Monday, March 16, 2026
Media Kit
Kharg

Iran is Making Unimpeded Use of the Strait of Hormuz

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The rail ferry Slavyanin's wheelhouse burns, March 14 (HUR)

With Ferry Strikes, Ukraine Narrows Russia's Options at Kerch Strait

Published Mar 15, 2026 9:33 PM by The Maritime Executive

Ukraine has launched attacks on two railway ferries that Russia was using to supplement its rail line from the Russian mainland across the Kerch Strait Bridge to Crimea. In the attack, the 150-meter ro/ro rail/vehicle carrier Slavyanin (IMO: 8300169) was disabled and the 125-meter Avangard (IMO 9522403) was damaged. Rendering these two vessels unfit for sailing now means that Russian has no rail ferries left in service on the Black Sea. From imagery released by the Ukrainian military intelligence organization...

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VLCC

U.S. Petroleum Reserve Release Will Likely Boost Oil Exports to Asia

Published Mar 15, 2026 8:45 PM by Erik Broekhuizen / Poten & Partners

The conflict between the US., Israel and Iran is entering its third week and the Strait of Hormuz remains virtually closed. This has tightened the oil markets. Oil prices have been very volatile, but they have been clearly trending up since the conflict started. As we already stated in previous analyses, the unprecedented oil supply crunch was almost inevitably going to trigger a release of strategic reserves. Last week, the 32 member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) authorized...

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U.S. Navy tanker convoy, Operation Earnest Will, 1987 (USN file image)

Report: White House Expects to Announce Hormuz Escort Mission Soon

Published Mar 15, 2026 6:41 PM by The Maritime Executive

The White House expects to announce plans for an international coalition to operate a naval escort corridor through the Strait of Hormuz, officials told the Wall Street Journal. It is the latest gambit by the Trump administration to address the rising energy prices caused by Iran's decision to blockade the strait. After U.S. strikes on Tehran on February 28, which killed most of the Iranian regime's senior leadership, surviving Iranian forces moved quickly to close the strait to merchant shipping...

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Maran Homer (Cengiz Tokgöz / VesselFinder)

Greek-Operated Tanker Hit by Unknown Assailants Near CPC Terminal

Published Mar 15, 2026 5:27 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Greek-owned tanker Maran Homer (IMO 9761372) has been hit by an attack while awaiting loading at the port of Novorossiysk, Russia, according to Greece's shipping ministry. Operator Maran Tankers Management reports that Maran Homer was struck by an unknown object at 0435 local time on Saturday. The tanker was located in international waters of the Black Sea and was awaiting instructions to load Kazakh-origin oil at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) single-point mooring terminal. The tanker sustained only minor...

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Offshore

Drillship

Second "Big Beautiful" Offshore Lease Sale Draws Fewer Big Spenders

The U.S. Department of the Interior has completed the second offshore oil and gas auction of its revised lease plan, and the outcome was quieter this time. The auction generated $47 million in high bids for a total of 140,000 acres in 25 blocks, down from the previous auction's total of $280 million. A total of about 80 million acres were up for auction, but the majority received no bids. 13 companies participated in bidding, down from 30 in the...

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Shipbuilding

State of Maine training ship

Third US Training Ship State of Maine Delivered to MARAD

The third newly built U.S. training ship for the merchant marine, the State of Maine, was handed over to TOTE Services and delivered to the U.S. Maritime Administration. It will be the fifth training vessel, and the first purpose-built vessel, to be operated by the Maine Maritime Academy, located in Castine, Maine. The handover to the U.S. government took place at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard, and the vessel is scheduled to depart for Maine in the coming days. Once it...

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Environment

Trawlers

Study: Ocean Warming Puts "Constant Negative Pressure" on Fish Populations

A new meta-study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that ocean warming has an outsize impact on the total amount of fish in the water, enough to have major implications for global fisheries. The study, led by researchers at Spain's Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, looked at hundreds of thousands of studies of fish populations in the Northern Hemisphere over a period of nearly 30 years, spanning 1993-2021. The vast data set covered more than 1,500 fish species and...

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Business

Greensand

Lack of Infrastructure Risks Undermining the Promise of Carbon Capture

Shipping is rapidly approaching the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2030 checkpoints, by which the maritime industry must demonstrate at least a 20% total annual GHG emission reduction – measured against 2008 baselines – as established in the IMO’s 2023 Revised GHG Strategy. As 2030 approaches, supported by more stringent regulatory frameworks, shipping has experienced an acceleration in the development of innovative clean technologies for the reduction of GHG emissions. Prominent among these new solutions is the development and implementation of...

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