Tuesday, January 27, 2026
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Port of Mobile Alabama

Containership Briefly Grounds Blocking Port of Mobile

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Russian river-sea dry cargo vessel

Russia Cuts Funding to Build River-Sea Cargo Ships Citing Sanctions

Published Jan 26, 2026 5:44 PM by The Maritime Executive

Reports from Russia indicate that an ambitious program to build a new generation of river-sea cargo ships has been reduced. The Moscow Times cites the impact of high interest rates, import substitution, sanctions, and labor shortages for cuts to the government-subsidized shipbuilding program. The contract for the construction program was awarded in June 2023 and called for 34 RSD 59 dry cargo ships as part of an effort to modernize the Volga-Donmax service. The Krasnoye Sormovo Shipyard hailed it as...

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Officers open a shipping container filled with spare outboards for the smuggling gang (Policia Nacional)

Spanish Police Bust Major Cocaine Smuggling Syndicate

Published Jan 26, 2026 5:43 PM by The Maritime Executive

Spain's National Police have taken down a major maritime smuggling ring in a year-long operation, netting more than 100 arrests and more than 10 tonnes of cocaine. The Central Drug and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO) believes that the blow is enough to "destabilize" the criminal group, though the mastermind remains at large. Law enforcement officials laid out a map of a sweeping transatlantic crime syndicate involving speedboats, burner phones, payoffs, multiple storage houses and "state of the art electronic devices...

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Denmark's energy island

European Governments Adopt Ambitious Plan for 100 GW of Offshore Wind Power

Published Jan 26, 2026 4:37 PM by The Maritime Executive

Meeting for the third North Sea Summit, the governments of nine Northern European countries adopted a new plan calling for coordination, power sharing, and working in unison to develop 100 GW of offshore wind power. They estimated it represents an investment of over $1 trillion. Known as the Hamburg Declaration, the agreement was signed by the governments of Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Northern Ireland, and Luxembourg, to achieve what they are calling energy sovereignty. The countries...

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Wrecked Francis Scott Key Bridge

Op-Ed: Baltimore's Bridge Collapse and the Making of a P&I Super Loss

Published Jan 26, 2026 4:18 PM by Priyatham Sanjeeva Reddy, Ramidi

On a calm March night in 2024, a containership outbound from Baltimore lost electrical power, struck a main pier of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and brought down a vital artery of the U.S. transport network in seconds. Six road workers died; the channel was choked for weeks; and the casualty's cost rippled from salvage crews to global supply chains. The proximate cause, investigators later concluded, was astonishingly small: an improperly installed electrical wire that loosened, starving critical systems and...

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Offshore

BOEM

BOEM Releases Call Areas for California Offshore Drilling Plan

On Monday, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management began the process for an offshore oil and gas lease sale off California with the publication of two call areas, which cover the southern and central areas of the state. The announcement suggests that the first lease sales will occur next year - giving time for local opposition, which has already begun to gather momentum. "We’re taking the first step toward a stronger, more secure American energy future," said BOEM Acting...

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Shipbuilding

Indian shipyard

India’s First Chemical Tanker Order Advances Shipbuilding Ambitions

Swan Defence and Heavy Industries Limited (SDHI), located in India, confirmed that it has received its first shipbuilding order as part of the revitalization of its operations. The order, which comes from a European shipowner, is both the country’s first for a chemical tanker and aligns with India’s ambitions to develop into a leading global shipbuilder. The order was placed by Bergen, Norway-based Rederiet Stenersen, a 50-plus year old operator of chemical/product tankers. The company currently has a fleet of...

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Environment

European ferries

Interferry Demands Pause for EU ETS Due to Inequities and Use of Funds

Interferry, the global trade association for the ferry industry, is calling for an immediate halt to the further phasing-in of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for the maritime sector. The group is citing inequities and a severe competitive disadvantage as road transport remains exempt from the program. Further, it alleges that a lack of a funding scheme for e-fuels and investments such as electrification means the monies are instead being diverted to national member state budgets. The trade group...

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Business

French commandos seize the shadow fleet tanker Grinch, January 2025 (French Joint Staff)

Geopolitics Has Moved From the Margins to the Engine Room of Shipping

For much of its modern history, the maritime industry treated geopolitics as background noise. Today, that is no longer possible. Political instability is now shaping day-to-day operational decisions, cost structures and risk exposure across global shipping. The most visible impact has been route disruption. Vessels diverted away from key corridors are burning more fuel and spending longer at sea, pushing operating costs sharply higher. Insurance premiums have followed the same trajectory. At the same time, investment in decarbonization is being...

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