Agreement News

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the Strait of Hormuz was open following the agreement of a ceasefire in Lebanon, while U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come "soon", although the timing remains unclear.Araqchi said in a post on X the Strait was open for all commercial vessels for the remainder of the U.S.-brokered 10-day truce between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon.A…

Last August, U.S. Navy officials carrying out a test of unmanned vessels realized they had hit a single point of failure: Starlink. A global outage across Elon Musk’s satellite network affecting millions of Starlink users had left two dozen unmanned surface vessels bobbing off the California coast, disrupting communications and halting operations for almost an hour.The incident, which involved drones intended to bolster U.S. military options in a conflict with China, was one of…

NYK has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hokkaido Electric Power to conduct a study related to onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS) technologies.Under the agreement, the companies will jointly study a demonstration project in Tomakomai, Japan, focused on decarbonizing maritime transport.The study will run over a three-year period through fiscal year 2028 and will cover the design and operation of demonstration equipment to be installed on the coal carrier Pirika Moshiri Maru…

Maritime safety regulations are often shaped by hard lessons. Few accidents demonstrate this more clearly than the loss of the ferry MV Estonia in September 1994.Maritime safety regulations are often shaped by hard lessons. Few accidents demonstrate this more clearly than the loss of the ferry MV Estonia in September 1994.More than 30 years later, the incident is still a touchstone for passenger vessel safety. Many of the stability and survivability questions it raised are influencing…

Fincantieri and Princess Cruises signed an agreement for the construction of three new LNG-powered cruise ships. The vessel, part of a new “Voyager” class, will be built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone yard, with deliveries scheduled for 2035, 2038 and 2039. While financial details were not disclosed, the contract has been described as significant and remains subject to financing and standard conditions.Each ship will be approximately 183,000 gross tons and carry around 4,700 passengers, placing them among the larger vessels in the Princess fleet.

Seaspan Marine has entered in to an agreement with Hodder Tugboat to sell its legacy chip and hog fuel barge division, and remaining forestry industry transportation assets.The transaction is inclusive of the workforce, existing services and related assets, like coastal tugs, river tugs and barges, and associated maintenance facilities.Customers who rely on this vital service remain unaffected. Hodder is an established marine towing company based in Richmond with a longstanding focus on the forest industry, including the transportation of logs, timber and related forestry products.

Iran could consider allowing ships to sail freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack as part of proposals it has offered in negotiations with the United States, providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by Tehran said.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has resulted in the largest-ever disruption of global oil and gas supplies due to Iran's interruption of traffic through the strait, which handles about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows.Hundreds of tankers ‌and other ships and 20…

Ernst Russ AG has entered into an agreement to acquire four modern IMO Type II chemical/product tankers of the Intermediate class (18,500 dwt), with all four vessels secured under fixed charters of at least five years from delivery. The charter backlog of the Ernst Russ Group increases by approximately $126 million.The four newbuildings, built at Wuhu Shipyard Co., Ltd., China, feature a technical specification that clearly positions them in the premium segment:Twelve tanks with high-quality MarineLINE coating enable the transport of a broad range of cargo including vegetable oils…

Exmar said it has launched conversion works for a new floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to support the expansion of the EemsEnergyTerminal in the Netherlands.The move follows the signing of a conditional charter agreement covering both the extension of the existing Eemshaven LNG FSRU and a newly converted unit, with EemsEnergyTerminal expected to take a conditional final investment decision in the first half of 2026.Exmar said it has secured a dual-fuel diesel electric membrane LNG carrier for the conversion and has begun engineering activities…

Toyo Engineering Corporation has signed a memorandum of understanding with OneSubsea to explore collaboration in subsea carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.The agreement aims to combine the companies’ capabilities to develop integrated system solutions for subsea CCS, focusing initially on projects in Japan and Southeast Asia.The companies said the collaboration will explore opportunities in areas including system design optimization and marketing strategies for offshore CO2 transport…

Navigator Holdings has signed a non-binding letter of intent to sell eight gas carriers and its shareholding in a joint venture for about $183 million.The agreement with Bernhard Schulte and Sloman Neptun covers vessels currently managed under the Unigas International joint venture.Navigator said the proposed transaction would see it fully exit the Unigas pool, which will continue to operate with the remaining partners.The vessels, with capacities ranging from 6,800 cubic meters to 12…

Navantia UK has appointed Balloo Hire Centre, part of the Briggs Group, as its preferred hire equipment supplier for the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) program at its Harland & Wolff shipyard, building on a series of recent contracts with local suppliers.Balloo Hire Center, a long-standing partner to the Belfast yard, will support delivery of the FSS program under a service-level agreement covering 2026 to 2028. The agreement secures competitive rates over the period, with annual reviews…

Germany's coalition government has agreed fuel price relief for consumers and businesses worth 1.6 billion euros ($1.9 billion), ending a dispute over how to respond to an oil price surge triggered by the Iran war.The energy tax on diesel and petrol will be cut by about 0.17 euros per litre for two months, the conservative CDU party and its centre-left SPD coalition partners said on Monday.The Iran war has caused the biggest disruption to global energy supplies on record, with plans for a U.S.

An intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on a planned $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline will be signed this year, the head of Morocco's hydrocarbons and mining agency (ONHYM) said.Agreed a decade ago, the project - known as the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline - would run 6,900 km on a hybrid offshore-onshore route with a maximum capacity of 30 billion cubic metres (bcm), including 15 bcm to supply Morocco and support exports to Europe, ONHYM's Amina Benkhadra told Reuters by email.The pipeline, which has the backing of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has completed its

Continuous design refinement and incremental productivity gains — reflecting the Japanese concept of kaizen — alongside unremitting attention to contractual performance and product quality have seen the country’s shipbuilders maintain a high profile in certain sectors of the commercial vessel market.The industry’s scale, reach and financial returns, though, have suffered from the onslaught of competition from its Asian counterparts, most notably China and South Korea, both of whom the Japanese contend benefit from both overt and covert state financial intervention.By the measure of output…

In the world of large cruise ship construction, few yards operate at the level of Meyer Turku, which recently unveiled its 2025 results which serve as a turning point, not just in financial recovery, but in long-term strategic positioning.The numbers, at first glance, tell a familiar post-pandemic story. Turnover climbed to €2.14 billion, up more than 17% year-on-year, while adjusted EBIT reached €105.1 million, marking a continued recovery from losses just two years prior. But beneath the financials lies a more consequential shift: a yard restructuring itself for independence…

Wallenius Lines has entered into an agreement to acquire SOL Group’s shares in Wallenius SOL, becoming the sole owner of the company. The new ownership structure creates long-term stability, clarity and continuity for the continued development of Wallenius SOL as an enabler of sustainable, sea-based infrastructure in Northern Europe.Wallenius SOL plays a central role in building and maintaining logistical and industrial infrastructure in the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

Babcock International Group (Babcock) has agreed a two‑year extension to the Future Maritime Support Programme (FMSP) contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), ensuring the continued delivery of vital fleet and infrastructure support for the Royal Navy’s surface ships.The agreement maintains the full scope of the existing FMSP contract, covering ship engineering delivery and management for Type 23 frigates, amphibious warfare ships, Sandown minehunters and landing craft vessels.This work continues to be delivered primarily through Babcock’s facilities at Devonport and Rosyth…

Vineyard Wind has filed a lawsuit seeking to block a wind turbine-supplying unit of GE Vernova  from terminating agreements and abandoning work on a $4.5 billion offshore wind farm in Massachusetts on the eve of completion.Vineyard Wind, a joint venture between Spain's Iberdrola IBE.MC and Denmark's Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, filed a lawsuit this week in a state court in Boston accusing the GE Vernova subsidiary of wrongly trying to terminate their contract at the wind…

President Donald Trump said on Sunday the U.S. Navy would start blockading the Strait of Hormuz, raising the stakes after marathon talks with Iran failed to reach a deal to end the war, jeopardizing a fragile two-week ceasefire.The U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces would begin implementing the blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Monday.It would be "enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas…

Brazilian mining firm Vale has signed an agreement with China's Shandong Shipping Corporation to build the world’s first ocean-going vessels powered primarily by ethanol, as part of efforts to cut emissions in maritime transport.The agreement covers the construction of two Guaibamax bulk carriers under 25-year contracts, with delivery scheduled from 2029 and options for additional vessels.The ships will be capable of running on ethanol, methanol and conventional bunker fuel, with…

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday about the need for a plan to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz "as quickly as possible," following a U.S. ceasefire with Iran, Downing Street said.Starmer discussed with Trump the UK's efforts to convene partners to agree to a "viable plan" on restoring freedom of navigation in the waterway."They agreed that now there is a ceasefire in place and agreement to open the Strait, we are at the next stage of finding a resolution…

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz stood at well below 10% of normal volumes on Thursday despite a U.S.-Iran ceasefire as Tehran asserted its control by warning ships to keep to its territorial waters while doing so.Hundreds of tankers and other ships have been stuck inside the Gulf since the Iran war began on Feb 28, cutting global oil supply by 20% in the world's biggest-ever supply disruption. Prices for some physical oil grades hit fresh all-time highs on Thursday as the crisis showed little signs of abating.Iran must open the strait without conditions…