Shadow Fleet Squeeze as U.S. expands Iran oil sanctions
U.S. Treasury announced a new sanctions package targeting Sepehr Energy Jahan’s export network, with entities across the UAE, Panama, Liberia, India, Germany, and Greece, and identified six more tankers as blocked property. Officials say...
10 Port Call Bottlenecks That Quietly Destroy TCE (And How Operators Fix Them)
When a ship misses its ideal berth window because a document was not ready or a surveyor did not get clear instructions, nobody sees a dramatic headline in the log. It just appears later...
Deeply Discounted Russian LNG Floods China with more liftings, more paperwork
China is snapping up sanctioned Russian LNG at heavy discounts, ending months of commercial limbo for Arctic LNG 2 and re-wiring trade and compliance patterns. Since August, Novatek has moved 14 cargoes to China...
Talara Released in Hormuz as IRGC Lets Crew Go, Cargo Reported Offloaded
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seized the Marshall Islands–flagged products tanker Talara on November 14 in the Strait of Hormuz, then released the vessel and all 21 crew five days later. The manager said the ship...
Gulf Momentum: BOEM Moves a Second Lease Sale Toward the Calendar
The U.S. Interior’s offshore regulator has advanced a second Gulf of Mexico lease sale, signaling more acreage and multi-year project visibility for operators. For maritime stakeholders, this extends the upstream cycle: drillship demand, subsea...
Top KPIs your Fleet and Chartering Teams should be Showing you in 2026
C suites are no longer satisfied with generic “utilization is good” and “markets are volatile” updates. They want a short list of hard KPIs that show whether fleet and chartering teams are actually turning...
Tanker Newbuild Wave Looms: Orderbook at a 9-Year High
BIMCO reports the global tanker orderbook has climbed to a nine-year high by share of the fleet, signaling a multi-year supply wave. Deliveries are likely to bunch in the late-decade window, putting a ceiling...
Jetty Damage at Novorossiysk Slows Loadings and Tightens Black Sea Supply
A strike on Nov 14 damaged key berths at Novorossiysk’s Sheskharis oil harbor. Exports resumed on Nov 16, but capacity is constrained and crude loadings are now running about 2–3 days behind schedule while...
Hudong Win: Nigeria LNG’s shipping arm lines up a fresh batch of LNG carriers
Trade reporting in mid-November 2025 indicates Nigeria LNG’s shipping unit has selected China’s Hudong-Zhonghua for a new multi-ship LNG carrier program. While final ship count, specs, and delivery windows were not publicly detailed at...
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,...
LNG Shipping: New Orders, New Rules, and a Record Export Month
Near-term signals point both to tighter premium yard slots (new LNGC orders) and shifting trade flows (record U.S. exports, fresh sanctions constraints). India’s long-term procurement and UK restrictions on Russian LNG services could reshape...
Suez Signals Green Light: Canal Authority urges carriers back through the Red Sea
With security conditions improving, the Suez Canal Authority is encouraging carriers to restart Red Sea transits. A measured return would reduce Cape of Good Hope detours, shorten voyages by roughly one to two weeks...
Russian Oil Slumps as Sanctions Countdown Hits Buyer Nerves
Russia’s flagship Urals price slid to multi-year lows as refiners in India and China stepped back ahead of a November 21 U.S. deadline to wind down dealings with Rosneft and Lukoil. The drop reflects...
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...
Hormuz Alert: Iran Confirms Seizure of Tanker “Talara”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it seized the Marshall Islands-flagged product tanker Talara near the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, November 14. UKMTO flagged the incident about 20 nautical miles east of Khor Fakkan, and...
Retailers Dial Back Orders: U.S. container imports seen falling through Q1 2026
Retail buying desks are signaling a softer inbound run into early 2026. The latest Global Port Tracker outlook points to year-over-year declines from November through March, while October U.S. import TEUs came in flat...
Black Sea threat level High after Novorossiysk strikes
A major Ukrainian missile and drone attack hit Russia’s Novorossiysk oil hub on Nov 14, pausing exports and briefly disrupting nearby CPC flows. Oil prices jumped more than 2 percent intraday on the headline....
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...
Novorossiysk Drone Barrage Pauses Exports and Jolts Oil
A large overnight drone attack hit Russia’s Black Sea hub of Novorossiysk on Nov 14, damaging an oil depot and a vessel and prompting a temporary halt to oil exports as pipeline operator Transneft...
US–Korea Shipbuilding Plan Points ~$150B at American Yards
Talks between Washington and Seoul outline a framework where South Korean industry would channel about $150 billion into U.S. shipbuilding as part of a broader investment package tied to trade concessions. Public briefings describe...
Hormuz Flashpoint: Iran seizes Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker Talara
Iranian small boats intercepted the Talara while it transited the Strait of Hormuz from the UAE toward Singapore, diverting the ship into Iranian waters; the vessel’s manager reported loss of contact, UKMTO pointed to...
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,...
CMA CGM moves to Buy 20% of Hamburg’s CTH
CMA CGM has signed a term sheet to acquire a 20% stake in Eurogate’s Container Terminal Hamburg (CTH), with closing targeted in the first half of 2026 subject to regulatory approvals. The deal aligns...
Hai An Upsizes: Vietnam Carrier Books 3,000-TEU Newbuilds at Yangzijiang
Vietnam’s Hai An Lines is moving up the size ladder with firm orders for two 3,000-TEU container ships at Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding, with market reports indicating options that could lift the series to...
Simandou Is Live: West Africa ore corridors set to rewire capesize trades
Guinea has formally launched the Simandou iron ore project, with partners marking start of operations this week and first shipments slated around mid to late November 2025. The integrated mine-rail-port system spans 600+ km...
Where Detours Inflate Bunker Bills Right Now
Detours are no longer the exception. On several big trades the long way has become the plan, and every extra mile turns into real money. Longer passages mean more VLSFO burned, more charter days,...
Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach Lock In Zero-Emissions Plan: fines, phases and shore-power reality
The two busiest U.S. container ports have agreed with Southern California air regulators on a binding roadmap to plan and build zero-emissions infrastructure. The air district approved the deal on Nov 7, the Long...
UK Has Moved to Block Services for Russian LNG in 2026
The UK has confirmed it will phase in a ban on UK maritime services that enable exports of Russian LNG during 2026, coordinating timing with Europe. This targets the plumbing behind cargoes, shipping, broking,...
Red Sea Lull With Risk Still Live
Yemen’s Houthi movement has signaled a halt to Red Sea attacks and said its declared blockade of Israeli ports has ended. Lines and insurers are not rushing back. Advisers urge caution, war-risk pricing remains...
10 Ways AI Is Quietly Changing Voyage Planning
AI has already slipped into voyage planning screens in ways that most crews and even some shore teams barely notice. Behind the scenes it is quietly steering routes, nudging speeds, reshuffling port calls and...