Maritime Briefing of 23 September 2026

Marfret has signed for two 480 teu feeder containerships at Hubei Guangji Green Energy Shipbuilding, on an SDARI design classed by Bureau Veritas, with propulsion from CSSC Power's Zhenjiang works. Pricing and delivery dates were not disclosed. The contract is the state-backed Wuxue yard's fourth international order this year, after owners in Dubai, Norway and Singapore.

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, GTT and Lloyd's Register have opened a joint development project for what would be the largest ethane carrier concept yet, using GTT's Mark III Slim containment system. Nothing has been ordered.

Turkey has pushed the sailing of the Osman Gazi floating production unit from Filyos Port to late October, delaying its arrival at the Sakarya gas field. The unit had been due to leave at the end of September.

Chinese coal imports rose 3.4% year on year to 310.2m tonnes over the first eight months of 2026, but seaborne discharges fell 3.7% to 221.3m tonnes, according to figures from Ursa Shipbrokers. Mongolia supplied 78.4m tonnes overland, more than a quarter of the total and no employment at all for bulk carriers, while seaborne steam coal fell 6.9% to 188.3m tonnes and seaborne coking coal rose 31.1% to 29m tonnes.

Only 59% of seafarers surveyed say they would feel safe raising a serious concern without fear of consequences, and just 49% say there were enough crew aboard their last contract to work without excessive fatigue or breaches of rest hours. The five-year review Five Years into the Code of Conduct: What's Changed for Seafarers? was published this week by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, the Mission to Seafarers, the Rafto Foundation, RightShip and TURTLE.

The number of Dutch officers serving on the Dutch fleet fell from 3,053 in 2025 to 2,675 in 2026, a drop of almost 12% in a year, in the 2026 seafarer survey of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners.