Vessel Hunter News
Maritime, in motion
Pirates board and damage tanker off southern Yemen
Armed pirates boarded and damaged a tanker in the Gulf of Aden south of Yemen, the latest in a spate of attacks that has pushed the regional threat assessment to severe.
Hormuz standoff shifts from access to control
Talks between Washington and Tehran remain stuck over control of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran pushing joint sovereignty and passage fees while a grounded containership is used to press its case.
AP Moller Holding buys Ocean Yield from KKR
AP Moller Holding is taking full ownership of Norwegian ship-leasing specialist Ocean Yield from KKR, adding a fleet of more than 70 vessels and a $5bn contracted backlog to its growing maritime portfolio.
Australia reports 4,174 marine incidents in 2025
AMSA's Marine Incident Annual Report 2025 records 4,174 incidents across the fleet, including four fatalities and 228 injuries on domestic commercial vessels, with operational shortfalls the leading factor.
Maersk to order 1,000 made-in-India cargo containers
Maersk is set to place a commercial order for 1,000 steel containers with India's DCM Shriram, backing the country's push to break China's near-monopoly on cargo container manufacturing.
ABB to buy Norwegian marine automation specialist Høglund
ABB has agreed to acquire Norwegian marine automation specialist Høglund, whose control systems are installed on more than 600 vessels, for its Marine & Ports division.
El-Sisi reviews Suez Canal rates and marine unit manufacturing
President El-Sisi has reviewed Suez Canal navigation rates and Egypt's local marine manufacturing drive, as canal revenues rose 18.5% in the first half of the 2025/26 fiscal year.
SolarDuck and MARIN win $3.6m for offshore floating power hub
SolarDuck and MARIN have won a $3.6m Dutch subsidy for the Steady Seas program to advance an offshore floating power hub for remote offshore and subsea assets.
Bordelon Marine to provide commercial support vessel for US Coast Guard
The US Coast Guard has awarded Bordelon Marine a contract for a commercial support vessel to deliver supplies and personnel to cutters operating in the Caribbean, the Gulf and other areas under its HSC-Ocean initiative.
Somalia joins 15 maritime conventions
Somalia has acceded to 15 international maritime conventions in a push to tighten its legal framework across ship safety, navigation, pollution response and maritime security.
Artemis launches world-first electric hydrofoil pilot boat
Artemis Technologies has launched what it says is the world's first fully electric hydrofoil pilot boat, the 12-metre EF-12 Pilot, now undergoing sea trials ahead of customer deliveries.
Vitol sails stranded aluminium cargo out of Strait of Hormuz
Vitol has shipped a stranded cargo of about 35,000 tonnes of aluminium out of the Strait of Hormuz, an early sign of normalising trade flows after months of disruption.
France brings detained Deliver tanker to Marseille in flag probe
France has brought the detained tanker Deliver to an anchorage near Marseille for a prosecutor-led investigation into an alleged flag offence, part of a wider European crackdown on shadow-fleet tankers.
DEME orders new 22,000 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger
DEME is strengthening its dredging fleet with the order of a new 22,000 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger, aimed at higher productivity and lower greenhouse gas intensity per dredged cubic metre.
Oceaneering lines up six months of offshore survey work
Oceaneering International has secured about six months of multi-discipline offshore survey work for its Ocean Intervention II vessel, spanning Trinidad and the US Gulf of Mexico.
Aker Solutions lands European offshore wind substation deal
Aker Solutions has won a substantial EPC contract to deliver an HVDC substructure for a European offshore wind project, worth an estimated NOK 2.5bn to 4bn.
Equinor hands Transocean $1bn Norwegian rig deal
Transocean has agreed to deploy three harsh-environment semisubmersible rigs for Equinor on the Norwegian shelf, adding over $1bn in backlog across seven rig years.
Barrelet takes the helm at ONE
Till Ole Barrelet has taken over as chief executive of Ocean Network Express, succeeding founding boss Jeremy Nixon at the world's sixth-largest containerline.
Diana keeps pressure on Genco with tender extension
Diana Shipping has extended its hostile $27.34-per-share tender offer for Genco Shipping & Trading to July 18, prolonging a closely watched dry bulk takeover battle.
Alcoa moves for South32 aluminium assets
Alcoa has agreed to buy South32's bauxite, alumina and aluminium assets in Australia, Brazil and South Africa for $4.1bn upfront, a deal with implications for dry bulk's fast-growing bauxite trade.
Mercuria and Eni form global energy trading venture
Eni and Mercuria have agreed a 50:50 global energy trading joint venture covering oil, biofuels, gas and LNG, marking the Italian major's return to a market it exited in 2019.
COSCO orders 24 bulkers in $1.27bn leasing play
COSCO Shipping Development has ordered 24 dry bulk vessels worth RMB8.66bn ($1.27bn), deepening its leasing business with long-term charters back into the COSCO group.
Swedish county backs offshore wind after policy reversal
Sweden's Skane county has reversed its opposition to the Sjollen offshore wind site in the Oresund Strait, now backing its designation as a national interest area amid rising electricity demand.
Landlocked Kyrgyzstan readies ship registry
Landlocked Kyrgyzstan has passed its first Merchant Shipping Code, paving the way for a national ship registry and a Kyrgyz-flagged fleet registered in Bishkek.
