Ust-Luga fire, Agioi Fanendes turns back, Panama at 34 slots

Trafigura, Vitol, Mercuria and ADNOC are among at least four companies in talks with US officials for licences to buy or lease some blacklisted ships, covering about 50 of the roughly 1,600 vessels under US sanctions. Treasury is reviewing applications case by case and no decision is final. As of 4 November, 1,568 ships were under US sanctions, including 462 crude tankers.

Clarksons Research expects seaborne coal trade to grow just 1% this year to 1.343bn tonnes, with Indonesian exports retreating, southern African shipments at record levels and Asian import demand increasingly fragmented.

The US Maritime Administration has approved a deepwater port licence for the $1bn Blue Marlin Offshore Port, about 99 miles off Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It is designed to export up to 2m barrels of crude a day and load VLCCs using converted platform infrastructure in West Cameron Block 509; no construction start date has been given.

The European Parliament's environment committee has backed an objection to the Commission's proposal to add Shree Ram Vessel Scrap and YSI Recyclers, both at Alang-Sosiya in Gujarat, to the EU list of approved ship recycling facilities, which would have been the first on the Indian subcontinent. Shipowners' association ECSA had urged approval; the objection goes to the full Parliament later in November and does not bind the Commission.

More than 30 maritime organisations backed the Maritime Electrification Breakthrough Goal, launched at COP31 in Antalya by the Environmental Defense Fund and RMI, which calls for electricity to supply at least 20% of international shipping's energy use by 2035.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has set next year's pilotage tariffs 7.72% higher, after rises of 8.25% this year, 7.97% in 2025 and 8.86% in 2024.

Reduced rail capacity at APM Terminals Maasvlakte II, linked to the terminal's expansion works, will now last until the end of June 2027 rather than January, with barge, truck and alternative rail options offered instead.

A study for SmartPort and Topsector Logistiek among maritime service companies in the Rotterdam port area points to a joint approach to supplying alternative fuels to the harbour fleet.

MSC has extended its Far East to India Shikra service with calls at Khor Fakkan and Sohar, raising the deployment to 15 ships of about 14,000 to 24,300 teu.

A $500 per container peak season surcharge applies to reefers from Karachi and Port Qasim to the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar between 16 and 30 November.

The new service links Port Klang with Visakhapatnam and Chennai from 22 November.

New Yangzi Shipbuilding has delivered the 9,000 teu methanol dual-fuel containership Maersk Tunis to owner Lepta, the first of two sisters on long-term charter to Maersk, built to ClassNK rules.

GS Project/SaS Waterhuizen has delivered the PMax Eco Trader 6000 shortsea ship Longpower, the fourth of eight for Groningen owner Longship.

The vessels, due in the second quarter of 2027, will be converted into cable layers with 2,800 tonnes of cable capacity and hybrid-electric propulsion, entering service in early 2028.

Hong Kong dry bulk owner Cetus Maritime is targeting a first trading day on Euronext Growth Oslo around 18 November, with an Eastern Pacific Shipping vehicle, Songa Capital, the Albemarle Shipping Fund and DNB Asset Management indicating $106.5m between them. After buying 13 bulkers from Seacon Shipping Group it expects a 42-ship fleet.

Seaspan will pay about $182m for up to 24,000 tonnes of Algoma and Stigterstaal structural steel for up to six multi-purpose Polar Class 4 icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

Cadeler has signed an exclusivity agreement with an unnamed client for foundation and turbine installation at a large UK offshore wind farm from around 2030, using an A-class and an O-class vessel among three units.

The partners reached financial close on the Vanguard West and Vanguard East offshore wind projects, with KKR taking 50% of each.

The US Department of Energy loan will fund redevelopment of 22 offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Norwich-based offshore engineering firm is now owned by its leadership team in a deal backed by HSBC.