Second Time's the Charm as Iran Permits Chinese Boxships Through Hormuz

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Published Mar 30, 2026 2:09 PM by Benjamin Miner

Regardless of your political leanings, it's hard to argue that the late Senator Daniel Inouye's life reads like a work of fiction. A witness to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he rendered aid and saved lives as the Pacific Fleet burned. Labeled an "enemy alien" by the country he loved, he was battlefield-promoted from sergeant to second lieutenant, and he distinguished himself in combat beyond what most could conceive. Leading the charge on three enemy machine gun nests, he...

Diego Garcia is Proving its Value and is Key to Future Operations

Published Mar 29, 2026 6:59 PM by The Maritime Executive

The United Kingdom has come in for a lot of criticism in recent days from the U.S. Administration for its unwillingness to conduct offensive operations alongside the United States and Israel. In some respects, this scenario is a familiar one; in 1956, Great Britain and France, with Israel, mounted an operation to recapture a waterway vital to global trade - the Suez Canal Zone. Britain had not sought U.S. approval or support beforehand, and was then somewhat surprised not to...

Russian Oil Tanker Arrives Off Cuba Despite U.S. Ordered Embargo

Published Mar 29, 2026 6:47 PM by The Maritime Executive

After three weeks of transit and a “cat-and-mouse” game crossing the Atlantic, the Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin is ready to reach Cuban waters late on Sunday and dock by Monday or Tuesday. Sunday afternoon, The New York Times reported, citing “a U.S. official brief on the matter,” that the Trump administration has decided to let the vessel proceed to Cuba. Russian officials have spoken for weeks in support of the Cuban regime and people. They had said they would be...

Ice Slows the Start of Shipping on the Upper Great Lakes

Published Mar 29, 2026 5:47 PM by The Maritime Executive

The shipping industry is sounding a cautionary tale as the 2026 season for operations on the Great Lakes is getting underway. They are saying a shortage of icebreakers is compounding a difficult situation, leaving ships stranded after a heavy winter across much of the region. The Soo Locks reopened on Wednesday, March 25, and it is a big day for the region and the economy. Located at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, the locks close each winter for maintenance when the...

Shipping

Australia Charges Crew Saying Ship Hide More Cocaine After French Seizure

Australian authorities filed charges against six members of the crew aboard the supply ship, alleging they smuggled one tonne of cocaine into the country through an offshore transfer. This came after the French Navy intercepted the ship in January and reported that it had seized 4.8 tonnes of cocaine from the same ship. The French Navy stopped the vessel while it was in Polynesia, making its way across the Pacific from Central America. The crew, made up of Hondurans and...

Tugs & Salvage

Tanker Carrying Russian Oil Hit By Drone Attack in Black Sea

A tanker carrying Russian oil has been hit by drones near the northern entrance to the Bosporus, according to Turkish officials. The vessel, identified as the Sierra Leone-flagged Suezmax Altura, sustained damage to her bridge and to her engine room, according to Turkish channel NTV. No injuries were reported among the 27 members of the crew, all of whom are Turkish nationals. The salvage and rescue vessel Nene Hatun was dispatched to the scene to assist. As of Thursday morning,...

Government

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Corporate News

Stena RoRo Takes Delivery of the 13th E-Flexer from the China Merchants

[By Stena RoRo] Stena RoRo has taken delivery of the 13th ship in the 15 ship series of E-Flexer RoPax ferries from the China Merchants Industry shipyard in Weihai, China. The ship, named Capu Rossu, was handed over to CORSICA LINEA following the delivery to Stena RoRo. The ship will start its commercial operation mid June and will trade between Marseille and Corsica. GOTHENBURG, Sweden, March 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The E-Flexer-series is based on a design which is larger...

Cruise Ships

China Merchants Is the Latest to Withdraw from China’s Cruise Market

China Merchants, one of the country’s largest industrial companies and heavily involved in the maritime sector, has abandoned its efforts to develop a luxury Chinese cruise product. The company had launched a joint venture with Viking in 2021, acquiring one of Viking’s cruise ships, but recently put the cruise ship up for sale. The company had reportedly paid nearly $400 million in 2021 as part of the joint venture to take control of the 745-foot Viking Sun (47,800 gross tons)....

