Monday, December 29, 2025
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Arctic

NOAA: Higher Temps and Less Ice in a Changing Arctic

Published Dec 28, 2025 10:58 PM by The Conversation

[By Matthew Druckenmiller, Rick Thoman and Twila Moon] The Arctic is transforming faster and with more far-reaching consequences than scientists expected just 20 years ago, when the first Arctic Report Card assessed the state of Earth’s far northern environment. The snow season is dramatically shorter today, sea ice is thinning and melting earlier, and wildfire seasons are getting worse. Increasing ocean heat is reshaping ecosystems as non-Arctic marine species move northward. Thawing permafrost is releasing iron and other minerals into...

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The new support vessel would boost preparedness for emergencies, like the grounding of the Ever Given, above (SCA file image)

Japan Gives Suez Canal a New Dive Vessel to Support Emergency Preparedness

Published Dec 28, 2025 10:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

Egypt is hoping to enhance the navigational safety of the busy Suez Canal after securing a $22 million grant to finance the construction of a dual-fuel diving support vessel (DSV). As more shipping lines make a return to the waterway owing to the gradual return of stability in the Red Sea region, the country said it has secured the grant from the Japanese government for the vessel, which will join the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) fleet. The grant was provided...

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The BWC chemical tank terminal just off the ship channel in Jacintoport, center (Courtesy Google / Maxar / Vexcel / Airbus)

Sulfuric Acid Spills Into Houston Ship Channel

Published Dec 28, 2025 10:18 PM by The Maritime Executive

Over the weekend, a ruptured pipe spilled an industrial quantity of sulfuric acid into the water at a chemical terminal on the Houston Ship Channel, according to local officials in Channelview, Texas. In the early hours of Saturday morning, the BWC Terminals facility in Channelview sustained a leak, releasing one million gallons of sulfuric acid. Part of that spill went into the water, but most went into a containment area on shore, the terminal said in a statement to local...

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Fight Oar Die

Abandoned Transatlantic Rowboat Rediscovered After Three Years at Sea

Published Dec 28, 2025 9:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

The wreck of a rowing boat that a team of U.S. Air Force veterans used in a doomed attempt to cross the Atlantic in 2022 has been found and recovered after being adrift in the high seas for almost three years. The U.S. team behind the Fight Oar Die (FOD) mission that attempted the 2022 Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge that involved crossing the Atlantic using rowing boats is announcing the wreck of their abandoned vessel has been located in western...

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MORE STORIES BY CATEGORY

Offshore

A rendering of Empire Wind 1, a planned wind farm currently under a halt work order from the Trump Administration (file image courtesy Equinor)

Could Northeast States Trade Pipeline Access for Offshore Wind Permits?

In mid-December 2025, the Trump Administration halted offshore wind projects from New England to Virginia, placing development on an indefinite pause. Just weeks earlier, I spoke at a conference in New England and had numerous side conversations with officials and stakeholders from across New England and New York about the outlook for maritime and energy policy. The timing was telling. The Northeast is arguably the center of the universe for offshore wind, and the perspectives expressed in those discussions ran...

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Shipbuilding

Russian-built LNG carrier

Russia Delivers First Domestically-Built Arc7 LNG Carrier

Russia’s Sovcomflot and Zvezda shipyard heralded the delivery of its first LNG carrier, the Alexey Kosygin. They are saying it is the first of a new series of domestically-built LNG carriers that will be able to operate year-round on the Northern Sea Route and help to meet the goal of tripling LNG exports. The vessel with a capacity of 172,600 cbm was officially commissioned and handed over to Sovcomflot on December 24. It is years behind schedule due to sanctions...

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Environment

large gas carrier designed for ammonia shipping

JERA Advances Plans to Ship Ammonia Produced in Louisiana to Japan

Japan’s largest power generation and energy company, JERA, is advancing its plans to ship low-carbon ammonia from a production facility in Louisiana to Japan to fuel a power generation plant. The project, working with shipping companies NYK and Mitsui O.S.K., is expected to become the first commercial-scale effort to import ammonia fuel to Japan. The companies announced that they have signed contracts which will lead to the development of very large gas carriers designed specifically for ammonia transport. Mitsui O.S....

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Business

commissioning Japanese submarine

Japan Suspends Kawasaki Heavy Industries for Submarine Engine Data Fraud

The Japanese Ministry of Defense announced a series of steps it is taking after investigations confirmed that Kawasaki Heavy Industries had supplied fraudulent test data on its engines and provided inappropriate gifts to a number of naval personnel over the past 40 years. Kawasaki Heavy Industries had first announced in 2024 that it was investigating after information surfaced showing a long-term pattern of falsifying test data to ensure engines were delivered on time under their contracts. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is...

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