Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Media Kit
USAF

U.S. Hits Iran's Antiship Missile Sites in the Strait of Hormuz

MORE TOP STORIES
Coastguardsmen reposition a displaced buoy. The shutdown could affect ATON services, APA warned (USCG file image)

Marine Pilots: Coast Guard Funding Lapse Brings Safety Risks

Published Mar 17, 2026 11:15 PM by The Maritime Executive

Events in the Strait of Hormuz have put new demands on the attention of U.S. maritime services, enough to obscure a pressing issue closer to home: the U.S. Coast Guard is still operating in "shutdown" mode because of an ongoing fight in Congress over the Department of Homeland Security's annual funding bill. For enlisted coastguardsmen and other essential personnel, a shutdown does not mean a furlough; servicemembers must keep working throughout, even though they do not get paid on a...

Continue Reading...
USS Ford

Report: USS Gerald R. Ford to Leave Red Sea for Repairs After Laundry Fire

Published Mar 17, 2026 11:07 PM by The Maritime Executive

The supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford is scheduled to return to Souda Bay, Crete shortly for repairs to damage from the laundry room fire that broke out belowdecks last week, official sources told Kathimerini. USNI has confirmed the decision. The fire - first reported by U.S. Central Command and later described at length by the New York Times - appears to have started in a dryer vent and spread, damaging berthing areas. According to USNI, one crewmember required a medevac...

Continue Reading...
Abeille Normandie (VesselFinder / Blende Acht)

French Navy Marine Suffers Serious Gunshot Wound Aboard Rescue Tug

Published Mar 17, 2026 11:04 PM by The Maritime Executive

Last weekend, a French Navy marine suffered a severe, life-threatening injury aboard the rescue ship Abeille Normandie, according to the prosecutor's office for the Boulogne-Sur-Mer area. The victim was hospitalized for treatment in critical condition. On Saturday afternoon, Marine Nationale riflemen (fusiliers marins) were conducting an exercise aboard the Abeille Normandie at a location near Pas-de-Calais. During the maneuvers, a 23-year-old soldier was shot and wounded in the abdomen, prosecutor Patrick Leleu told AFP. It is believed that one of...

Continue Reading...
Japanese Prime Minister Sanse Takaichi and Donald Trump

Report: Japan and U.S. to Announce $100M Shipbuilding R&D Project Using AI

Published Mar 17, 2026 8:22 PM by The Maritime Executive

Reports from the Japanese media on Tuesday indicated that Japan’s Prime Minister will announce a new $100 million investment project to develop AI-driven technologies in part to aid the U.S. shipbuilding industry. It is a tangible project within the $550 million in investments Japan pledged to the Trump administration to win a trade deal in 2025. News outlets Nikkei and the Yomiuri Shimbun report the agreement will be finalized when Prime Minister Sanse Takaichi and Donald Trump meet in Washington,...

Continue Reading...
FEATURED STORIES
BLOGS
PODCASTS
MORE STORIES BY CATEGORY

Offshore

OMSA

In the Know Podcast 77: Aaron Smith, President and CEO of OMSA

For the latest edition of In the Know, The Maritime Executive's podcast series, editor-in-chief Tony Munoz spoke with OMSA President and CEO Aaron Smith about the importance of Jones Act shipping in the offshore sector. OMSA - the Offshore Marine Service Association - is the voice of the U.S. offshore-vessel industry, and its primary mission is to protect the Jones Act's benefits for American mariners and shipowners. Smith, the organization's longtime leader, joins the podcast to talk about how loopholes...

Continue Reading...

Shipbuilding

Japanese Prime Minister Sanse Takaichi and Donald Trump

Report: Japan and U.S. to Announce $100M Shipbuilding R&D Project Using AI

Reports from the Japanese media on Tuesday indicated that Japan’s Prime Minister will announce a new $100 million investment project to develop AI-driven technologies in part to aid the U.S. shipbuilding industry. It is a tangible project within the $550 million in investments Japan pledged to the Trump administration to win a trade deal in 2025. News outlets Nikkei and the Yomiuri Shimbun report the agreement will be finalized when Prime Minister Sanse Takaichi and Donald Trump meet in Washington,...

Continue Reading...

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...

Continue Reading...

Business

Bunker barge

Hormuz Shutdown Drives Up Bunker Prices, With Broad Effects on Shipping

Bunker prices around the world have soared in response to the crisis in the Mideast, as the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted oil supplies to the most important refining and bunkering hubs. Prices in Singapore hovering above $1,100 per tonne - a price premium of more than 60 percent over Brent crude. Bunker fuel is normally cheaper than oil, but restricted crude supplies for refiners in the Indo-Pacific have inverted the normal relationship, yielding green-fuel prices for...

Continue Reading...