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Tug assisting a container ship
Industry

CK Line orders up to four 6,400 teu boxships in China

South Korea's CK Line has returned to Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in Guangzhou with an order for up to four container ships, extending a relationship that began with a pair of feeder vessels delivered last year.

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Aerial view of a laden container ship
Industry

Shipping Corporation of India opens bidding for six LNG dual-fuel boxships

Shipping Corporation of India has launched a global tender for up to six 8,000 teu container ships in a programme estimated at 720 million dollars.

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Container ship seen head-on at sea
Industry

MSC sues logistics customer over container fire caused by electric vehicles

Mediterranean Shipping Company has sued a United States vehicle logistics specialist over a fire aboard one of its container ships, alleging that improperly secured electric vehicles inside two of the customer's containers caused the blaze.

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Container port at night with cranes
Incident

Russia intensifies attacks on civilian shipping in Ukrainian ports

Attacks on shipping in Ukrainian ports have escalated sharply, with strikes at Mykolaiv over two consecutive days damaging vessels that in several cases had not moved since the start of the war.

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Bulk carrier at sea in hazy conditions
Incident

Crewmember missing after bulk carrier struck in Strait of Hormuz

A seafarer is missing after a Greek-managed bulk carrier was hit by an unidentified projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz northbound.

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Cargo ship under way at sea
Incident

Three seriously injured as drone strikes Turkish roro off Novorossiysk

Three seafarers were seriously injured when a drone struck the Turkish-owned roro Nadezhda about 20 nautical miles off the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

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Port crane lifting a heavy load
Incident

Collapsed crane lifted clear of boxship at Port of Tyne

A 750-tonne gantry crane that fell onto a container ship at the Port of Tyne has been lifted clear, in a ten-hour operation on 30 July using the heavy-lift sheerlegs MATADOR 3 brought in from Rotterdam.

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Aerial view of a bulk carrier at sea
Port activity

Pilbara Ports passes 800m tonnes for the first time

Pilbara Ports has moved 804.1 million tonnes of cargo in the 2025-26 financial year, passing the 800 million tonne mark for the first time and up from 775.7 million tonnes a year earlier.

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United States flag flying near the White House
Industry

Study warns Jones Act waiver could cost $2.6bn in shipbuilding demand

A study prepared by PwC for the Transportation Institute has put a price on the waiver of United States cabotage rules, estimating that a sustained suspension could remove up to 2.6 billion dollars a year of shipbuilding demand.

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Container terminal with cranes and stacked boxes
Port activity

Asian ports need $12bn a year to keep pace with trade growth

Asian ports and shipping will require investment of around 12 billion dollars a year to handle projected trade growth and to begin the shift to alternative fuels, according to new World Bank analysis.

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Aerial view of a tanker at an offshore terminal
Industry

Petrobras squeezes extra 134,000 barrels a day from existing platforms

Petrobras has extracted an additional 134,000 barrels per day of production from its existing floating production units, equivalent to roughly five percent of the company's oil output, without building new facilities.

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Gas carrier and other ships at sea
Product

Northern Lights completes carbon shuttle fleet with fourth ship

The Northern Lights carbon capture and storage venture has taken delivery of the fourth and final vessel in its dedicated fleet of liquefied carbon dioxide carriers.

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Offshore installation seen from a vessel deck
Industry

Saipem wins $930m of Eni work led by Ivory Coast deepwater project

Saipem has secured contracts worth approximately 930 million dollars, or around 800 million euros, from Eni, with the largest element covering the third phase of the Baleine development offshore Ivory Coast.

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Offshore platform at sea under an evening sky
Industry

Hungarian energy group buys Shell's Cyprus gas stake for up to $720m

Hungarian oil and gas group MOL is buying Shell's 35 percent interest in the Aphrodite gas field offshore Cyprus, in a deal worth up to 720 million dollars.

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Container terminal in winter conditions
Industry

PanStar prepares South Korea's first Arctic container voyage to Europe

Cargo is being booked for South Korea's maiden container voyage through the Northern Sea Route, with a 2,800 teu vessel chartered by PanStar Line due to sail from Busan on 22 August calling at Rotterdam, Hamburg and Gdansk.

