Panama Canal Is Easing, But Slots Still Rule: How To Win Your Transit
Canal conditions are better than last year, but slots still decide your schedule. In early October the Panama Canal Authority extended service hours and moved the daily cut-off for Reservation Period 3 to 15:00...
Sanctions Whiplash: U.S. Hits Rosneft & Lukoil as Tanker Trades Scramble
Europe-to-Asia oil flows just got a shock. Fresh U.S. sanctions now designate Russia’s two biggest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, along with numerous subsidiaries and threaten secondary measures on foreign financial institutions that keep...
Japan Shipyard Push: ¥350bn Modernization Bid to Double Output
Japan’s major yards are rallying behind a plan to invest about ¥350 billion (≈$2.3 billion) with government backing to modernize facilities and lift national shipbuilding capacity roughly twofold over the next decade. The Shipbuilders’...
FuelEU 2025: The “€2,400/Ton” Penalty Trap and 7 Ways Shipowners Could Dodge It
FuelEU Maritime starts putting real money on the line in 2025. The penalty math can snowball fast, especially if you’ve got energy-intensive routes, thin margins, or uncertain alternative-fuel access. Below are potential strategies shipowners...
EU Sets Clock on Russian Gas: Industry Impact
Europe has taken a formal step toward ending Russian gas imports, with EU governments backing a phase-out that bans new contracts from January 1, 2026, winds down short-term deals by mid-2026, and ends long-term...
China Call Fees, LNG DF Orders, Offshore Backlog: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/22/25)
From Brussels’ plan to shut out Russian gas to China’s phased “special port fees,” and from big-ticket EPC wins to late-decade fleet additions, the last 48 hours delivered decisions that flow straight into voyage...
Orderbook Signal: HMM’s $2.8B Bet on LNG Boxships and VLCCs
HMM has confirmed KRW 4 trillion (~$2.8B) in newbuilds: twelve 13,000-TEU LNG dual-fuel containerships at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean, plus two VLCCs. The boxships expand HMM’s lower-emission mainline capacity into the...
Who’s Actually Lending to Shipowners Right Now? A Global Heatmap
Capital hasn’t vanished, it’s just choosier. On any given Tuesday you can still get senior debt, SLB, or retrofit-linked lines, but the where and who shifted: European banks are quietly back, ECAs are underwriting...
Permit Shock: U.S. Actions Put Flagship Offshore Wind Projects on the Brink
A series of federal moves has pushed key U.S. offshore wind projects into jeopardy. In Maryland, the government signaled it may revoke US Wind’s construction and operations plan, prompting the developer to warn a...
Russia and China Team Up to Commercialize the Northern Sea Route
Beijing and Moscow have formalized cooperation to expand and commercialize shipping along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the Arctic corridor running along Russia’s coast. The pact links China’s “Polar Silk Road” ambitions with Russia’s...
Seven Practical Routing Moves Under the New U.S & China Port Fees
Carriers are redrawing playbooks in real time. New port fees on both sides mean who pays can hinge on a ship’s ownership or flag, not just the cargo onboard. This guide turns that complexity...
U.S. & China “Special Port Fees” Hit Shipping Economics
Carriers and cargo owners are navigating a new cost layer as the United States and China apply reciprocal “special port fees.” The measures are already prompting rotation changes, selective blank sailings, and emergency surcharges...
Port Surcharges, IMO Carbon Timing, EU Boarding Plans, and Dry Bulk Asset Moves: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/20/25)
Network costs, regulatory timing, and voyage security are the dominant levers right now. New bilateral port fees are changing route economics in real time, policy indecision on carbon pricing is pushing investment choices to...
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...
Buying Pressure: Will India and China Cut Russian Oil?
Global pressure on India and China to curb Russian barrels is heating up. Washington says New Delhi is already cutting, Brussels is closing a refinery backdoor into Europe, and enforcement on the shadow fleet...
Fee Shocks, Sanctions, and a Carbon Cliff: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/17/25)
Recent policy shocks and market pivots touch real cash: China’s retaliatory port fees are already showing seven-figure invoices, the IMO’s climate vote could lock in or delay a new global cost line, and the...
6 Proven Ways to Slash Chandlery Costs by 5–20%
Chandlery costs don’t just leak at the gangway; they start bleeding the moment specs are vague. Locking what you buy, how you describe it, and which brands are acceptable turns a messy RFQ into...
UK Clampdown on Russian Oil and Shadow Tankers Shifts Shipping Economics
Britain has moved against Russia’s two largest oil firms and dozens of “shadow fleet” tankers, adding asset freezes, service bans, and transport restrictions that aim to choke off oil revenues and deter sanctions evasion....
Saudi Arabia and U.S. Push to Block IMO Net Zero Plan – Industry Impact Analysis
The United States and Saudi Arabia are coordinating efforts at this week’s extraordinary MEPC session to stall or sink the IMO’s Net-Zero Framework, which would introduce a global carbon price for shipping. Reports indicate...
21st International Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2026)
Doha is where LNG’s global deal table sets up in early 2026. For four days, producers, buyers, portfolio players, shipowners, terminal operators, EPCs, and technology suppliers align volumes, timelines, and projects across the full...
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...
China’s Port Fee Shock Redraws Voyage Math
China began collecting special port fees on U.S.-linked vessels on October 14, 2025, starting at 400 yuan per net ton and stepping up to 1,120 yuan by 2028. Early application included a roughly 12.1...
Policy shocks, trade reroutes, and fresh ordering: Maritime Bottom-line News (10/15/25)
China’s new port levies add hard per-call costs, the IMO’s prospective carbon charge turns emissions into a recurring expense, and Russia’s export surge is boosting tonne-miles for crude. Meanwhile, selective Arctic transits, newbuild programs...
Panama Canal’s New Booking Rules: Slot Strategy for 2026
The Canal’s booking chessboard just shifted. With LoTSA 2.0 splitting long-term reservations into tighter six-month cycles, a lower average of daily long-term slots, new cut-off times in the short-term windows, and the one-slot-per-date cap...
S-100 ECDIS (Layered Charts) Made Simple: 2025 Update
S-100 ECDIS matters because charts are turning into live layers. Instead of a single ENC view, bridge teams can combine official base charts with higher-resolution depth, real-time water levels, surface currents, navigational warnings, and...
Curve Shift Toward Contango Reshapes Tanker Economics
The forward curve is leaning into contango from early 2026, backed by forecasts of supply exceeding demand and a loosening prompt market. Wider spreads incentivize storage plays and longer voyages, which generally help large...
Beijing Sanctions Hit Hanwha’s U.S. Footprint, Rippling Through Yard Finance and Supply Chains
China has barred its companies and citizens from doing business with five U.S.-linked subsidiaries of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, tying the move to a U.S. probe of China’s shipbuilding dominance and unveiling it the...
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...
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...