News

New sanctions announced on September 2 by the U.S. the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) targeted the business network of a UAE-based businessman, Waleed al-Samarra’I, and nine Liberian-flagged tankers, which the U.S. says have generated millions of dollars in oil revenue.

It was revealed in a court filing on Friday, August 29, that the Trump administration, through the Department of the Interior, plans to reconsider permits issued last year to the SouthCoast offshore wind project.

The authorities were responding to a collision off Singapore on Monday, September 1, in which a bunker barge and a bulker made contact. The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore is reporting that there was a small fuel spill that was expected to evaporate and break down in the environment, and that both vessels were stable.

Dongfang Electric Wind Power completed the hoisting of the 26 MW offshore wind turbine for testing on August 29 as the industry races forward with the huge next generation of turbines. It is one of several large offshore wind turbines currently in design or testing to break the 20 MW barrier and continues China’s emergence as the leader in the technology.

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is calling attention to the fate of 19 seafarers abandoned on a sanctioned product tanker that has been lying off the UAE for months. The organization has been warning that seafarer abandonment is on track for its worst year, but the situation of the Global Peace (6,191 dwt) is compounded by the fact that the tanker was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in April.

As Europe ramps up funding for its defense, German ports want to see some of the new resources used to strengthen transport infrastructure against potential military attacks. In a recent letter to the German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS) emphasized that ports form the first line of attack in a war scenario.

A high-profile research expedition to explore the deep sea in Uruguayan sovereign waters has suffered a setback after the research vessel Falkor (too) suffered technical issues. The vessel was forced to return to port for repairs.

Information from multiple sources suggests that the Royal Navy is now unable to meet commitments in several important areas, contrary to UK Ministry of Defence insistence that it is continuing to meet its operational tasking.

Havila Voyages, which already operates four Norwegian coastal cruise ships fueled with LNG and equipped with batteries, reports it is preparing to take the next step: a climate-neutral round trip along the Norwegian coast.

Nearly six months after the tragic incident in which one of the tankers Crowley manages for the US’s Tanker Security Program was damaged after it was hit by a containership, the shipping manager reports it has received US permission for a replacement.

The Chinese shipyard in the Tsuneishi Shipbuilding group marked a milestone on August 27 as it floated the first of its next-generation energy-efficient methanol dual-fuel containership. The vessel is also the largest container vessel built by the Tsuneishi Group and part of its efforts to build leadership in methanol-fueled vessels.

Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy infrastructure are having complex effects on the nation's oil exports. Attacks on Russian refineries have sharply cut down domestic processing, freeing up more crude for export.

The Japanese government is looking for means to revitalize its lagging efforts to develop offshore wind energy. The move comes as Mitsubishi, which in a consortium had won the first large auction, confirmed it has decided not to proceed with three wind farms.

Hanwha Shipping, the newly-launched U.S. shipping subsidiary of South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, provided additional details on its shipbuilding plans, which it is calling the largest U.S. commercial vessel order in more than 20 years.

Ukrainian officials are protesting the release of a new list of ports open for foreign vessels, on which Russia is including the Sea of Azov ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk. Both ports have been occupied by Russian forces since 2022.

South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries announced a partnership with Oregon-based Vigor Marine Group as part of the companies committing to U.S. investments during the Korean president’s visit to the United States.

The third U.S. training ship, State of Maine, was christened on Tuesday, August 26, in a ceremony designed to highlight the emerging partnership between the United States and South Korea for shipbuilding.

The large Maersk containership, Marie Maersk, which has been battling a container fire for nearly two weeks, is reportedly back underway after teams determined it is safe for the vessel to proceed. With the help of external firefighting teams and equipment brought out to the ship while it was off Africa, Maersk has reported that the fire was contained.

The trial for the captain and two senior officers of the shadow fleet tanker Eagle S began on Monday, August 25, in the Helsinki District Court. They are facing charges ranging from aggravated sabotage and aggravated telecommunications interference to lesser charges of vandalism and endangering public safety.

The NGO SOS Mediterranee released details on an encounter in the Mediterranean on Sunday, August 24, in which it says the Libyan Coast Guard opened fire on its ship and continued to attack the ship for up to 20 minutes.