Maritime news

Headlines aggregated from the maritime press. Links go straight to the source — Seafarer Index does not reproduce full articles.

• ADES wraps up purchase of Saipem’s Saudi drilling business
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Saudi oil and gas driller ADES has completed its acquisition of Saipem’s Saudi shallow-water drilling business. The two entered into the transaction in late June. Under the deal, ADES’s indirectly owned subsidiary, ADES Saudi Limited, acquired Saudi Arabian Saipem Limited for a total purchase consideration of $285m. Sa

• EU Leaders Back Finnish Push for Arctic Icebreaker Fleet
  gCaptain · 9/15/2026

  European leaders have backed a stronger role for the European Union in the Arctic, with Finland pushing for a joint icebreaking capability as the region becomes increasingly important for commercial shipping, military mobility and competition with Russia and China.

• U.S. Navy Signs $336 Million Contract With HII For 100,000 Ton Future Aircraft Carrier
  Marine Insight · 9/15/2026

  The United States Navy has signed a $ 336 million deal with HII to procure components for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the CVN 82.

• India Proposes Emergency Support Network For Seafarers After 15 Indian Crew Killed In Conflict Zones
  Marine Insight · 9/15/2026

  The network would help seafarers during emergencies by handling distress alerts, medical assistance, communication with families.

• Ship Carrying 14 Indian Crew Members Attacked Off Oman Coast, 1 Missing
  Marine Insight · 9/15/2026

  Thirteen crew members have been rescued, while one Indian seafarer is still missing, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

• Dynacom splashes out close to $1bn at Hengli
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/15/2026

  The contracts for eight newbuildings cover eight crude tankers and ammonia carriers

• LNG carriers to get the hybrid electric propulsion treatment
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Lloyd’s Register (LR), HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) have teamed up to develop a new generation of LNG carriers using hybrid electric propulsion. The companies signed an approval in principle (AiP) at Gastech 2026 in Bangkok covering a 185,000 cu m LNG carrier

• The perfect storm brewing before winter
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/15/2026

  Conflict and climate change collide impacting supply chains for oil, fertilizers and food

• World’s First Operational Ammonia Transport & Bunkering Vessel Enters Service
  Marine Insight · 9/15/2026

  The FKAB Marine Design L21 ammonia carrier Shenghang Yongle has been converted for ship-to-ship liquid ammonia fuel bunkering.

• Navigating disruption: Resilience in Middle East logistics
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/15/2026

  Its been a complex year for logistics in the Middle East with managing disruption key to success

• World’s First Naval Drone Battle Unfolds Between Russia & Ukraine In Black Sea
  Marine Insight · 9/15/2026

  The drone was equipped with a 12.7 mm machine gun and a protected remote weapon station.

• InterMaritime and Carsten Rehder form Hamburg shipmanagement joint venture
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  InterMaritime Group and Hamburg-based Carsten Rehder have formed a shipmanagement joint venture aimed at expanding their presence across Germany and Northern Europe. The two companies will take equal ownership in InterMaritime Shipmanagement GmbH & Co KG, which will become the sole shareholder of Victoria Marine Ship M

• Tanker boom breaks every historical benchmark
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  A benchmark tanker rate has entered seven figures for the first time, marking an extraordinary moment in shipping history as war risk sends earnings across virtually every tanker class to record or near-record levels. Also for the first time on record, 10-year-old VLCCs are commanding greater prices than newbuilds.  Th

• Slow ships and long voyages tighten dry bulk market
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Bulk carriers are spending dramatically longer – nearly 20% – at sea than at the start of the decade while also travelling more slowly, quietly removing effective capacity from the fleet just as freight rates surge to multi-year highs. The global dry bulk fleet may be getting bigger, but new research published by Greec

• Putin pushes BRICS insurance challenge to Western shipping establishment
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Vladimir Putin has urged the world’s largest emerging economies to accelerate the creation of their own reinsurance mechanism, adding momentum to efforts that could eventually loosen the maritime industry’s century-long dependence on Western-centred insurance infrastructure. Speaking at the BRICS summit in New Delhi ov

• Hafnia set to become Torm’s largest shareholder
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Torm’s ownership structure is shifting again, with Oaktree-linked OCM Njord Holdings putting 9m shares in the Danish product tanker giant up for sale in a block worth about $318m at Monday’s closing price. The secondary public offering would cut Njord’s holding from 20.33m shares, or just under 20%, to around 11.33m sh

