
2020 Bulkers names Tom Babinski CEO as anchor-handler fleet grows to 12 with Skandi Peregrino
Oslo-listed 2020 Bulkers has appointed offshore veteran Tom Babinski chief executive after turning itself into an anchor-handling tug owner with 12 vessels and plans for 15.

GFS Pride sinks, Wine Trader hit, Seaways buys Bruton
GFS Pride sinks in Hormuz, seven crew are missing from Wine Trader off Romania, two war-damaged tankers ground in Turkey and International Seaways buys Bruton.

Piracy falls to 51 incidents in nine months, the lowest since 1992, as Somali hijackings rise
The IMB recorded 51 piracy and armed robbery incidents from January to September 2026, against 116 a year earlier, but crew affected rose to 105.

n0n Group lists 38 ports, carriers and terminal IT firms, leak deadline 19 October
A data-theft extortion group calling itself n0n has posted 38 maritime and logistics organisations on its leak site, with a publication deadline of 13:27 UTC on 19 October.

Carnival pulls Carnival Adventure and Carnival Luminosa out of Australia in 2028
Carnival Cruise Line will move Carnival Adventure and Carnival Luminosa out of the Australian market after the 2027-28 season, leaving Carnival Splendor and Carnival Encounter as its only year-round ships.

Malaysia bans bunkering and big ships in new sensitive area off the Singapore Strait
Since 11 September Malaysia has banned bunkering, most anchoring and ships over 300 m by 40 m in a new Marine Sensitive Area at the eastern approaches to the Singapore Strait.

Transocean adds $1.1bn to backlog with Equinor approval and Transocean Norge deal
Transocean has added about $1.1bn to firm backlog after Equinor approved a $1bn deal for three Norwegian semisubmersibles and Norske Shell hired Transocean Norge for two wells.

HS Dignity sinks, GEM No.2 hit at Sharjah, Suez returns
HS Dignity sinks off Bulgaria, a drone hits GEM No.2 at Sharjah, Malaysia bans bunkering off the Singapore Strait and big container ships return to Suez.

Bulgaria drone sinking, DF Peak boarded, Hormuz warning
Drones sink a ship off Bulgaria, France boards DF Peak south of Réunion, Iran warns ships running dark in Hormuz and boxships return to the Red Sea.

EU lists Russian yards, Sea Owl I freed, Sunny Faith ashore
The EU lists Sevmash and Admiralty Shipyards, Sweden frees the tanker Sea Owl I, Sunny Faith is ashore near Kaliningrad and CMA CGM Gold draws union doubts.

Boskalis heavy-lift ship Forte delivers SpaceX's Starship Ship 40 to Brownsville
The semi-submersible Forte arrived in Brownsville on 7 October with SpaceX's Starship Ship 40, loaded by float-on at Christmas Island after splashdown in the Indian Ocean.

Lashing-free CMA CGM Gold enters service as Dutch dockers' union raises doubts
CMA CGM's 13,000 TEU CMA CGM Gold needs no manual lashing on deck. The Dutch union FNV doubts how the system will work and wants her inspected in Rotterdam.

Stena Imperator and Stena Superior join the Swedish register
Stena Bulk has moved the product tanker Stena Imperator and the Suezmax Stena Superior to the Swedish flag, the fourth and fifth ships of its programme.

CMB.TECH's Mineral Europa leaves for Australia as first ammonia-powered bulker
CMB.TECH says Mineral Europa, a 210,000 dwt Newcastlemax with a WinGD dual-fuel engine, has sailed on her maiden voyage to Australia on charter to Fortescue.

Two missing off Sohar, HMM Platinum fire, ammonia bulker
Two seafarers are missing after a drone hit a tanker off Sohar, HMM Platinum drifts off Madagascar after a fire, the MAIB reports on Arvia and Mineral Europa sails.

Rheinmetall buys Romania's Mangalia shipyard for €138m at the fifth auction
Rheinmetall has bought the bankrupt Mangalia shipyard in Romania for €138.03m, 75% of its auction value, to build two patrol ships and two support ships for Romania.

