Foreign-flagged tanker Skylight after an Iranian strike earlier this month (Omani social media)

Trump Urges Foreign Ships to Resume Oil Deliveries to Asian Markets

IRIS Dena's stern lifted and broken by a U.S. Navy heavyweight torpedo, March 4 (USN)

India Offered Refuge to Iranian Frigate Before U.S. Navy Sank It

Published Mar 9, 2026 2:51 PM by The Maritime Executive

The sinking of the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena was a matter of great sensitivity for India, as the warship had just attended an international naval exercise at New Delhi's invitation. The vessel's loss was more sensitive still because she had been offered Indian refuge from the war, foreign minister S Jaishankar said Monday. IRIS Dena was under way off the coast of Galle in southern Sri Lanka on March 4 when she was torpedoed by a U.S. Navy submarine. The...

Building Resilient, Low-Carbon Supply Chains With ITS

Published Mar 9, 2026 12:07 PM by Tim Morris

Sustainability and resilience in shipping are not the result of a single decision. They come from daily practice, informed choices and the systems that help people make them. Other transport sectors already use connected digital networks to support safe and efficient movement. Maritime has begun to digitalise, but it has not yet built the joined up systems that allow data, infrastructure and operations to work together. Without that connection, the industry struggles to respond to growing pressure. Ports and shipping...

Iranian-flagged cargo ship was brought into port by the Russian tugboats (Port of Makhachkala)

To Penalize Iran, Azerbaijan Could Interdict its Caspian Sea Trade

Published Mar 8, 2026 10:00 PM by The Maritime Executive

On March 6, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian announced that ‘There will be no further attacks or missile launches towards neighbouring countries, unless attacks against Iran originate from those countries. President Pezeshkian’s influence over the decentralised IRGC command structure which appears to running Iran’s war is unclear, but it should be noted that both the Armed Forces General Staff (separate from the IRGC) and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have been denying that Iran has been attacking Gulf countries, despite ample...

An SM-3 missile test-launch from a standard VLS cell (USN)

Op-Ed: Conflict With Iran Opens a Missile-Defense Gap for China

Published Mar 8, 2026 9:26 PM by The Strategist

[By David Axe] The US- and Israeli-led war on Iran has been, with a few key caveats, a quick military success for the United States and its allies. That doesn’t mean it’ll be a strategic success. Indeed, the euphoria in Washington and Jerusalem could quickly turn into despair if the successful air campaign leads to lasting regional chaos or, equally worrying, a protracted ground war. In any event, the so-far lopsided conflict offers important lessons for the Asia-Pacific. It has...

Shipping

French flagship Charles de Gaulle (Marine Nationale)

France Commits to 10-Ship Naval Deployment to Secure Mideast Shipping

France has decided to dispatch a substantial naval force to the Mideast to protect merchant shipping, President Emmanuel Macron said Monday. It is the second major commitment Macron has announced towards controlling the economic impact of the U.S.-Iran conflict, following his earlier statement that the G7 would tap its strategic oil reserves. In an "unprecedented" international mobilization, France will dispatch 10 ships to key regions vital to European shipping interests: the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea, and the Eastern...

Tugs & Salvage

Managing Conflicts of Interest in Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Sector

Bangladesh’s ship recycling industry operates under intense national and international scrutiny. The sector is economically vital, supplying a significant share of the country’s steel and supporting thousands of jobs, yet it also sits at the center of global debates over environmental protection, labor safety, and regulatory credibility. As Bangladesh seeks deeper integration into international maritime markets, the strength and independence of its regulatory institutions have become as important as technical compliance itself. The Ship Recycling Act 2018 established the Bangladesh...

Government

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

[By Nory Ly] Cambodia isn’t typically thought of as a coastal nation. But its shoreline of 435?kilometers alongside the Gulf of Thailand comes with 55,600?km² of exclusive economic zone (EEZ), making maritime security to support fisheries, ports, tourism and potential energy resources a crucial feature of the country’s future prosperity. Yet Cambodia remains geographically disadvantaged, lacking full high-seas access and naval capacity. Without greater attention to its blue economy and maritime governance, Cambodia risks missing jobs and revenue, and exposing...

