Taiwan Coast Guard firing water cannon on Chinese fishing vessel

Video: Taiwan Coast Guard Uses Water Cannon on Chinese Fishing Boat

Two More Tankers in Hormuz Report Strikes, Bringing Total to Six in a Week

Published Oct 2, 2026 5:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

Multiple sources are confirming that two more tankers reported strikes, bringing the total to six ships in one week and 110 incidents directly related to the US-Iran conflict, says UK Maritime Trade Operations. The latest wave comes as analysts report Iran’s oil industry appears to have been effectively choked off and oil income is running dry. The first of the two reports used third-party data to UKMTO but has also been widely reported by security consultants. The Kuwait Oil Tanker...

Swedish Court Finds Captain and Pilot Negligent in Summer Boating Accident

Published Oct 2, 2026 2:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

The District Court in Gothenburg, Sweden, found both the captain of the cargo vessel Misje Verde and the pilot who was aboard guilty of negligence in the summer boating accident that killed a mother and daughter and injured the father and son aboard a small pleasure boat. Prosecutors argued it was a failure to keep a proper watch while the captain and pilot disagreed over their roles and responsibilities. The 5,310 dwt vessel was navigating in an archipelago area on...

MSC Says Water Ingress Caused Precautionary Evacuation of Container Vessel

Published Oct 2, 2026 1:21 PM by The Maritime Executive

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company released a statement on the incident aboard its vessel MSC Hermes III a week and a half ago off Vietnam. The company stated that the evacuation of the vessel was a precautionary response to water ingress that happened on September 22. The Singapore Maritime and Ports Authority had reported that the crew abandoned the vessel, which was built in 2006, on the morning of September 22 while it was about 186 miles east of Vietnam. The...

US Coast Guard Has Stopped Vessels Carrying Oil to Cuba

Published Oct 2, 2026 11:09 AM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that it has been stopping vessels transporting oil to Cuba, with two ships stopped earlier in the summer. It has resumed the enforcement of the Trump administration’s imposed embargo on fuel shipments to the Caribbean island after the U.S. permitted some emergency oil shipments earlier this year. “Illicit fuel shipments violate international law and pose severe environmental threats in the Caribbean Sea," said Vice Adm. Nate Moore, deputy commandant for operations, in a Coast Guard...

Shipping

ITF Calls for Panama Canal to Address Fatigue Following Tug Captain’s Death

The issue of fatigue among tug operators at the Panama Canal is again attracting attention after the captain of a tugboat is said to have died due to a grueling work schedule. The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is calling on the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) to take action after a 59-year-old captain died aboard the tug Cerro Santiago. The captain died on September 30 while assisting a northbound Neopanamax vessel. He was said to have been working an extended...

Tugs & Salvage

Former ferry Isabelle X being used for accommodations

Gaps in Awareness, Poor Communication Caused Tug, Barge, Workboat Collision

Marine investigators in Canada released a report outlining how gaps in situational awareness and a breakdown in communication caused a collision involving a tug, a barge, and a workboat in Squamish Harbor, British Columbia, in December 2024. The incident involved the tug Haisla Northwind, the barge BSG Lubricator, and the workboat Triton 1. It occurred in the marine safety zone of the Woodfibre LNG Project site. The incident on December 18, 2024, occurred while the tug was pushing the barge...

Government

Moving and selling Iranian oil has gotten far harder under U.S. pressure (NIOC file image)

Difficult Times for Iran's Sanctions-Evading Oil Brokers

With the naval blockade preventing any Iranian tankers leaving the Gulf, for the last 10 weeks Iran has been selling oil from the stocks it had built up for just such a contingency which are being held afloat primarily off Malaysia and China. Historically, Iran has sold 90% of its exports of crude to China. Chinese purchasers are still wary of being subject to US sanctions because these sanctions have global effect. To be sanctioned may entail being excluded from...

Corporate News

HX Expeditions Closes Arctic Season, Largest-Ever Science Data Collection

[By HX Expeditions] The Arctic’s largest expedition cruise operator reports 26,491 citizen science contributions, new use of science AI for whales and announces extension of its Greenland Promise through the end of the 2028 season. HX Expeditions, the world’s first and longest-running expedition cruise company, has concluded a landmark season that brought thousands of guests closer to the region’s wildlife, landscapes, communities and science across 31 Arctic sailings. The programme carried special significance in HX’s 130th-anniversary year. In 1896, its...

Cruise Ships

ultra-large cruise ship under construction

Construction is Underway on More Giants for Cruising

The pace of construction on the next generation of ultra-large cruise ships is gaining momentum. The ships are being floated out of their assembly docks and going on sea trials, while steel cutting and block assembly are already underway for even more of the giants. For years, Royal Caribbean International’s two Oasis-class ships at 225,000 gross tons were the outliers, with none of the large, contemporary segment cruise lines willing to jump the 200,000 gross ton milestone. Imaginative concepts were...