Shipping struggles to stamp out illegal recruitment fees
Research by IHRB and TURTLE finds 31% of seafarers have been asked to pay illegal recruitment fees, prompting a new industry toolkit backed by more than 30 organisations.
Keyfield wins 13 charter deals across Asia and Middle East
Malaysia's Keyfield International has won 13 new offshore charter contracts worth RM229m ($55.7m) across Malaysia, Thailand and the Middle East, lifting its first-half wins to 21.
Nissen Kaiun closes in on double-digit bulker sell-off
Japan's Nissen Kaiun is nearing double-digit vessel sales for the first half of 2026, with the 183,000 dwt Lady Deena reportedly sold to Chinese buyers for around $70m.
Pan Ocean keeps VLCC push rolling
South Korea's Pan Ocean has ordered two more VLCC newbuildings, ammonia-ready and priced at about $122m each, extending a rapid crude tanker expansion.
Machine guns spotted on Russian LNG carrier in the Baltic
An OCCRP investigation reports that Russia has fitted the Gazprom-owned LNG carrier Marshal Vasilevskiy with heavy machine guns in the Baltic, an apparent first for a merchant vessel on a commercial route.
Hapag-Lloyd strengthens terminal network with Hamburg and Tangier Med deals
Hapag-Lloyd's terminal arm HGT is acquiring a 20% stake in Eurogate Container Terminal Hamburg and doubling its holding in Morocco's TC3 terminal at Tangier Med to 20%.
Skov to step down as Hafnia chief executive
Product tanker giant Hafnia has named Soren Steenberg Jensen as its next chief executive, with founding CEO Mikael Skov stepping down on September 1, 2026.
SBM Offshore closes $465m funding for Mexico-bound FSO
SBM Offshore has closed $465m of project financing for the FSO Chalchi, a suezmax-hulled unit bound for the Woodside-operated Trion field off Mexico under a 20-year lease.
Equinor pulls out of Japan offshore wind market
Equinor is ending its offshore wind activities in Japan and will close its Tokyo office by the end of 2026, citing a strategic refocus on integrated power markets.
Eldorado finalises $257m acquisition of Vantage Drilling
Eldorado Drilling has completed its roughly $257m acquisition of offshore drilling contractor Vantage Drilling, combining their fleets into a five-rig platform spanning drillships and jackups.
Lightning strike sparks fire at offshore platform off Malaysia
Vestigo Petroleum, a Petronas Carigali subsidiary, has confirmed a fire at its West Lutong platform off Sarawak after a lightning strike; the blaze is under control and no injuries were reported.
Hormuz is a test of trust for shipmanagers
In a contributed piece, InterManager president Sebastian von Hardenberg argues the Strait of Hormuz crisis is a direct test of trust between shipmanagers, owners, crews and their families.
U-Ming signs for newcastlemax newbuilds in China
U-Ming Marine Transport has signed for up to four newcastlemax newbuildings at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry, part of a plan to grow its fleet beyond 100 vessels.
Norway is about to tunnel a shipping lane through a mountain
Norway's Coastal Administration has awarded AF Gruppen a NOK 5.6bn ($564.5m) turnkey contract to build the Stad Ship Tunnel, the world's first tunnel for maritime traffic.
Korean shipyard moves closer to revival after nine-year hiatus
South Korea's dormant Gunsan Shipyard is edging back to production, signing a letter of intent for four aframaxes that could restart full shipbuilding after almost nine years.
Livestock carriers remain shipping's worst-performing fleet
A new report by Robin des Bois, the Animal Welfare Foundation and Tierschutzbund Zurich finds livestock carriers ranked shipping's worst-performing fleet, with 88% of inspections yielding deficiencies.
MSC returns to megaship ordering with up to 20 new giants
MSC has reportedly returned to the newbuilding market with an order for up to 20 20,000 teu LNG dual-fuel containerships at China's Hengli Heavy Industry.
Hormuz security in tatters as US and Iran trade fresh strikes
The fragile Strait of Hormuz ceasefire has effectively collapsed after US and Iranian forces exchanged fresh strikes, with a drone attack on the tanker Kiku the latest hit on commercial shipping.
Liner networks shift away from Asia's mega hubs
Container carriers are permanently restructuring their networks away from Asia's largest transhipment hubs towards secondary regional ports, according to Sea-Intelligence analysis of UNCTAD connectivity data.
California prepares legal challenge over offshore wind buybacks
California is preparing to sue the Trump administration over the federal buyback of offshore wind leases, including the Golden State Wind project, warning it threatens the state's 25GW target.
Modec bags work on Mozambique's next FLNG development
Modec will supply the SOFEC internal turret mooring system for Eni's Coral Norte FLNG project off Mozambique, which is set to double the Coral hub's capacity to 7m tonnes a year.
IMO and Oman orchestrate phased reopening of Hormuz
A US-Iran memorandum and a temporary Oman/IMO corridor are lifting Strait of Hormuz transits to their highest since the February closure, though Allianz warns of a structural shift in maritime risk.
AD Ports tightens grip on Global Feeder Shipping
AD Ports Group has raised its holding in Dubai-based Global Feeder Shipping to 81% after a $300m stake purchase, deepening its push into global feeder container shipping.
Container shipping is thinking small again
The containership orderbook is nearing 13m teu, but Alphaliner data shows carriers shifting decisively toward smaller feeder and mid-sized ships, with 74% of recent orders below 6,500 teu.
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