Ports

Ukraine Sustains Unrelenting Nightly Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Ports

Ukrainian officials are reporting that they have maintained a series of unrelenting attacks designed to dramatically impact the oil export operations on the Baltic. Overnight into Sunday, they staged what they said was the fifth consecutive nightly attack on the Russian terminal at Ust-Luga. The governor of the Leningrad region, Alexander Drozdenko, confirmed the attacks in a series of social media postings. He warned residents, initially saying they had destroyed 29, then 31, and then 36 drones. He also warned...

Shipping

Australia Charges Crew Saying Ship Hide More Cocaine After French Seizure

Tugs & Salvage

Tanker Carrying Russian Oil Hit By Drone Attack in Black Sea

Government

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Corporate News

Stena RoRo Takes Delivery of the 13th E-Flexer from the China Merchants

Cruise Ships

China Merchants Is the Latest to Withdraw from China’s Cruise Market

Ports

Ukraine Sustains Unrelenting Nightly Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Ports

Offshore

Chevron Plans to Buy Oil From Sable's Controversial Santa Ynez Unit

Houston-based Sable Offshore, owner of the Santa Ynez platform complex and pipeline in Santa Barbara County, has a buyer for its production. Chevron says that it will begin buying 20,000 barrels per day from Sable now that the Trump administration has approved a restart of the former Santa Ynez pipeline, the oil major announced Tuesday. "We’re going to run Sable’s crude at El Segundo in April," Chevron president of downstream Andy Walz told Bloomberg. "We’re taking American crude oil, putting...

Shipbuilding

Strike Ends at Bath Iron Works After One Week

The members of the Bath Marine Draftsmen’s Association ratified a new contract on Saturday, March 28, ending a strike at Bath Iron Works that had begun on the prior Monday. It was the first strike in six years at the critical government contractor and impacted about a tenth of the total workforce, specifically among designers, clerks, and technicians. The union reported that it had been negotiating for about three weeks and was unable to come to terms with one of...

Environment

Carbon Storage Developers Complete Applications in UK’s Second CCS Round

The UK’s North Sea Transition Authority received bids for more than two million acres of seabed in its second carbon storage licensing round. Bidding closed on March 24 after having opened in December 2025 and follows the first four licenses, which were awarded in 2023, which have already begun efforts testing the injection process. A total of 21 licenses were awarded in the first round. The authority had reported strong initial interest before beginning the solicitation, and it now says...

Business

Cyber Risk in Shipping: From Technical Threat to Business Reality

Cybersecurity in shipping is still too often framed as a technical issue, something for IT teams to manage in the background. From Marcura’s position across financial, operational and compliance workflows, it is increasingly clear that it has become something far more fundamental: a question of business resilience, financial integrity, and trust across an increasingly complex global ecosystem. Few organizations sit closer to that reality. I see first-hand how cyber risk manifests in day-to-day shipping and where some of the industry’s...

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Second Time's the Charm as Iran Permits Chinese Boxships Through Hormuz

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Diego Garcia is Proving its Value and is Key to Future Operations

Russian Oil Tanker Arrives Off Cuba Despite U.S. Ordered Embargo

Ice Slows the Start of Shipping on the Upper Great Lakes

Australia Charges Crew Saying Ship Hide More Cocaine After French Seizure

Tanker Carrying Russian Oil Hit By Drone Attack in Black Sea

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Stena RoRo Takes Delivery of the 13th E-Flexer from the China Merchants

China Merchants Is the Latest to Withdraw from China’s Cruise Market

Ukraine Sustains Unrelenting Nightly Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Ports

Cyber Risk in Shipping: From Technical Threat to Business Reality

Architecture of Adaptability: Designing Vessels to Stand the Test of Time

Improve Fleet Value With Digital Optimization of Cruise Ship Hotel Areas

Australia Charges Crew Saying Ship Hide More Cocaine After French Seizure

Tanker Carrying Russian Oil Hit By Drone Attack in Black Sea

Op-Ed: Where Have All the Daniel Inouyes Gone?

Stena RoRo Takes Delivery of the 13th E-Flexer from the China Merchants

China Merchants Is the Latest to Withdraw from China’s Cruise Market

Ukraine Sustains Unrelenting Nightly Attacks on Russia’s Baltic Oil Ports

Chevron Plans to Buy Oil From Sable's Controversial Santa Ynez Unit

Strike Ends at Bath Iron Works After One Week

Carbon Storage Developers Complete Applications in UK’s Second CCS Round

Cyber Risk in Shipping: From Technical Threat to Business Reality

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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