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Aerial view of a shipyard with vessels in dock
Industry

Chinese yards take more than four-fifths of world newbuilding orders

China's shipbuilding industry strengthened its dominance in the first half of 2026, securing more than 80% of worldwide new orders and recording growth across output, orders and backlog simultaneously.

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Tanker alongside a jetty at sunset
Industry

Product tanker deliveries set for a sixteen-year high

New deliveries of product tankers are forecast to reach 12m dwt in 2025, an increase of 256% from 3.4m dwt in 2024.

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Financial market data on a screen
Industry

Container spot rates fall for a third week as front-loading ends

Global container spot rates declined for a third consecutive week, with weakening demand and the end of the front-loading surge weighing on the major east-west trades.

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Aerial view of a general cargo and bulk vessel
Industry

Aspo to spin off ESL Shipping for standalone Helsinki listing

The Finnish dry bulk operator ESL Shipping is being prepared for a standalone listing on Nasdaq Helsinki after its parent, Aspo, approved a partial demerger.

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Bow of a bulk carrier at sea
Vessel sales

NYK to take dry bulk affiliate NS United private in $1bn deal

Nippon Yusen Kaisha has set out a two-stage transaction worth close to $1bn to take its dry bulk affiliate NS United Kaiun private and lift its holding to 83.33%.

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Aerial view of a large container ship at a terminal
Industry

Container lines shift decisively towards owned tonnage

Container lines have sharply increased their reliance on owned ships during the 2020s, reducing their exposure to a charter market that has been repeatedly constrained by limited vessel availability.

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Navigational chart with compass and plotting instruments
Other

Philippines files extended continental shelf claim in West Philippine Sea

The Philippines has formally presented its partial submission for an extended continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

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Raised fist symbolising industrial action
Industry

UK ends Royal Fleet Auxiliary pay dispute after four strikes

The British government has reached agreement with unions on a pay increase for more than 1,750 civilian ratings, officers and apprentices of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

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Warship berthed at a naval port at dusk
Industry

USS Georgia decommissioned as first of four cruise missile submarines retires

The United States Navy has decommissioned USS Georgia after more than 42 years of service, retiring the first of four Ohio-class submarines converted from ballistic missile boats into guided missile and special operations platforms.

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Offshore drilling rigs lit up at night
Industry

Odfjell semisub back at work after blowout preventer dropped to seabed

The 2009-built semisubmersible Deepsea Atlantic has returned to work more than three months after dropping a blowout preventer to the seabed during installation.

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Fast rescue craft on a vessel deck
Incident

Guyana appoints international team to investigate ferry disaster

Guyana's government has appointed a group of international experts to investigate the sinking of a state ferry that killed dozens of passengers in the country's worst recorded maritime disaster.

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Ship under construction in a dry dock
Industry

Fincantieri triples first-half profit as backlog reaches €73.9bn

The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri nearly tripled net profit in the first half of 2026, reporting €102m against €35m a year earlier, while EBITDA rose 12.5% to €350m.

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Container terminal gantry crane loading a ship
Port activity

Shanghai moves more than 200,000 teu in a single day

Shanghai has pushed its daily container throughput above 200,000 teu for the first time, handling 203,881 teu on 1 August, around 9% above the previous record of 187,312 teu set on 9 June.

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United States Navy vessel under way at sea
Industry

US Navy awards $76.6bn for fourteen submarines after three-year delay

The United States Navy has awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat and HII $76.6bn in contracts for its next batch of attack and ballistic missile submarines, ending a delay of nearly three years.

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Detail of a ferry vehicle deck ramp
Incident

Five dead and dozens missing after fire aboard Indonesian ferry

At least five people have died and 41 remain missing after a fire broke out aboard a crowded ferry off Java.

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Aerial view of a crude oil tanker under way
Sanctions

Russian crude discounts to India collapse as Hormuz disruption bites

Discounts on Russian Urals crude delivered to India have fallen to between $1 and $2 a barrel against dated Brent this week, according to three trade sources.

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Contract documents signed at a meeting table
Industry

War risk cover becomes the Gulf's decisive constraint

Rising war risk premiums and tightening insurance cover may now pose a greater obstacle to Gulf shipping than missiles or blockades.