Corporate News

ABS & HD Hyundai to Advance Nuclear-Powered Electric Propulsion Systems

[By: ABS] ABS, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) and HD Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HD HSHI) signed a joint development project (JDP) for the “Conceptual Design of a Nuclear-Powered Electric Propulsion System.” The agreement forms a framework to assess the technical feasibility of a nuclear-powered electric propulsion system specific to a 16K TEU container ship. “This project represents an important step in exploring the potential of a nuclear-powered electric propulsion system for container vessels. By combining HD...

Cruise Ships

Norwegian Takes Delivery on New Cruise Ship in Long-Term Growth Plan

Fincantieri and Norwegian Cruise Line celebrated the delivery of the Norwegian Luna, the second ship in the company’s Prima Plus class and the midpoint of a six-ship order, which will later be followed by five even larger cruise ships. The new ship, a sister to the Norwegian Aqua introduced in 2025, seeks to expand on the brand’s renewed emphasis on choice and flexibility while expanding its appeal to families. At 156,300 gross tons, the Norwegian Luna is, however, more in...

Ports

The operator of the port of Piraeus is majority-owned by China COSCO (Apaleutos25 / CC BY SA 4.0)

China Splits Port Investments Between High- and Low-Income Countries

The protracted port dispute in Panama involving the Chinese operator CK Hutchison has revealed how strategic harbors could act as a flashpoint in global power competition. In a world where geopolitical tensions continue to rise, control over critical ports is being seen as a means to assert sea power - particularly when it comes to Chinese control. Last week, AidData, a research lab at the College of William and Mary, released a new dataset capturing the unprecedented rise of Chinese...

Shipping

France Commits to 10-Ship Naval Deployment to Secure Mideast Shipping

Tugs & Salvage

Managing Conflicts of Interest in Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Sector

Government

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

Corporate News

ABS & HD Hyundai to Advance Nuclear-Powered Electric Propulsion Systems

Cruise Ships

Norwegian Takes Delivery on New Cruise Ship in Long-Term Growth Plan

Ports

China Splits Port Investments Between High- and Low-Income Countries

Offshore

Spill cleanup under way on shore near LOOP (USCG)

Spill Cleanup Under Way at Louisiana Offshore Oil Port

The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to a spill at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, the United States' only VLCC-capable loading terminal. The spill began nine days ago, according to LOOP, and remediation work is still proceeding. On February 26, crude oil was discovered near its offshore loading terminal. The leak was caused by a material failure of a cargo transfer hose, LOOP said. The source of the leak has been secured, the Coast Guard said. Local TV station WWL...

Shipbuilding

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...

Environment

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...

Business

Building Resilient, Low-Carbon Supply Chains With ITS

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Trump Urges Foreign Ships to Resume Oil Deliveries to Asian Markets

India Offered Refuge to Iranian Frigate Before U.S. Navy Sank It

Building Resilient, Low-Carbon Supply Chains With ITS

To Penalize Iran, Azerbaijan Could Interdict its Caspian Sea Trade

Op-Ed: Conflict With Iran Opens a Missile-Defense Gap for China

France Commits to 10-Ship Naval Deployment to Secure Mideast Shipping

Managing Conflicts of Interest in Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Sector

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

ABS & HD Hyundai to Advance Nuclear-Powered Electric Propulsion Systems

Norwegian Takes Delivery on New Cruise Ship in Long-Term Growth Plan

China Splits Port Investments Between High- and Low-Income Countries

Collaborative Delivery Models Reshape Port Infrastructure Development

IMO Approved Echosounder and Speed Log System With a Single Sensor

Hamburg Maritime Forum 2026: An Ambitious Landmark Edition

France Commits to 10-Ship Naval Deployment to Secure Mideast Shipping

Managing Conflicts of Interest in Bangladesh’s Ship Recycling Sector

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

ABS & HD Hyundai to Advance Nuclear-Powered Electric Propulsion Systems

Norwegian Takes Delivery on New Cruise Ship in Long-Term Growth Plan

China Splits Port Investments Between High- and Low-Income Countries

Spill Cleanup Under Way at Louisiana Offshore Oil Port

Third US Training Ship State of Maine Delivered to MARAD

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

Building Resilient, Low-Carbon Supply Chains With ITS

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Maritime Industry Conferences and Events