Vessel Hunter · This week in maritime

Week ending Sunday, 4 October 2026

This Week in Maritime: Gulf crude is back, and tankers are still being hit

27 September to 3 October 2026. Gulf exports at prewar volumes, four tankers struck in Hormuz, the first Somali piracy deaths in a decade and a third earnings record.

22 stories7 sections7 min readVessel Hunter newsroom

Thirty-two stories and four briefings went through this newsroom between Sunday 27 September and Saturday 3 October. Two numbers frame most of them. Gulf oil exports, by tanker and pipeline, averaged 16.5 million barrels a day in September, about where they stood before the war. And the IMO now counts 86 incidents involving ships in the Gulf area and 24 seafarers dead. The oil is getting out; the ships carrying it are still being hit. Elsewhere, Somali piracy killed crew for the first time in more than a decade, and shipping earnings set a third record in a row.

Hormuz and the Gulf

4 stories

Four more tankers were hit around the strait

The Kuwaiti VLCC AL FUNTAS, IMO 9653408, was struck while transiting dark on 28 September; a fire was put out and she sailed on. Three tankers followed on 29 September, among them the ADNOC-operated VLCC Mersin Prosperity, and another on 1 October. Windward counted 17 transits on 29 September, and Kpler says around 40% of Gulf crude now leaves by pipeline without crossing Hormuz.

Al Funtas and three more tankers hit in Hormuz as Gulf crude exports recoverFull story · Incident

Iran put new terms on the table, and about 80 countries asked it to reopen the strait

Through Qatari mediators, Tehran asked the US to lift its blockade of Iranian ports and the embargo on Iranian shipping, waive oil sanctions and agree a ceasefire that includes Lebanon. A joint statement read at the United Nations condemned Iran and the Houthis. The Maritime Briefing of 28 September has both.

Maritime Briefing of 28 September 2026Full story · Other

A container ship loaded with boxes at sea

Three VLCCs stopped under the blockade are crossing the Atlantic

TIFANI, IMO 9273337, MAJESTIC X, IMO 9198317, and LENORE, IMO 9259367, are heading for the United States with about six million barrels of Iranian crude. Iran, for its part, says it will sell seized ships including MSC FRANCESCA and EPAMINONDAS to compensate fishermen.

Iran says it will sell seized ships including MSC Francesca and Epaminondas as compensationFull story · Sanctions

A container ship being unloaded in an automated harbour

Insuring a tanker at Yanbu now costs three times what it did in July

War risk premiums for Saudi-linked tankers at Yanbu reached about 3% of hull value, against 6% to 9% for a Hormuz transit, as loadings resumed at about two-thirds of the pace before the 10 September attack. The Maritime Briefing of 29 September carries the figures.

Maritime Briefing of 29 September 2026Full story · Other

Piracy, war and sanctions

3 stories

Aerial view of a product tanker and a gas carrier

Somali pirates killed crew for the first time in more than a decade

Five seafarers on the product tanker HONOUR 25, IMO 1099735, died on 29 September as Puntland forces retook her; the pirates on the Eureka beached her and fled. Five crew killed on Honour 25. Days earlier the same forces had freed the SIBU 1, IMO 9204776, seized off Yemen on 20 August. Only the Asana is still held.

Puntland forces free the tanker Sibu 1 from Somali pirates after five weeksFull story · Incident

A drone strike near Novorossiysk left a seafarer missing

The Turkish-operated bulker AROYAT, IMO 9151395, burned after being hit on 27 September and was towed back to Turkey without her second engineer; in 2023 she had been the first large bulker to return to Chornomorsk. The Maritime Briefing of 4 October has the detail, and the briefing of 28 September Ukraine's claim to have disabled 300 vessels supporting Russia since 6 July.

Maritime Briefing of 28 September 2026Full story · Other

A freight ship sailing along the Bosphorus off Istanbul

Sanctioned tankers are moving to Russia's own flag

European detentions have cut shadow fleet ships flying false flags from 101 to 45, but 107 vessels joined the Russian registry between January 2025 and June 2026, 87% of them already sanctioned; French forces boarded the TAGOR, IMO 9282481, in the Mediterranean in May. Sanctioned tankers move to the Russian flag.

Russian cargo ship Yuriy Arshenevskiy sails from Tobruk to Turkish waters after arms deliveryFull story · Sanctions

Casualties and investigations

4 stories

A fisherman sitting by the water at an industrial dock

The MAIB's final report on ARGOS GEORGIA blames a shell door

A line-hauling hatch on the longliner, IMO 9812690, opened in heavy seas off the Falklands in July 2024 and could not be closed; 13 of the 27 aboard died. The report asks for automatic locking on shell doors of fishing vessels of 24 metres and longer.

Argos Georgia sank after a shell door opened in heavy seas, MAIB findsFull story · Incident

An offshore vessel holding a ship on a towline at sea

BLUE CARRIER 2 burned for days off Tinos

Fire broke out on the vehicle deck of the Greek RoRo, IMO 9125384, north of Mykonos with 166 trucks aboard, and all 29 people abandoned ship.

Blue Carrier 2 abandoned after vehicle-deck fire north of MykonosFull story · Incident

A bulk carrier under way at sea, seen from above

A laden capesize came off the bottom at Gladstone

CAPE FALCON, IMO 9916202, floated free on 24 September after six days aground near the port's dredge spoil ground and was detained while her hull is examined.