Estonia drops €10m-a-year ferry aid as Tallink warns ships may leave the flag
Estonia has removed nearly €10m a year in passenger shipping aid from its 2027-2030 budget plans. Tallink says reflagging has become more likely.

Precious Shipping orders four 64,500 dwt Ultramax bulkers at Taizhou Sanfu for $141.8m
Precious Shipping has ordered four 64,500 dwt Ultramax bulk carriers from Taizhou Sanfu Shipbuilding for about $141.8m, with deliveries between April 2030 and January 2031.

Van Wijngaarden christens EuroCarrier Maasstroom, a 35-tonne bollard pull DP1 workboat
Van Wijngaarden Marine Services christened its newbuild EuroCarrier 2712 Maasstroom at Hardinxveld-Giessendam on 6 October, within a year of signing with Neptune.

Tanker hit off Qatar, Muuga ferry race and an Arctic loop
The Maritime Briefing of 9 October 2026: Acers struck off Qatar, Malaysia on shadow fleet transfers, TT-Line on Muuga-Vuosaari and Dubai Tower's Arctic loop.

Aframax Rio burns off Sochi, 12 hurt on On Peace in Hormuz
The Maritime Briefing of 7 October 2026: Aframax Rio on fire off Sochi, 12 seafarers injured on On Peace, Solstad buys Normand Maximus and Queen Anne moves to P&O.

Cunard's Queen Anne to join P&O Cruises in 2029 as Arcadia moves to Holland America
Carnival Corporation will move Cunard's 2024-built Queen Anne to P&O Cruises in May 2029 and transfer P&O's Arcadia to Holland America Line after her retirement in August 2029.

Wärtsilä signs five-year service deal for LNG carriers Al Thurayya and Al Majhoulah
Wärtsilä has signed a five-year service agreement with Greek operator TMS Cardiff Gas for the newbuild LNG carriers Al Thurayya and Al Majhoulah, booked in the third quarter of 2026.

Black Sea sinkings, Hormuz strikes, Japan names 35 ships
The Maritime Briefing of 6 October 2026: Alfa Watan and Royad Mammadov sunk by drones, five Hormuz incidents, Japan's first ship sanctions and a $117m VLCC resale.

Eighteen Maritime States Warn the Global Shipping Rulebook Is Breaking Down
The Consultative Shipping Group, whose members carry more than a fifth of global trade by tonnage, warns that fragmenting rules and a growing shadow fleet are creating a two-tier maritime system.

OneSubsea Takes Umbilicals Contract for Azule's West Hub Tails Off Angola
SLB OneSubsea will design and deliver controls umbilicals for Azule Energy's West Hub Tails project, shifting production from four Angolan fields to the recently arrived Agogo FPSO.

Pacifico Files a $1bn Investment Declaration for 2.79 GW Off Jindo
Pacifico Energy has filed an investment declaration worth more than $1bn with South Korea's trade ministry covering two offshore wind projects with 2.79 GW of combined planned capacity.

BW Ideol Wins Scottish Funding to Engineer Its Ardersier Floater Factory
BW Ideol has secured more than £778,000 from the Scottish Government to take its planned floating wind foundation factory at the Port of Ardersier into front-end engineering design.

Kongsberg Maritime Agrees to Buy Finnish Thruster Maker Steerprop
Kongsberg Maritime has agreed to acquire Steerprop, a Finnish designer and manufacturer of azimuth propulsion systems for high ice-class and Arctic vessels.

Goldman and Rystad See Room for $120 Brent if Hormuz Stays Disrupted
Brent is trading around $97 as traders price in prolonged disruption at the Strait of Hormuz, with analysts at Goldman Sachs and Rystad both pointing to room for $120 a barrel.

Member States Push Back on Adding Two Indian Yards to the EU List
The European Commission's proposal to add two Alang ship recycling yards to the European List is meeting resistance from member states including the Netherlands, with talks due this month.

Shell books Deepsea Mira for a Trinidad and Tobago campaign from April 2027
Northern Ocean has signed the semisubmersible Deepsea Mira to a Shell unit for about 150 days off Trinidad and Tobago from April 2027, worth about $70m firm.

