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

Report: Saudi Aramco Shuts Down Two Supergiant Offshore Oil Fields

Published Mar 9, 2026 8:46 PM by The Maritime Executive

Saudi Arabia has joined Kuwait and Iraq in beginning the process of drawing down oil production, a response to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a shortage of storage options. The Wall Street Journal has confirmed that Saudi Aramco has shut down the Safaniya and Zuluf fields, taking two million barrels per day of production offline. Safaniya is the world's largest offshore oil field, containing more than 30 billion barrels of oil in proven reserves, and Saudi Aramco...

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

Published Mar 9, 2026 7:01 PM by The Lowy Interpreter

[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...

French flagship Charles de Gaulle (Marine Nationale)

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

Published Mar 9, 2026 5:20 PM by The Maritime Executive

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...

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

Published Mar 9, 2026 4:24 PM by The Maritime Executive

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

Switch to Digital Speeds Up Certification for Commercial Divers

Commercial divers have begun 2026 with an exciting new system for certification. While many of the requirements remain the same, the real upgrade is in digital verification and approval time, which can now be measured in days. This approach is a light speed advancement in efficiency from the previous system in which the credentials of a diver were manually verified, sometimes taking up to 60 days. To keep this all in perspective, the USCG recommends that mariners start their license...

Tugs & Salvage

A small craft burns after being hit by a missile strike in the Eastern Pacific (Southern Command)

U.S. Strikes Suspected Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing Six

U.S. Southern Command has conducted another strike on a suspected smuggling boat in the Eastern Pacific, destroying the vessel and killing six male suspects, the command announced Sunday. The strike was the 45th lethal attack on a suspected drug smuggling boat since September. To date, the campaign has resulted in at least 157 fatalities, according to the New York Times, plus an unknown quantity of drugs destroyed. The Trump administration claims that the strikes (and a ramp-up in nonlethal Coast...

Government

EU Plans for Ship Scrapping Reignite Debate Over India's HKC Standards

A declaration by the European Union of plans to cooperate with India in ship recycling has ignited controversy over the country’s ability to dismantle end-of-life vessels in a sustainable manner. On March 4, the European Commission published its comprehensive Industrial Maritime Strategy, which sets out steps to reinforce the EU’s industrial sovereignty, trade and economic security. The strategy suggests that the EU intends to work with trading partners with ship-recycling capacity, starting with India. The EU’s plans to work with...

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

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

Shipping

Switch to Digital Speeds Up Certification for Commercial Divers

Tugs & Salvage

U.S. Strikes Suspected Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing Six

Government

EU Plans for Ship Scrapping Reignite Debate Over India's HKC Standards

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

Report: Saudi Aramco Shuts Down Two Supergiant Offshore Oil Fields

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

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...

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Trump Urges Foreign Ships to Resume Oil Deliveries to Asian Markets

Report: Saudi Aramco Shuts Down Two Supergiant Offshore Oil Fields

Cambodia's Blue Economy Problem

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

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

Switch to Digital Speeds Up Certification for Commercial Divers

U.S. Strikes Suspected Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing Six

EU Plans for Ship Scrapping Reignite Debate Over India's HKC Standards

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

Switch to Digital Speeds Up Certification for Commercial Divers

U.S. Strikes Suspected Drug Boat in Eastern Pacific, Killing Six

EU Plans for Ship Scrapping Reignite Debate Over India's HKC Standards

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

Report: Saudi Aramco Shuts Down Two Supergiant Offshore Oil Fields

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