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LNG terminal with gas carrier alongside
Incident

LNG carrier disabled off Oman as Hormuz threats multiply

Merchant shipping remains exposed at both ends of the Strait of Hormuz, with fresh threats and explosions reported even as Washington claims another round of negotiations with Iran is getting underway.

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Naval corvette with helicopter at sea
Dark fleet

Italian navy boards falsely flagged shadow fleet tanker off Sicily

An Italian-led European Union naval mission has boarded a sanctioned tanker linked to Russia's shadow fleet in international waters west of Sicily, the second such operation in less than two weeks.

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Container ship at sea seen from above
Incident

Ukraine sinks Russian-flagged boxship in Black Sea

Ukraine has widened its campaign against Russia-linked commercial shipping, sinking a Russian-flagged containership in the Black Sea, striking a Greek-owned tanker and hitting three refineries deep inside Russia.

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Container terminal and stacked boxes seen from above
Industry

Washington imposes tariffs on goods from sixty economies

Duties of 10 to 12.5% now apply to goods from 60 economies, reviving measures the US Supreme Court struck down earlier this year.

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Bulk carrier loading alongside a quay with cranes
Port activity

Van Oord dredging gives Kamarajar an 18-metre draft

Kamarajar becomes only the second Indian major port able to accept fully laden capesize vessels of up to 170,000 dwt.

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Controls on the bridge of an offshore support vessel
Industry

Allseas to install subsea link of Canadian gas pipeline

Allseas will lay 50 km of subsea pipeline in British Columbia in 2029 using Solitaire and Sandpiper, completing the feed to Ksi Lisims LNG.

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Weathered tanker lying at anchor
Other

Idle fleet in the Gulf raises invasive species risk

More than 1,500 ships lying idle in the Persian Gulf could spread invasive marine species worldwide once traffic through Hormuz resumes.

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Heavy-lift vessel carrying a large steel structure
Industry

China installs world's largest offshore wind converter station

A 25,000-tonne platform was floated over its foundation 100 km off Guangdong with 150 mm of clearance a side, in a seven-hour operation.

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Large vessel alongside at a shipyard
Industry

HD Hyundai Samho delivers first very large ammonia carrier

The 93,000 cu m Jane Maersk is the first of five VLACs for Maersk, from a builder now holding 22 on order worth about $2.55bn.

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Bow section of a grey naval vessel alongside
Industry

Washington funds Philippine coast guard pier expansion near South China Sea

The United States will fund a $9m pier expansion in Palawan and raise military financing for Manila to $100m by the end of fiscal year 2026.

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LNG carrier alongside a terminal with tugs in attendance
Industry

QatarEnergy extends force majeure on LNG cargoes to Italian utility

QatarEnergy cannot deliver three more cargoes to Edison, taking the total under force majeure to 24 and roughly 3 billion cubic metres of gas.

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Product tanker under way on calm water
Incident

Explosion and fire aboard chemical tanker off Fredrikstad

An explosion tore through an empty tank aboard the sulphuric acid carrier Bergstraum off Fredrikstad; all fifteen crew were unharmed.

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LNG carrier alongside a jetty seen from above
Sanctions

EU exempts Russian LNG transhipment, easing pressure on Total and Yamal

Brussels has reversed its ban on transhipping Russian LNG to third countries, allowing TotalEnergies to keep selling Yamal gas into Asia.

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Merchant ship transiting a narrow strait past a city
Industry

Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb transits collapse as Gulf energy flows dry up

Transits through Hormuz are down 90% and crude leaving the Gulf has fallen from 15m to about 1m barrels a day, lifting tanker earnings sharply.

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International flags flying in front of city buildings
Industry

US and UK convene London meeting on protecting Hormuz shipping

The United States and United Kingdom are preparing a London meeting next week on forming a coalition to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

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Bulk carrier loading alongside at a port
Industry

COSCO approves fifteen newcastlemax bulkers

COSCO Shipping Development has approved orders for 15 newcastlemax bulk carriers worth about $1.1bn, all leased within the group for 20 years.

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