Contship Jet sinks, record Hormuz month, Boluda buys Samskip

A French frigate shot down a missile in the Red Sea that was approaching the Belgian minehunter Primula.

The Panama Maritime Authority has started cancelling the registration of seven ships after the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated a Panamanian company and its partners, acting under Executive Decree No. 512 of 18 October 2024, and has tightened its pre-registration vetting of owners, operators and charterers.

Some 431,700 tonnes of Russian grain were shipped via Latvia between July and October, putting it among the top five routes, as the Baltic carried 65% of Russia's grain exports in September. Latvia has banned Russian grain imports since 2024 and is working on a transit ban; Estonia already has one. Iran was the largest buyer at 1.716 million tonnes, ahead of Egypt at 1.35 million.

Bharat Petroleum expects to buy significantly less Russian crude in November because Middle Eastern grades are cheaper delivered. Russian oil was about 37% of its intake in July to September, and BPCL says the discount on Russian crude has narrowed to $1 to $2 a barrel for December cargoes from $12 to $13 in October.

Oil minister Basim Mohammed Khudair says the government plans to buy at least 10 tankers and partner with tanker owners, as Iraq sells its crude at discounts of $15 to $20 a barrel because of shipping costs. Exports passed 3.4 million barrels a day in October, against about 3.7 million before the war.

The European Union has poured cold water on talk of restarting Russia's gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

The Drewry World Container Index rose 2% to $4,585 per 40ft, a 15-week high, with Shanghai-Rotterdam up 3% to $3,632 and Shanghai-Genoa up 5% to $4,152. Carriers have announced eight blank sailings on Asia-Europe for next week, up from two, while waiting times at Shanghai fell from 97 hours in week 38 to 38 hours in week 42. Only two containerships sailed into the Gulf in week 42.

Greek owners sold 71 tankers between March and October for $5.18bn, including 13 VLCCs for $1.95bn and 25 suezmaxes for $1.97bn, against $2.92bn for 84 ships in all of 2025, Xclusiv Shipbrokers data show. September and October account for about 62% of this year's value.

Hartland Shipping Services counts 319 VLCCs on order, 34% of the fleet, with only 20 due in the next six months. Banchero Costa records four VLCC demolitions in the first nine months of 2026 against 172 new orders, and Clarksons values a 15-year-old VLCC at $165m against $131.5m for a newbuilding.

Maersk is in final talks with Hudong-Zhonghua and Hengli Heavy Industries for up to 24 LNG dual-fuel 24,000 teu containerships worth about $5.5bn, after placing all 34 of its ultra-large orders this year in China.

Japanese builders have committed ¥900bn of public and private investment towards the government's target of doubling output to 18 million gross tons by 2035, including ¥113.8bn of subsidies for the Imabari group and the planned restoration of Hakodate Dock's No. 4 dock, unusable since a 1993 earthquake.

India's Transworld Shipping Lines has shareholder approval to buy the 2006-built OEL Surya and OEL Varun from group company Orient Express Lines for $42.78m, after agreeing to buy the supramax Saltwind Explorer for $16.5m.

Yingkou Huayin Shipbuilding has opened its yard in Liaoning and started a series of ten 8,700 dwt multipurpose vessels.

Equinor says Empire Wind off New York is about 80% complete but that first power has slipped to the first half of 2027, because the US-built tugs and barges that will feed the installation vessel Maersk Viridis are late. All 54 foundations, the substation and cabling are done.

RigCo will spend more than S$500m with Seatrium to complete four rigs, with a seventh-generation drillship due in 2027 and a harsh-environment jackup in 2028.

Noble has agreed to sell the 2013-built drillship Noble Globetrotter II for $38m to an undisclosed buyer, closing in the fourth quarter.

An international oil company has taken a one-year option on the jackup Shelf Drilling Tenacious, adding about $52m to ADES' backlog from the first quarter of 2027.

DOF Group is selling the 2018-built subsea construction vessel Skandi Implementer to an undisclosed buyer for delivery in the second quarter of 2027, cutting its net debt.

Equinor has extended Havila Charisma to 16 December 2027 and Havila Foresight to 1 January 2028.

Baker Hughes has a subsea production systems contract for Eni's Cronos gas development off Cyprus, a second Eni award and an equipment package for Golar LNG's fourth FLNG unit.

Petronas CCS Ventures, TotalEnergies and Mitsui will develop a depleted gas field off Peninsular Malaysia for up to 5 million tonnes of CO2 a year, with first injection possibly in 2031.

Rosatom says regular winter eastbound voyages on the Northern Sea Route should start early in 2027, with the icebreaker Chukotka joining next year; NSR cargo is set to pass 40 million tonnes in 2026, and container voyages have doubled to 46.

Heerema has two modular spreader bars of about 9,000 tonnes each, used on five offshore campaigns and seven lifts this year.

Residents of the cruise ship Odyssey, the former Braemar, were told on 27 October to leave the ship within hours at Sihanoukville after Villa Vie Residences said it could no longer carry soaring fuel costs; the ship goes into warm lay-up while the company seeks restructuring within 60 days.

Toyo Construction has a ¥26.2bn ($166m) contract for the NCT2 container terminal at Sihanoukville, with a 400-metre quay and about 450,000 teu of annual capacity, financed by a JICA yen loan.

Strikes, automation start-up problems and a €12m impairment have led HHLA to cut its 2026 group EBIT outlook to €115m to €135m from €150m to €170m, with throughput at Hamburg now expected to fall significantly.

The bulker Sigma Pearl lost propulsion after leaving Visakhapatnam for Singapore ahead of a severe cyclone on 27 October and was driven aground on India's east coast; her crew were unhurt.

DP World has signed a memorandum with Arctic Gateway Group and CentrePort Canada to study an integrated corridor through the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway; no investment was announced.

The port authority has warned crews that flying drones can be a criminal offence after two seafarers were fined $3,000 and $5,000 for flights near Changi Airport.

The Seafarers Happiness Index fell to 6.81 out of 10 in the third quarter, its third straight decline, with shore leave the lowest measure at 5.46 and connectivity down from 7.46 to 6.89.