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Russia Puts a $116bn Price Tag on Its Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor
The RUB10trn programme covers ports, rail, inland waterways, an expanded nuclear icebreaker fleet and a much larger ice-class merchant fleet, split evenly either side of 2030.
Drone Strike Starts Fire at Ust-Luga as Yanos Refinery Halts Two Units
Ust-Luga handles crude, products, coal, LNG, gas condensate and fertilisers, and has now been targeted repeatedly since March, when at least eight storage tanks were destroyed or damaged.
Maersk Forecast to Slide to Fourth in the Liner Rankings by 2028
COSCO's orderbook has reached 52% of its existing fleet, the highest ratio in the top ten, while Maersk tries to accelerate into a record 14.84m teu global orderbook.
CENTCOM Disputes Iranian Mine Claims as Two More Tankers Are Hit
Iran says a supertanker on the southern route struck two sea mines; US Central Command calls the claim disinformation while confirming vessels are being hit by other means.
Maritime Briefing, 1 September 2026: Ferry Loss, Shadow Fleet, Record Congestion
A ferry lost off Cyprus, three shadow fleet stories in a week, 4.3m TEU waiting for a berth, and 400 ships still unable to leave the Persian Gulf.
MARAD Activates the Training Ship Empire State for Federal Service
The first activation of any National Security Multi-Mission Vessel takes the ship away from SUNY Maritime from around 1 September.
Bulker BAM Arion Sold at Auction in Rotterdam and the Crew Are Finally Paid
The ship had been under arrest in the Waalhaven since May, one of four vessels chained up after a Dutch state-backed financing came under fraud investigation.
Urals Crude Returns to VLCCs for Asia as Freight Costs Climb
Reduced Hormuz traffic and eased Venezuela measures have freed up part of the shadow VLCC fleet, opening the trade again.
Danish Yard Takes a Third Russian-Linked LNG Tanker Before the January Ban
The Boris Davydov has delivered at least 50 Yamal cargoes worth some $2.2bn since her last visit to the same yard in 2023.
Russia Opens Northern Sea Route Talks With India and Vietnam
The Arctic corridor cuts about 40 percent off the distance from Indian ports to Europe, and India is planning a first pilot transit in 2027.
IMO Says 400 Ships and 6,000 Seafarers Still Cannot Leave the Persian Gulf
Washington says the mines are cleared and the transit routes are open; tracking data shows a trickle of ships out and very few going back in.
Record 4.3m TEU Waiting for a Berth as Typhoons Hit Chinese Ports Again
Global container congestion has passed the Covid-era peak, with stranded capacity equal to 12.6 percent of the world container fleet.
Sinokor Buys 73 VLCCs for $6bn and Becomes the Largest Tanker Operator
The South Korean owner has spent as much on secondhand crude carriers in 2026 as the next eight largest tanker buyers combined.
IMO Says More Than 90 Seafarers Are Held as Piracy Returns to the Gulf of Aden
At least 15 attacks have been recorded this year against five in the whole of 2025, with the hijacking of the tanker Seamull on 20 August the most recent.
Yemeni Forces Destroy Houthi Drone Boat Outpost on the Red Sea Coast
The same class of craft was used against the bulk carriers Transworld Navigator and Tutor in June 2024, one of which sank with the loss of a crew member.
Dutch Ports Stop Work for Eight Hours in 4 September Strike
The port authority expects ships to wait at the berth and in the anchorage, on top of inland container waiting times already running near 60 hours.
Core Power and MARAD Sign Seven-Year Plan for 50 Nuclear Merchant Ships
Hulls would be built in Japan and Korea and fitted with BWX Technologies reactors at a US yard, with Corpus Christi named as a candidate site.
EU Mission Boards Tanker MV Sun in Sixth Shadow Fleet Interception
A boarding team went on to the MV Sun for a flag check on 30 August, the sixth shadow fleet vessel entered by EU operations in recent months.
Royal Navy Shadows Russian Escort Group Through the Channel
Russian activity around the UK is up 25 percent over the first eight months of 2026, and shadow fleet transits off Ireland's west coast have almost tripled.
VLCC Caroline Bezengi Still Leaking Crude off Oman After Ten Weeks
The sanctioned VLCC has been aground on the Hallaniyat Islands since late June, and the oil plume from her is still spreading to the north-east.
Filo Jet Ferry Capsizes off Cyprus With 267 on Board, Crew Charged
The high-speed catamaran began flooding minutes after leaving Girne and rolled over four nautical miles from shore; 237 people were pulled from the water.
NCLH Pushes a $20bn Fleet Renewal as Five Ships Leave by 2028
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is running the industry's only active fleet optimisation programme, chartering out its oldest ships while ordering 16 new ones through 2037.
Klaipeda Begins Work on the Largest Port Expansion in Its History
Site preparation has started in the southern part of the Port of Klaipeda, where breakwater construction begins this autumn on a development expected to exceed EUR 1bn in total value.
JFE Completes Japan's First Domestically Built Offshore Wind Monopile
JFE Engineering has rolled out the first foundation for a commercial Japanese offshore wind farm from its Kasaoka plant, the country's only domestic monopile manufacturing base.
Northern Ocean Sees Deepsea Mira Idle Until at Least Early 2027
Northern Ocean now expects its only semisubmersible to stay without work into the first quarter of 2027 as it cuts costs and refinances $112.8m of borrowings.
