Maritime Briefing of 16 September 2026

After a rapid advance across the Tihama plain that took the Ras Menhali peninsula and Perim Island, their light infantry is now dependent on a single exposed supply route along the N2 coastal highway. Better-equipped forces of the internationally recognised government are advancing from Lahj province, and there is no indication of a continuing Houthi presence on Perim or at the Ras Menhali port. Egypt rejected Houthi overtures to coordinate on Red Sea shipping control, recognising only the authority of the internationally recognised government.

to shipping, in the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, the waters off Somalia and the Black Sea, on a scale the industry has not faced before. Around 2,000 vessels and 20,000 seafarers were affected in the strait at the start of that conflict. Ukrainian grain ports are seeing one or two vessels a day in harvest season, against a normal 20 to 30. Naval attention drawn to the Red Sea and the Gulf has given Somali pirates room to operate against smaller bulk carriers, and Somalia is working on anti-piracy legislation to close a gap in the legal framework for prosecuting captured pirates.

Tracking data showed 958 vessels idle in the Arabian Gulf in mid-June, 63% of them for more than 100 days, long enough for barnacles, mussels, tubeworms and weed to establish on a hull. A survey of 1,000 owners and operators published last year by Jotun found that 50.4% had already seen higher fuel consumption from poor biofouling management, 41% had faced regulatory penalties linked to it and 38% had been refused port access. California applies extra scrutiny to vessels idle for more than 45 days, and Brazil's NORMAM-401, in force since June 2026, permits only microfouling.

, speaking at the summit in New Delhi, alongside proposals for independent payment and settlement infrastructure and a grain exchange. Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian went further, proposing a BRICS reinsurance company with $10bn of initial capital, initially covering major infrastructure and energy projects. The final New Delhi Declaration committed members to exploring a more self-reliant insurance ecosystem and to increasing the group's collective reinsurance capacity. Marine liability cover remains concentrated in the International Group of P&I Clubs, whose 12 member clubs insure around 87% of world ocean-going tonnage under a pooling arrangement dating to 1899. India created the Bharat Maritime Insurance Pool this year, backed by a sovereign guarantee of INR129.8bn ($1.4bn) and covering hull and machinery, cargo, P&I and war risks, citing the risk that cover could be withdrawn for sanctions or geopolitical reasons.

Oaktree-linked OCM Njord Holdings has placed 9m Torm shares in a secondary offering worth about $318m at Monday's close, cutting its holding from 20.33m shares, just under 20%, to around 11.33m or roughly 11.1%. JPMorgan is sole underwriter with a 30-day option over a further 1.35m shares, which if exercised would take Njord below 10%. Torm is neither issuing shares nor receiving proceeds. Hafnia bought about 14.1m Torm shares from Oaktree last December for $311.4m and holds just under 14% after subsequent dilution. Torm posted a record second quarter with net profit of $338m and EBITDA of $416m, and raised full-year guidance by $200m.

The contract was signed on 10 September with the yard and China Shipbuilding Trading, and represents an investment of about $708m to $744m, or roughly $118m to $124m a ship including upgraded equipment packages. The design meets EEDI Phase 3 and is both methanol dual-fuel-ready and LNG dual-fuel-ready, with exhaust gas cleaning systems fitted. The order follows earlier Wan Hai work with the yard on 7,000 TEU ships delivered this year and a subsequent 9,200 TEU series.

The latest purchase, an unnamed 2015-built 81,886 dwt bulker announced last week for delivery between October and December and funded entirely from internal cash, is reported by brokers to be the Tsuneishi Cebu-built BW Japan at $38.2m; a 2019-built sister changed hands in January for $31m. The Mumbai-listed owner also bought the 2015-built kamsarmax Presinge at $29.25m, the 81,100 dwt Three Saskias at $26m, now renamed Jag Abhishek, the 49,400 dwt MR2 Ardmore Engineer at $35.5m, now Jag Prabhu, and the 110,000 dwt LR2 Seriana at $72m from Neda Maritime, now Jag Laxman. Seven vessels have gone the other way since September 2025 for a combined $163.35m.

, the fifth of ten 10,300 TEU LNG dual-fuel containerships ordered by MSC in 2023. The series has run progressively earlier, from 159 days ahead on the first ship to 324 on the fifth. The 299.95-metre vessel was developed with CIMC Ocean Engineering Institute and classed by Lloyd's Register.

from Dajin Heavy Industry, for installation two apiece on a pair of heavy lift transport vessels under construction for Jumbo Maritime. The cranes are fully electric, prepared for a later fly jib, and mark the launch of a new Huisman range spanning 180 to 1,200 tonnes.

, with the first laden VLCC discharging on 10 September. The 430-metre berth in the Rongxing area feeds crude by pipeline directly into storage at the RMB 83.7bn ($12.5bn) Huajin Aramco petrochemical complex, which houses a 300,000 barrel-a-day refinery, a 1.65m-tonne-a-year ethylene plant and 2m tonnes a year of paraxylene capacity. Aramco can supply up to 210,000 barrels a day of feedstock. The 310,000 dwt Yuan Gui Yang made an empty trial call in August to test the channel, berth and loading arms.

with a binding agreement for a strategic investment in Suksawat Terminal on the Chao Phraya River at Samut Prakan, south of Bangkok, which has direct barge connectivity to Laem Chabang.

, the largest in the UAE, with a lifting capacity of 21,000 tonnes and 1,000 metres of quayside alongside. The joint venture between AD Ports Group and Premier Marine Engineering Services operates more than 170,000 square metres of shipyard facilities at Khalifa Port and Zayed Port.

, the first large Coast Guard vessel assigned to the region in more than 30 years, dedicated at Prescott, Ontario on 10 September. The 2010-built ship previously operated as a commercial firefighting tug on the Caspian Sea under Turkmen registry, and was bought from Atlantic Towing in November 2021 for C$45.2m ($32.6m); a C$34.3m ($24.7m) conversion at Newdock St John's Dockyard was completed in September 2025.

Wirana Shipping reports that only around 36 to 40 Indian yards hold a Document of Authorisation for Ship Recycling, less than half the facilities it identifies as certified under the Hong Kong Convention, and that the document is required before a vessel's International Ready for Recycling Certificate can be issued. Chief executive Rakesh Khetan said that "shipowners are asking for DASR, and they need a clear answer when considering a recycling facility." Competition for limited tonnage has pushed Indian offers up by around $10 to $15 per light displacement tonne.

, covering a substantial share of the carrier's drydocking programme from 2026 to 2028, with joint work on drydocking execution and in-service hull performance. Terms and vessel numbers were not disclosed.

, which closed on 1 September after the predefined area was expanded by 70 blocks or parts of blocks across the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. Awards are targeted for the beginning of 2027.

Saipem has been awarded a roughly $350m contract by Azule Energy for the West Hub Tails project, 180 km offshore Angola. Lamprell has been revealed as Larsen & Toubro's consortium partner on an EPCI contract worth more than $1.8bn within ADNOC Offshore's $6.2bn Umm Shaif Gas Cap project. Borr Drilling has agreed to divest its 51% interest in two Mexican subsidiaries to its local partner, exiting the Perfomex joint ventures entirely.

aboard the Seaway Hawk, following load-out at PTSC Mechanical & Construction's yard in Vung Tau. It is the yard's first offshore substation delivery from Vietnam to Europe, under a consortium with Semco Maritime that contracted with developers PGE and Orsted in June 2023.