• Middle East shipping routes pull in opposite directions
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Iran has expanded its Strait of Hormuz blacklist to 77 ships, adding another 21 vessels in less than two weeks and extending its warning to insurers, P&I clubs and classification societies servicing the designated tonnage. The Persian Gulf Strait Authority said on Monday that its non-compliance list had been updated an

• Splash Singapore: SGX’s William Chin on the financialisation of freight
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Freight markets are undergoing one of the biggest financial transformations in commodities, with shipping moving steadily from a world where rate volatility was simply accepted as a cost of doing business to one where risk is increasingly transferred, priced and actively managed. William Chin, head of commodities at th

• DHT Holdings inks three-year VLCC charter at six figure rate
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/15/2026

  Large tanker rates continue to climb for both spot and time charter fixtures

• Shocked Gemini shippers seek Red Sea reassurance
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/15/2026

  Stunned shippers’ representative says there appears to have been little discussions with the Houthi over safety of vessels in Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd’s Red Sea return

• Who owns the ship’s data?
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  The answer sounds simple: the owner. In practice, vessel data passes through OEMs, managers, charterers, ports and technology platforms, turning access, interpretation and derived value into one of maritime digitalisation’s thorniest disputes. The latest chapter from our brand new SplashTech magazine. Shipping has spen

• Saipem lands $350m Angola offshore contract
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Italian offshore engineering contractor Saipem has been awarded a new offshore contract in Angola worth around $350m.  The contract has been awarded by Azule Energy, a joint venture owned by Eni and BP, and relates to the West Hub Tails project, part of the wider Agogo Integrated West Hub Development, located 180 km of

• Borr Drilling hands operating control of three jackups to Mexican partner
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  Offshore driller Borr Drilling has entered into definitive agreements to divest its 51% equity interest in two Mexican subsidiaries to a local partner. Upon completion of the transaction, Borr Drilling will have fully divested its stake in Perfomex JVs, and its local partner will become the sole owner of Perfomex and a

• Hornbeck wins decommissioning work in North Sea
  Splash247 · 9/15/2026

  US offshore vessel owner Hornbeck Offshore Services has secured a multi-year decommissioning contract with an unnamed North Sea operator. The contract, awarded to the company’s subsidiary Helix Well Ops, is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2027 and has a firm duration of two years, with customer options to

• Port of Los Angeles Caps Record Summer as U.S. Import Strength Holds Up
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  The Port of Los Angeles capped its strongest three-month cargo stretch on record in August, adding to evidence that Southern California’s container gateway is carrying stronger-than-expected momentum into the fall....

• U.S. Rejects Iran’s Mine Claim as Hormuz Shipping Threat Remains Severe
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  U.S. Central Command is disputing an Iranian claim that a Panama-flagged tanker recently struck a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the ship was instead hit by Iranian...

• Oil Tanker Rates Top $1 Million a Day as Hormuz War Squeezes Fleet
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  The cost of hiring an oil tanker on the industry’s benchmark trade route topped $1 million a day for the first time, as the Iran war leaves too few ships willing to cross the Strait of Hormuz to collect cargoes.

• Canadian Coast Guard Adds First Large Great Lakes Vessel in More Than 30 Years
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  The Canadian Coast Guard has officially welcomed the CCGS Judy LaMarsh into its fleet, marking the first addition of a large vessel to its Great Lakes operations in more than three decades....

• New Pacific Launches First Shipbuilding Program Featuring Two  Tugboats for American Marine Corporation
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  Glosten-designed 122-foot vessels mark the first new builds at New Pacific’s historic Vancouver  waterfront facility. New Pacific Industrial (NP) has launched its first shipbuilding program with  the construction of two...

• New Attacks in Hormuz and Saudi Test Nerves as War’s Spread Worsens Oil Disruption
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  New strikes on Saudi Arabia and on ships in the Gulf tested nerves in the Middle East on Sunday, after an attack on a Saudi oil pipeline and an advance by Yemen's Houthis threatened to worsen the wartime disruption to global energy supplies.

• ABS Joins Korean Initiative to Advance Standards for Next-Generation Ships and Shipyards
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  ABS has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with three Korean maritime organizations to advance the development of international standards for the next generation of smart ships and shipyards. The...

• ABB joins forces with Ferrari Hypersail to take Direct Current to new horizons 
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  ABB today announces a technology partnership with Ferrari Hypersail that brings ABB’s electrification expertise to the world’s most ambitious offshore challenge. As Electrification Partner, ABB will support the challenge with...

• Gulf States Postpone Iran Talks as Houthis Strike Saudi Arabia
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  TAIZ, Yemen/DUBAI, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Arab states in the Gulf called off a meeting with Iran planned for Monday, while Yemen’s Houthis launched a new attack on Saudi Arabia after fighting that has...

