Thursday, March 12, 2026
Media Kit
Basra

Two Tankers Burn Off Iraq After Suspected Drone Boat Strike

MORE TOP STORIES
Polar Star escort

Coast Guard Icebreaker USCGC Polar Star Completes Antarctic Mission

Published Mar 11, 2026 6:50 PM by The Maritime Executive

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Polar Star, America's only operational heavy icebreaker, has successfully completed her annual mission to break out the cargo pier at McMurdo Sound. McMurdo is the home of the main U.S. Antarctic research base, and it gets only one big resupply delivery per year during the Southern Hemisphere's summer season. This year's voyage was special, as it marked Polar Star's 50th year in commissioned service. The first in a series of two ships, Polar Star...

Continue Reading...
COSCO containership in Panama

COSCO Cancels Container Service at Balboa in Panama

Published Mar 11, 2026 6:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

China’s state-owned shipping company COSCO Shipping Lines informed customers in a memorandum dated March 10 that it has suspended all services at the Port of Balboa, Panama, at the Pacific terminus of the Panama Canal. No reasoning was given for the suspension, which quickly contributed to speculation that it was another step in China’s retaliation against Panama after the seizure of the port terminal operations from CK Hutchison. In a brief customer advisory obtained by Panama’s La Prensa newspaper, COSCO...

Continue Reading...
Spirit of Discovery cruise ship

UK Finds Fault in Planning and Medical Care on Cruise Ship in Severe Storm

Published Mar 11, 2026 5:31 PM by The Maritime Executive

The UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch issued its report on a 2023 incident aboard the cruise ship Spirit of Discovery in which many passengers were injured, including one who later died, as the vessel lost propulsion during a violent storm in the Bay of Biscay. The report outlines significant steps that have been taken to address a range of safety issues, while the UK, along with the Norwegian authority, is making recommendations to the IMO and class societies to enhance...

Continue Reading...
Drillship

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

Published Mar 11, 2026 4:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

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...

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

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...

Continue Reading...

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...

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

Cristobal Panama

China Reports it Held “Talks” with Maersk and MSC in Beijing

China’s Ministry of Transport issued a one-sentence notice reporting it had held “talks” with both Maersk and MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company. While no details were announced, it quickly raised speculation that Chinese officials were reacting to the two companies' assumption of the port terminal operations in Panama after the government annulled CK Hutchison’s concession and seized the operations in Balboa and Cristobal. In the unusual statement, the Ministry of Transport announced it had “held separate talks with relevant officials from...

Continue Reading...