Uni-Tankers takes eight 7,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers from Haidong
Danish operator Uni-Tankers has signed for eight 7,600 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers to be built at China's state-owned Haidong Shipyard and taken on time charter from 2028.

Erasmus Shipinvest orders two more 1,900 TEU feeders at Huangpu Wenchong
Erasmus Shipinvest has ordered another pair of 1,900 TEU containerships at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong, taking its firm programme at the Guangzhou yard to eight ships plus six options.

Karpowership's Kinetics to convert LNG carrier Arctic Voyager into an FSRU
Kinetics, a Karpowership initiative, will convert the 2006-built LNG carrier Arctic Voyager into a 143,000 cbm FSRU named LNGT Akdeniz for delivery in the third quarter of 2028.

Contships signs for up to 30 feeder containerships at Hubei Guangji
Greek feeder owner Contships Logistics has signed a letter of intent with Hubei Guangji for ten firm 1,300 TEU containerships and options for twenty more.

LNG Canada Phase 2 approved, doubling Kitimat exports to 28 mtpa
Shell and its partners have taken the final investment decision on LNG Canada Phase 2 at Kitimat, doubling capacity to 28 mtpa, as Ottawa commits C$1.2bn to marine safety.

This Week in Maritime: Gulf crude is back, and tankers are still being hit
Gulf oil exports returned to prewar volumes while four more tankers were struck in Hormuz, Somali pirates killed five crew, the ZIM review restarted and shipping earnings set a third record.

Kokuka Sangyo takes delivery of Kokuryu Maru, its first methanol-fuelled tanker
Kokuka Sangyo has taken delivery of the 498 gt chemical tanker Kokuryu Maru, its first dedicated methanol-fuelled ship, which will carry methanol and bunker other ships on charter to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical.

Yang Ming names YM Weight, its fourth 15,500 TEU LNG dual-fuel ship
Yang Ming has named YM Weight, the fourth of five 15,500 TEU-class LNG dual-fuel containerships from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, for its Asia-West Mediterranean MS2 service.

Damen claims nearly €4.7bn from Germany over cancelled F126 frigate order
Damen is claiming nearly €4.7bn in compensation from the German government after Berlin cancelled its order for six F126 frigates and simulators at the end of June.

Pioneering Spirit lift capacity raised to 60,000 tonnes for Statfjord A removal
Allseas has upgraded Pioneering Spirit's topsides lifting system from 48,000 to 60,000 tonnes to remove Equinor's Statfjord A topside in one piece, and appointed ABL as warranty surveyor.

COSCO Guangdong turns supramax Pu Tuo Hai into 2,528 TEU boxship Singapore River
COSCO (Guangdong) Shipyard has converted the 2007-built supramax Pu Tuo Hai into the 2,528 TEU containership Singapore River, chartered to X-Press Feeders, with a sister conversion under way.

Capital Maritime Finance seeks €200m in Athens IPO for 36-ship boxship fleet
Capital Maritime Finance, linked to Evangelos Marinakis, is targeting up to €200m from Greece's first shipping IPO with an exclusive Euronext Athens listing, backed by 36 containerships on charter.

CMES signs $2.8bn, 25-year Simandou contract for six VLOCs
China Merchants Energy Shipping's dry bulk arm Hong Kong Ming Wah has signed a 25-year agreement worth at least $2.8bn to carry Simandou iron ore on six very large ore carriers.

Genco extends its poison pill to 2027 after Diana Shipping's bid collapsed
Genco Shipping & Trading has extended its shareholder rights plan to 30 September 2027 and eased the terms for a qualifying offer, after Diana Shipping's nine-month pursuit ended.

Israel closes its review of the Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI takeover of ZIM
Israel's Government Companies Authority has ended its review of the original $4.2bn Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI bid for ZIM, giving the parties until 6 October to file a revised structure.

Global Car Carriers adds eight PCTCs in China, taking its orderbook to 20
MSC-owned Global Car Carriers has ordered eight more 8,600 ceu LNG dual-fuel car carriers at three Chinese yards, lifting its newbuilding programme to 20 ships worth over $2bn.
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