• Swedish Club Warns Cape Horn Is No Simple Panama Canal Alternative
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  A tightening Panama Canal is once again forcing shipowners to weigh longer routes around South America, but the Swedish Club is warning that Cape Horn and the Strait of Magellan...

• Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd Accelerate Return to Suez Despite Red Sea Risks
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are significantly expanding their return to the Suez Canal, shifting four additional Gemini Cooperation services away from the Cape of Good Hope even as the security outlook...

• The Evolution of Offshore Emergency Response
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  On the evening of July 6, 1988, a gas leak ignited on the Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea. The explosion damaged the control room and destroyed power, alarm,...

• Shipping’s crystal ball cracks in the 2020s
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  Shipping has long been treated as an early warning system for the world economy. In an era of wars, rerouting, services and AI, the relationship is becoming far harder to read. Splash investigates whether this old adage rings true still, or even if it ever did. For decades, shipping has enjoyed a reputation as one …

• Indonesia Rescuers Battle Turbulent Seas in Search for 129 People After Passenger Ship Capsizes
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026 · accident

  Hundreds of Indonesian rescuers including the coast guard and the navy raced on Monday to board a passenger ship that capsized in the Java Sea over the weekend as they searched for 129 people still missing, officials said, with the confirmed death toll at six.

• Ports Giant DP World Redraws Hormuz Logistics With Truck Bet
  gCaptain · 9/14/2026

  Ports giant DP World is expanding its overland logistics network in a bet that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — vital for its flagship container and industrial hub in the United Arab Emirates — won’t return to the status quo from before the US-Iran war.

• Anthropic Bans Iranian Accounts That Used Claude To Target US Navy
  Marine Insight · 9/14/2026

  Anthropic says an Iran-linked account used Claude AI to compile targeting data and shipboard vulnerability research on US naval forces in the Middle East.

• Gemini brings four services back to Red Sea - Suez route
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/14/2026

  Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk have returned four more Asia - Europe services to the Suez Canal route even as concerns over Middle East stability increase

• Iran expands Strait of Hormuz blacklist to 77 ships
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/14/2026

  New additions include KOTC, Bahri, and ONEX vessels as well as crude tanker sunk by US forces last week.

• Tokyo adds $635m to shipyard revival push
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  Japan has approved a second wave of investment plans under its shipbuilding revival fund, allocating up to another ¥98bn ($635m) in state support across five yard groups. The transport ministry has cleared projects from Oshima Shipbuilding, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the Shin Kurushima group, Naikai Zosen and Mitsubish

• Wan Hai Lines confirms six 11,000 teu boxships at Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/14/2026

  LNG- and methanol-ready ships to be delivered from 2029.

• Regulatory delays reduce Indian recycling capacity by more than 50%
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/14/2026

  Ship recyclers in India, the world’s largest market for end-of-life ships, are being held up by documentary delays.

• Maersk adds $500 surcharge for Gulf-bound containers
  Seatrade Maritime · 9/14/2026

  Maersk has added another emergency surcharge for Gulf shipments, with a $500 charge joining higher freight, fuel and Strait of Hormuz costs.

• SFL locks in $750m with Hapag-Lloyd extensions
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  John Fredriksen-backed SFL Corporation has added another $750m to its contracted revenue after agreeing seven-year charter extensions with Hapag-Lloyd on six 15,400 teu containerships. The renewed fixtures will keep the six ships with the German liner through 2035-36 at fixed rates and lift SFL’s charter backlog to aro

• Aegean cashes in modern aframax for $83m
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  George Melissanidis-led Aegean Shipping Management has agreed to sell its 2022-built aframax/LR2 tanker for around $83m, continuing to cash in on historically strong values for modern tanker tonnage. Greek S&P sources reported the sale of the Green Adventure as one of the latest transactions completed by the Piraeus-ba

• COSCO readies listing of its shipyard division
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry has taken its first formal step towards an A-share listing in Shanghai. China’s securities regulator disclosed that the shipbuilding and repair giant registered for listing guidance on September 12, with CICC and China Merchants Securities appointed as advisers. The Shanghai-headquartered

• Transworld keeps fleet reshuffle rolling with bulker sale
  Splash247 · 9/14/2026

  India’s Transworld Shipping Lines has struck a deal to sell one of its two dry bulk carriers, agreeing a $9.25m sale of the 2011-built TBC Kailash. The Mumbai-listed owner is selling the 35,152 dwt unit to Mandarine Ocean, according to an exchange filing. The Chinese-built vessel joined the company, then known as Shrey