GHL Proposes Blackford Dolphin Return to Nigeria to Settle $105m Claim
General Hydrocarbons has approached Dolphin Drilling with a proposal combining a Nigerian deployment of the Blackford Dolphin with a cash payment against a $105m arbitration award.
Cetus Maritime in Talks for 13 Seacon Ships Ahead of a Planned IPO
Hong Kong bulker owner Cetus Maritime is negotiating to take interests in 13 vessels from Hong Kong-listed Seacon Shipping in a cash-and-shares deal tied to its planned overseas listing.
COSCO Orders 18 More Boxships as 2026 Newbuilding Spend Reaches $8bn
COSCO Shipping Holdings has committed to another 18 containerships worth RMB20.27bn, taking its 2026 boxship orders to 48 vessels and around 676,800 teu of nominal capacity.
Crane Fire Injures Two During Heavylift Discharge at Mumbai Port
Two crane operators were taken to hospital after a telescopic boom struck the Barbados-flagged Vienna at Ballard Pier Station and caught fire during a heavylift discharge.
Panama Canal Loosens Booking Rules to Stretch Shrinking Transit Capacity
From booking dates beginning 13 September the canal will offer 63 neopanamax slots a week and guarantee minimum allocations to containerships, gas carriers, bulkers and vehicle carriers.
Turkish and Somali Forces Retake the Hijacked Coaster Lutuf off Somalia
The Cameroon-flagged general cargo ship Lutuf has been recovered nearly two weeks after Somali pirates seized it while it was carrying supplies to a Turkish military base in Mogadishu.
Port Congestion Absorbs 2.3m TEU as Container Fleet Faces a Suez Reset
Delays have rendered 6.6% of the containership fleet effectively unavailable, masking a tonnage release that a full return to Suez would turn into an 8.7% contraction in head-haul demand.
US and Iran Trade Fire as Third Tanker Is Hit in Strait of Hormuz
American forces struck Iranian launchers on Larak Island and Tehran retaliated with missiles and drones, ending a month-long lull as a third tanker in a week was hit near Hormuz.
Singapore to merge southern islands into a new industrial Western island
Singapore plans to merge several islands south of Jurong Island into a larger landmass to support advanced manufacturing, power generation and military uses.
Kim Heng sells 70% of Bridgewater Offshore to Umbilicore for $26.8m
Singapore's Kim Heng has signed a binding letter of intent to sell 70% of Bridgewater Offshore to Umbilicore for US$26.8 million in cash, retaining a minority interest.
Dutch port workers to strike at Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Zeeland on 4 September
Port workers will halt operations at Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Zeeland on 4 September in a nationwide FNV Havens strike against planned cuts to unemployment benefits.
K Shipbuilding books six product tankers worth $368m for 2028 delivery
K Shipbuilding has signed contracts worth about $368 million for six product tankers across two types, with sequential delivery starting in the first half of 2028.
CSSC Chengxi hands over Palanca Tokyo, completing asphalt carrier series
CSSC Chengxi Shipyard has delivered the 17,000 dwt asphalt carrier Palanca Tokyo to Kumiai Senpaku, completing a three-vessel series for the Japanese owner.
US Navy plans carrier deployments beyond seven months as Iran conflict runs on
The US Navy expects carrier strike group deployments to run beyond seven months while the conflict with Iran continues, with a supplemental funding request of $6bn to $8bn outstanding.
China to Middle East box rates pass $10,000 as September pressures build
Quotes for 40-foot containers on China to Middle East lanes have surpassed $10,000, up from around $7,000 weeks earlier, as conflict risk and congestion tighten capacity.
Container schedule reliability falls to 56.4% in July, the lowest of 2026
Sea-Intelligence data shows schedule reliability fell 6.1 percentage points month-on-month in July to 56.4%, with none of the top 13 carriers improving on the month.
Israeli golden share and Brazilian review slow Hapag-Lloyd's Zim acquisition
Hapag-Lloyd's proposed acquisition of Zim faces a full Brazilian antitrust review that may extend to March 2027, alongside an Israeli government golden share that can veto the sale.
OOIL first-half profit falls 24% despite record OOCL container volumes
OOIL's first-half attributable profit fell to $727.95m from $954.23m a year earlier, with record liftings and higher liner revenue offset by rising operating and bunker costs.
HHLA repair unit moved 20,000 TEU of empty boxes by rail from Hamburg
Hamburg Container and Chassis Repair Company shifted around 20,000 TEU of empty containers to rail from its Altenwerder Damm depot in 2025 and expects further growth.
Singapore and Brazil sign green and digital shipping corridor agreement
A memorandum of understanding signed on 28 August establishes a green and digital shipping corridor between Singapore and Brazil focused on alternative marine fuels.
Acta Gemini starts long-term RWE charter at Sofia offshore wind farm
Acta Marine's newest service operation vessel has completed shakedown and begun a long-term charter supporting RWE's 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind farm from Grimsby.
Royal T Shipyards advances battery-electric version of GADUS dry cargo series
The GADUS Battery Electric targets the 5,000-6,000 tonne deadweight segment, with operational studies validating up to 91% of a Norwegian trading profile running on electricity.
Bencros issues verified CO2 reduction certificates alongside marine fenders
Fender maker Bencros will issue Emission Reduction Certificates that buyers can book into their own Scope 3 inventory, with 13,112 tonnes of CO2e verified by Bureau Veritas.
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