Shanghai–Los Angeles at ~$2,311 and Shanghai–New York at...
Yangzijiang Pulls $180M Tanker Deal Over Sanctions Risk
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding recently canceled four MR tanker orders valued at about USD 180 million after discovering evidence that the buyer’s owner may have been involved in efforts to evade U.S. sanctions. The termination came...
Gate Tightening at Qingdao as China’s Oil Hub Moves to Curb the Shadow Fleet
Terminal operators at Qingdao’s Huangdao oil port have issued rules effective November 1, 2025 that bar tankers aged 31 years or more, vessels with altered or fake IMO identities, and ships with invalid certifications....