Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Media Kit
bulker on fire after being struck off Oman

Thai-Owned Bulker Ablaze in the Straits of Hormuz With Three Crew Missing

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Newcastle Austrlia

Australia Bans Chinese Bulker for Nonpayment of Crew Wages

Published Mar 11, 2026 3:28 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has issued its first ban in 15 months, prohibiting a vessel from entry into the country’s ports. It was imposed on a Chinese bulker in what AMSA is calling an action to protect seafarer welfare. The Liberian-registered bulker Ocean Bright (75,621 dwt) departed Newcastle, Australia, on March 8 bound for China, and AMSA then issued a ban preventing the vessel from calling at any Australian port for six months. It said the vessel was directed...

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OOCL containership

OOCL Giant Loses Boxes Overboard in Northern Pacific

Published Mar 11, 2026 2:34 PM by The Maritime Executive

Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) reports that one of its ultra-large container vessels has suffered a significant container incident in the Northern Pacific as it was traveling toward the United States. The OOCL Sunflower, which has a capacity of 16,828 TEU, lost 57 containers overboard with additional damage on the vessel, but the full extent of the incident will not be known until a survey can be completed once the vessel reaches port. One of the company’s newest containerships, the...

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Bandar Abbas

U.S. Warns of Impending Strikes on Iran's Seaports After Iran Hits Salalah

Published Mar 11, 2026 2:01 PM by The Maritime Executive

On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command warned civilian personnel to stay clear of Iran's commercial seaports along the Strait of Hormuz, indicating the likely onset of a bombing campaign. CENTCOM accused Iranian forces of using the ports as staging grounds for Iran's limited, asymmetric naval operations. "CENTCOM urges civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating. Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel, and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment," the command...

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UKMTO

Three Ships Reportedly Hit in Strikes Near Strait of Hormuz

Published Mar 10, 2026 11:13 PM by The Maritime Executive

A container ship has reported an attack at a position just west of the Strait of Hormuz, according to UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). At about 0200 hours GMT on Wednesday, the master of a container ship reported that the vessel had been hit by an "unknown projectile" at a position 25 nm to the north of Ras al Khaymah, UAE. The ship was damaged, and crewmembers were working to determine the extent of the impact. All personnel aboard were...

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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...

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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...

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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

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...

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