Capesize Cape Falcon refloated off Gladstone after a week aground and detainedFull story · Incident

The toll from two other disasters rose

The death count from the Indonesian ferry Virgo Transport 8 reached 64, with 71 still missing. Off Kamchatka, four bodies were recovered from the burned-out fishing vessel Triumph after 25 of her 29 crew were rescued.

Money, markets and deals

4 stories

Shipping earnings set a third record in a row

The ClarkSea Index reached $66,421 a day, up more than 50% since the end of August and nearly three times its long-term average. Fourteen VLCCs changed hands in September against five in August, and five-year-old VLCCs rose 6.51% in a week to $180m.

The ZIM takeover went back to the start

Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI added a Far East route for Zim Israel to their revised framework, and two days later Israel's Government Companies Authority closed its review of the original structure. A new application is due by 6 October, against a February 2027 deadline for the deal.

Israel closes its review of the Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI takeover of ZIMFull story · Industry

Greek shipping is going to the Athens exchange

Capital Maritime Finance, linked to Evangelos Marinakis, is seeking up to €200m in an exclusive Euronext Athens listing backed by 36 containerships and $3.9bn of charters. Capital Maritime Finance seeks €200m. In New York, Genco Shipping & Trading extended its poison pill to September 2027 after Diana Shipping's bid collapsed.

Genco extends its poison pill to 2027 after Diana Shipping's bid collapsedFull story · Industry

Aerial view of a large bulk carrier loading cargo

Simandou ore found a long-term carrier

China Merchants Energy Shipping signed a 25-year contract worth at least $2.8bn for six VLOCs, tonnage that will not reach the capesize spot market.

CMES signs $2.8bn, 25-year Simandou contract for six VLOCsFull story · Industry

Yards and fleet

4 stories

A car carrier passing through a lock at Bremerhaven

MSC's car carrier arm ordered eight more ships

Global Car Carriers ordered eight more 8,600 ceu LNG dual-fuel PCTCs in China, taking its programme to 20 ships worth more than $2bn.

Global Car Carriers adds eight PCTCs in China, taking its orderbook to 20Full story · Industry

A bulker became a boxship in three months

COSCO Guangdong turned the 2007-built supramax PU TUO HAI, IMO 9466518, into the 2,528 TEU SINGAPORE RIVER for X-Press Feeders, and a sister is next.

COSCO Guangdong turns supramax Pu Tuo Hai into 2,528 TEU boxship Singapore RiverFull story · Industry

A naval vessel with a helicopter on deck

Damen wants nearly €4.7bn from Germany

The yard accuses Berlin of breach of contract over the cancelled F126 frigates.

Damen claims nearly €4.7bn from Germany over cancelled F126 frigate orderFull story · Industry

A freight ship alongside in a harbour at night

New ships for new fuels

Jiangnan delivered LILAC COVE, IMO 1017115, the second of six 93,000 m³ ammonia carriers for Eastern Pacific. Yang Ming named YM WEIGHT, its fourth 15,500 TEU LNG dual-fuel ship, and Kokuka Sangyo took delivery of KOKURYU MARU, IMO 1144499, its first methanol-fuelled tanker.

ARC Freedom joins the US flag and the Maritime Security Program as ex-FigaroFull story · Industry

Ports, canals and rules

4 stories

Aerial view of the Miraflores Locks on the Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is giving back draught

The neopanamax locks went back to 49 feet on 28 September, and ten daily neopanamax transits return from 15 October.

Panama Canal raises neopanamax draught to 49 feet and adds a daily slotFull story · Port activity

The Rhine hit its lowest level on record

The gauge at Lobith read 6.10 metres on 27 September, the lowest since measurements began in 1866.

Dunkirk chose MSC's terminal arm

Terminal Investment Limited will build and run the port's second container terminal, with the quay due in January 2029.

MSC's Medlog enters Kazakhstan with a stake in Sarzha Logistics at KurykFull story · Port activity

The Netherlands set a date for scrubber washwater

Open-loop discharges will be banned in Dutch ports and inland waters from 1 July 2030.

Brittany Ferries charters Vizzavona as Wexford for Rosslare-Cherbourg from 2027Full story · Industry

Offshore and wind

3 stories

An oil and gas production platform off Norway

PIONEERING SPIRIT will lift 60,000 tonnes

Allseas has upgraded the vessel's topsides lifting system to take Equinor's Statfjord A topside off in one piece.

Pioneering Spirit lift capacity raised to 60,000 tonnes for Statfjord A removalFull story · Industry

Ships and wind turbines in a harbour, seen from above

Wind kept building

Ørsted and Nuveen inaugurated the 913 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3, NYK ordered an Ulstein SX222 service operation vessel from PaxOcean for Taiwan, and Huisman won the leg encircling cranes for Cadeler's two T-class installation vessels. In drilling, Transocean's $5.8bn takeover of Valaris cleared US antitrust review.

Huisman wins leg encircling cranes for Cadeler's two T-class installation vesselsFull story · Industry

A container ship in the export and import business

The full list for each day is in that day's briefing; the latest is the Maritime Briefing of 4 October 2026. Every ship named on this page has a record in our fleet database, with particulars, ownership and the people behind it where we hold them.

Maritime Briefing of 4 October 2026Full story · Other

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