Wednesday, March 04, 2026
Media Kit
The U.S. has provided security assurance for tanker navigation in the Gulf before: Operation Earnest Will, 1987 (USN file image)

Trump: U.S. Will Provide "Risk Insurance" For All Shipping in the Gulf

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All quiet: no AIS traffic detected in the Strait of Hormuz in the early hours of March 4 (MarineTraffic)

Effects of Gulf Disruption Expected to Ripple Through Global Shipping

Published Mar 3, 2026 5:59 PM by The Maritime Executive

The shipping disruption from conflict in the Gulf region is only just getting started, according to new data from Clarksons and forecasts from multiple shipping analysts. Between suspended port calls, canceled freight bookings, bottled-up tonnage inside the Gulf, and long route diversions, the conflict will have substantial secondary effects on shipping interests around the world. The most obvious factor is the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz to all but the most risk-tolerant shipowners, with inside sources noting Greek tanker...

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detained shadow fleet tanker in Belgium

Belgium Fines Sanctioned Tanker €10M and Detains it for Safety Violations

Published Mar 3, 2026 5:09 PM by The Maritime Executive

Belgium announced during a press briefing on Tuesday, March 3, that it has completed its inspection of the tanker Ethera, which it detained overnight on Saturday as it was sailing along the coast and brought into port. They confirmed that the vessel was sailing under a false flag, without proper certificates, and with multiple safety violations. In a carefully orchestrated effort called “Blue Intruder,” 93 Belgian soldiers and two French helicopters descended on the tanker shortly before midnight on Saturday,...

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Drone

Drone Strikes Reported in Fujairah and Duqm

Published Mar 3, 2026 4:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

On Tuesday morning, drones hit an oil storage terminal at Fujairah, UAE, a key energy transshipment and bunkering hub for the Gulf region. Tank farm sorage operations at Fujairah had already been suspended for safety reasons, and there were no casualties reported. The fire has already been put out, according to UAE authorities. Bunkering operations at Fujairah have slowed after the strike, according to Reuters, but have not been formally suspended. The biggest effect of the drone strikes may be...

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Zim feeder ship containership

Zim Supports Emergency Transport to Repatriate Israelis

Published Mar 3, 2026 4:28 PM by The Maritime Executive

Israel has organized a number of emergency transport efforts to aid Israelis caught overseas as the war with Iran began. Included in the efforts, a smaller Zim feeder ship has been pressed into duty to transport critical personnel who have been making their way to a designated collection point reported to be in Cyprus. The Israeli media outlet Calcalist reports that the Zim Australia is being used to shuttle medical personnel who were overseas back to Israel. It writes that...

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Offshore

Maersk Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessel

Seatrium Delivers WTIV to Maersk Offshore Wind

The next-generation wind turbine installation vessel, which became the center of a dispute before it was completed, has been successfully delivered, with both companies now celebrating the possibilities. Seatrium reports it completed the delivery on February 26 after sea trials and final readiness evaluations at the Tuas Boulevard Yard in Singapore, while Maersk Offshore Wind is calling the ship the first in its journey towards growing a future-ready fleet. Maersk Offshore Wind, which is owned by the investment company A.P....

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Shipbuilding

Greek Foreign Minister

Hanwha and Greece’s Onex Shipyards Partner to Expand U.S. Shipbuilding

A new trilateral agreement was formalized between Onex Shipyards & Technologies, which is working to revitalize Greek shipbuilding, and South Korea’s Hanwha Power Systems, with American officials looking on during the signing event. According to the reports, the effort will support the efforts in Greece but also looks to leverage the emerging opportunities in the United States under the Trump administration’s U.S. Maritime Action Plan. Onex reports that the agreement focuses on the development of newbuildings with LNG capacity as...

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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

Beazley

British Marine Insurer Beazley Purchased by Zurich for $11 Billion

British insurer Beazley has been purchased by Swiss insurance conglomerate Zurich for $10.8 billion, a small boost over an earlier offer. The agreement will take Beazley private, and it will create a combined specialty insurance company with $15 billion in global premiums. Beazley is an 80-year-old company with a broad portfolio in tech, aviation, manufacturing, real estate, finance, energy and other industries. It is a participant in the Lloyd's market in marine insurance, specifically cargo and marine hull, and it...

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