Hormuz attacks spread, orderbook record, Russia age limit

Armed pirates boarded the fishing vessel Azini about 185 nautical miles east of Bandarbayla, Somalia; Puntland's maritime police say 12 pirates hold her 23 crew, 21 Iranian fishermen and two Somali guards. By Saturday she had moved another 110 nautical miles east, nearer the merchant shipping routes, and EUNAVFOR's Maritime Security Centre Indian Ocean warns she may be used as a mother ship.

Houthi health officials say four people were injured in a strike on the docks at Ras Isa, north-west of Hodeidah, and three at a tank farm in the Bajil district. Vanguard Tech reports that at least two commercial ships were targeted, one of them likely a 32-year-old freighter. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the strikes.

The tanker Golden Sapling, hit by drones in the Black Sea in August and run aground off Samsun, has been towed through the Bosphorus to Öge Shipbreaking at Aliağa by Aras Salvor and two Turkish Coastal Safety tugs.

Fugro says disruption from the Iran war has cost it €25m this year, €10m of it in the third quarter, as jamming and movement limits hamper survey work in the Gulf. It is fitting anti-jamming antennas and software across its fleet.

The Mongolia-flagged tug Cebu Maru, 237 GT and recently sold, caught fire 20 nautical miles north of Miyako Island on her way to the Philippines. The Japan Coast Guard recovered five crew from a life raft and later found the sixth, believed to be the chief engineer, dead on board.

Starhorse Shipping Lines' Virgen de Peñafrancia II listed to starboard about 10 metres from Real Port, Quezon, early on 30 October with 40 passengers and 18 crew aboard. All were rescued, and the Philippine Coast Guard has deployed oil booms around the ship's 1,300 litres of marine diesel.

The Tanzanian-flagged general cargo ship AS Dream was reported sinking about 90 nautical miles west of Paphos on 30 October; the containership MSC Hannah III picked up all ten crew, who were landed at Limassol in good health. The ship is still listed in the ILO/IMO abandonment database over an unresolved 2025 case at Ashdod involving eight seafarers and four months of unpaid wages.

COSCO Shipping Holdings made RMB17.23bn in the third quarter, up 128% on the second quarter and 81% year on year, on revenue of RMB75.69bn, with transpacific revenue up 61%.

Bahri earned SAR5.1bn in the third quarter on revenue of SAR14.8bn. Four of its ships were hit in conflict-related incidents in nine months and two crew were killed; two ships are back in service and two are under repair.

Alphaliner puts the containership orderbook at 15.12m teu, 43.9% of the fleet, with about 40 more large ships expected to push it towards 16m teu by the end of the year. LNG dual-fuel ships make up 56% of contracted capacity.

The Shanghai-listed carrier plans to lease four 7,000 teu and two 14,000 teu containerships and two 7,000 ceu car carriers, with potential rental commitments of up to RMB10.3bn ($1.53bn).

Imabari has delivered the 13,932 teu ONE Symphony to Ocean Network Express, the third of her class after ONE Strength and ONE Serenity.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has taken delivery of the 95,311 dwt LNG dual-fuel coal carrier Maizuru Kazenomai, built by Oshima with a hard sail and dedicated to Kansai Electric's Maizuru power plant. MOL plans 25 Wind Challenger ships by 2030.

Talks between employers and about 250 port watchmen of ILWU Local 26, who could have struck from 1 November at terminals handling about 85% of Long Beach's cargo and 33% of Los Angeles', have been extended.

More than 25 unions staged strikes and demonstrations at 113 ports in 22 countries on 30 October under the banner "Dockworkers do not work for war", including a 24-hour CGT walkout at French ports and an Italian national port strike.

The Panama Canal Authority has restored the pre-July 2026 criteria for reallocating Neo-Panamax slots in booking periods 1A and 2, with priority for containerships, then LNG, LPG and vehicle carriers. From 1 November preliminary NetZero tonnage inspections can be done outside Panama.

Nine US maritime unions have questioned compliance under the Jones Act waiver, which expires on 15 November, citing post-voyage reporting, foreign crews and the use of COSCO tonnage.

QatarEnergy has agreed to take up to 3 mtpa FOB from Woodside's Louisiana LNG for 20 years from 2030.

Solstad's construction support vessel Normand Australis has two back-to-back subsea and ROV contracts in Asia-Pacific totalling 250 firm days from December.

Odfjell Drilling will manage the semisubmersible Beacon Pacific for Serica Energy's six-well UK North Sea campaign from the third quarter of 2027.

The country's second fixed-price auction of 2026 includes 500MW reserved for floating wind.

Vard has launched the energy construction vessel Norwind Energy at Vung Tau for Wind Energy Construction, with a 150-tonne motion-compensated crane and delivery in the second quarter of 2027.