Ports

India to Get Its First Port-Based E-Methanol Production Facility

India is making further progress in positioning itself as a global leader in the export of alternative fuels in shipping. Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel recently participated in laying the foundation for an e-methanol plant at Deendayal Port Authority (DPA) in Kandla, Gujarat. This is the first port-based e-methanol production facility in India. The project is part of the government’s wider campaign to promote cleaner maritime transport in the country. The facility is also poised...

Shipping

ITF Calls for Panama Canal to Address Fatigue Following Tug Captain’s Death

Tugs & Salvage

Gaps in Awareness, Poor Communication Caused Tug, Barge, Workboat Collision

Government

Difficult Times for Iran's Sanctions-Evading Oil Brokers

Corporate News

HX Expeditions Closes Arctic Season, Largest-Ever Science Data Collection

Cruise Ships

Construction is Underway on More Giants for Cruising

Ports

India to Get Its First Port-Based E-Methanol Production Facility

Offshore

New Zealand Invests $20 Million in New Offshore Gas Projects

New Zealand has made further progress in restarting domestic gas production with a new round of funding targeting offshore exploration projects. Resources Minister Shane Jones and Associate Finance Minister Chris Bishop this week announced $21 million financing for two offshore gas projects. The financing will be made through the Gas Security Fund (GSF), a $113 million state-owned investment facility to ramp up gas production in New Zealand. One of the projects considered for funding in this round is EnZed Energy’s...

Shipbuilding

Five Issues That Derail Vessel Control System Modernizations

A vessel control system modernization can look straightforward on paper: remove aging components, install new hardware and software, test the system and return the vessel to service. In practice, the most difficult problems are rarely caused by a single PLC, display or sensor. They develop at the interfaces between old and new equipment, between drawings and actual shipboard conditions, and between the organizations responsible for design, installation and commissioning. 1. Starting with incomplete information Many working vessels have been modified...

Environment

Japan Conducts Demonstration Voyage of a Hydrogen-Fueled Tanker

Japan completed what it is calling a world’s first as it successfully demonstrated a coastal tanker using a hydrogen-fired 4-stroke high-speed engine. It is part of an ongoing research and demonstration project sponsored by The Nippon Foundation to contribute to the decarbonization of shipping. The project called for designing and demonstrating a 4,800-dwt tanker specifically designed for hydrogen propulsion. The coastal tanker Kikou Maro (IMO: 1015595) was launched on February 14, 2025, at the Nagasaki Yard of Fukuoka Shipbuilding Co.,...

Business

Op-Ed: People Are the Powerbase of the Shipping Business

Decarbonisation, digitalisation, shifting patterns of global trade and an increasing level of influence from Asia are continuing to reshape the shipping, logistics and trading sectors. With this year’s WISTA International AGM and Conference taking place in Kuala Lumpur, the association’s president, Elpi Petraki, explains why there are important lessons to learn from the region as the challenges facing the industry demand more than new technologies and innovation. As the world’s largest maritime market, Asia offers an extraordinary degree of maritime...

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Video: Taiwan Coast Guard Uses Water Cannon on Chinese Fishing Boat

Two More Tankers in Hormuz Report Strikes, Bringing Total to Six in a Week

Swedish Court Finds Captain and Pilot Negligent in Summer Boating Accident

MSC Says Water Ingress Caused Precautionary Evacuation of Container Vessel

US Coast Guard Has Stopped Vessels Carrying Oil to Cuba

ITF Calls for Panama Canal to Address Fatigue Following Tug Captain’s Death

Gaps in Awareness, Poor Communication Caused Tug, Barge, Workboat Collision

Difficult Times for Iran's Sanctions-Evading Oil Brokers

HX Expeditions Closes Arctic Season, Largest-Ever Science Data Collection

Construction is Underway on More Giants for Cruising

India to Get Its First Port-Based E-Methanol Production Facility

Global Industry Leaders to Take the Stage at IBIA Annual Convention 2026

Five Issues That Derail Vessel Control System Modernizations

Beyond Web-Based SaaS: The Cloud-Native Advantage

ITF Calls for Panama Canal to Address Fatigue Following Tug Captain’s Death

Gaps in Awareness, Poor Communication Caused Tug, Barge, Workboat Collision

Difficult Times for Iran's Sanctions-Evading Oil Brokers

HX Expeditions Closes Arctic Season, Largest-Ever Science Data Collection

Construction is Underway on More Giants for Cruising

India to Get Its First Port-Based E-Methanol Production Facility

New Zealand Invests $20 Million in New Offshore Gas Projects

Five Issues That Derail Vessel Control System Modernizations

Japan Conducts Demonstration Voyage of a Hydrogen-Fueled Tanker

Op-Ed: People Are the Powerbase of the Shipping Business

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Maritime Industry Conferences and Events