Maritime Briefing, 1 September 2026: Ferry Loss, Shadow Fleet, Record Congestion

The high-speed catamaran Filo Jet capsized off northern Cyprus on Sunday with 267 people on board, minutes into a routine two-hour crossing. 237 people were recovered alive and eight bodies were brought ashore. The captain, seven crew and a director of the operator are now before a court on charges of causing death through negligence, and survivors have described locked emergency exits.

In the Mediterranean, an EU team went on to the tanker MV Sun for a flag check on suspicion of false registration, the sixth such vessel entered by EU operations in recent months, covered in the MV Sun interception. In the Channel, four Royal Navy warships tracked a Russian destroyer and frigate escorting two sanctioned cargo ships towards Tartus, while transits off Ireland's west coast went from 132 to 382 year on year.

Six vessels have been held off Somalia and at least 15 attacks have been recorded this year against five in all of 2025. The Lutuf has since been retaken in a ten-day operation.

More than 4.3 million TEU is waiting to berth worldwide, past the Covid-era peak, with Shanghai Yangshan waits at seven to 11 days for non-Gemini services after a third typhoon in a month.

Sinokor has bought 73 VLCCs for close to $6 billion this year, as much as the next eight largest tanker buyers combined, and now runs 93 crude carriers within a fleet of 162 tankers.

A seven-year agreement with the US Maritime Administration covers 50 nuclear-powered LNG carriers and container ships at $700 million a hull against $250 million for conventional tonnage, with first delivery targeted for 2033.