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Sanmar Shipyards and Med Tugs have officially entered into a strategic agreement for the construction and delivery of two tugboats. Executed through the joint venture company SVS—comprising Vernicos Scafi, Spanopoulos, and Lyboussakis—the project marks an investment in the future of Greek maritime infrastructure.The vessels, scheduled for delivery in September 2026 and September 2027, will be stationed at the Port of Piraeus. Designed to handle the increasingdemands of one of Europe’s busiest maritime hubs…

Bahrain's effort to secure a U.N. resolution to authorise "all necessary means" to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz ran into new obstacles on Wednesday, underscoring divisions over how to deal with Iran's effective closure of the waterway that has resulted in the worst energy-supply disruption ever.Bahrain, which took over the presidency of the 15-member U.N. Security Council for the month of April, had circulated a fresh version of a draft resolution that dropped a previous explicit reference to binding enforcement…

Bahrain has circulated a revised U.N. Security Council draft resolution on protecting commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, retaining language authorising “all necessary means” but dropping an explicit reference to binding enforcement.Shipping through the waterway, through which roughly a fifth of global oil supplies pass and which underpins Gulf economies, has already slowed to a near‑halt after Iran struck vessels amid its conflict with the United States and Israel.Bahrain’s initial draft…

The United Arab Emirates has told the U.S. and other Western allies it would participate in a multinational maritime taskforce to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.The UAE is trying to push dozens of countries to create a “Hormuz Security Force” to defend the strait from Iranian attacks and escort shipping, the report added.The UAE has faced more Iranian attacks than any other country in the region, including Israel.Several U.S.

Bahrain has put forward a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would authorise countries to use "all necessary means" - diplomatic language for force - to protect commercial shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz, according to a text seen by Reuters on Monday.Diplomats said the draft text was backed by other Gulf Arab states and the United States, although they said it was unlikely to get through the council, where Russia and China had veto power.France circulated a more conciliatory alternative draft resolution…

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Tuesday, as renewed Iranian attacks on the United Arab Emirates heightened concerns about the worsening outlook for global supply if there is no quick resolution to U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week.Brent crude futures gained $1.33, or 1.3%, to $101.53 a barrel by 1515 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude advanced $1.21, or 1.3%, to $94.71.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of abating. While oil futures have not repeated the brief surge to nearly $120 a barrel from earlier in the month…

Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.The conflict has already imposed economic costs on U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump called on allies over the weekend to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian forces continue attacks on the vital waterway amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, now in its third week.Trump said his administration has already contacted seven countries, but declined to identify them. In an earlier social media post, he said that he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea, Britain and others would participate.Iran has effectively shut the Strait, a narrow passage of water between Iran and Oman…

President Donald Trump said on Sunday his administration is talking to seven countries about helping to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, calling on them to help protect ships in the vital waterway that Tehran has mostly blocked to oil tanker traffic.With the conflict creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to protect the strait."I'm demanding that these countries come in and protect their own territory…

This winter, ice on the Great Lakes is expected to impact a maritime economy valued at $35 billion. The wealth of data provided by space-based assets offers a potential lifeline for navigating these frozen waters. However, data alone is not a solution. Without the means to translate raw satellite feeds into actionable intelligence, it remains an untapped resource, a digital haystack without a needle.In response, and in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), Michigan recently turned to an unexpected source of innovation: a generation of digital natives.

The United States issued a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products currently stranded at sea in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilize global energy markets roiled by the Iran war.The announcement comes a day after the U.S. Energy Department said that the U.S. would be releasing 172 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve in an effort to curb sky-rocketing oil prices in the wake of the war in Iran.That…

Iran's U.N. Ambassador said on Thursday Tehran was not going to close the Strait of Hormuz, but added that it was Iran's right to preserve the security of the key shipping route.Amir Saeid Iravani made his comments to reporters at the United Nations when asked about remarks by new Iranian supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who said on Thursday that the "lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used.""We are not going to close the Strait of Hormuz," Iravani said.

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were subjected to unidentified attacks inside territorial waters, causing them to catch fire, Iraq's director general of the General Company for Ports Farhan al-Fartousi told Reuters on Wednesday.Iraq evacuated the 25 crew members from the two vessels and fire is still ablaze on both ships, he added.This follows news that three vessels had been hit by unknown projectiles, with one of the strikes leading to a fire onboard a ship which forced most of its crew to evacuate it.Meanwhile…

The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the risk of attacks is too high for now, according to sources familiar with the matter.The Navy's assessments spell continued disruption to Middle East oil exports and reflect a divergence from President Donald Trump’s statements that the U.S. is prepared to provide naval escorts whenever needed to restart regular…

Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the world's top oil exporter, said on Tuesday there would be "catastrophic consequences" for the world's oil markets if the Iran war continues to disrupt shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.Oil shipments have been largely blocked from traversing through the shipping artery, where normally roughly 20% of the world's oil would pass through daily. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday they would not allow "one litre of oil" to be shipped from the Middle East if U.S.

France is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict in the Middle East.Speaking in Cyprus before visiting the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which arrived this weekend in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron sought to reassure his Cypriot counterpart after drones were intercepted heading towards the island last week."When Cyprus is attacked…

Pakistan's navy has launched a maritime security operation to protect shipping lanes and energy supplies as regional tensions threaten key sea routes, the military said on Monday.The operation, named Muhafiz-ul-Bahr – meaning Protector of the Seas – aims to safeguard "lines of communication" at sea and ensure uninterrupted maritime trade and national energy supplies, the military's media wing said in a statement.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has disrupted oil and natural gas exports from the Middle East and forced production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq, with Kuwait announcing cuts over the weekend.Analysts predict that the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will also have to cut output soon as they run out of oil storage.Below are the main energy disruptions so far:PRODUCTION SHUTDOWNSIraqi output collapses: the country's oil production from its main southern oilfields has fallen by 70% to just 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) from 4.3 million barrels per day (bpd) before the war…

Oil prices rose 3% on Wednesday as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran disrupted Middle East supplies, but the pace of gains slowed from past sessions after President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. Navy could escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.Brent LCOc1 rose $2.67, or 3.3%, to $84.07 a barrel by 0659 GMT, after closing on Tuesday at its highest since January 2025.U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rose $2.24, or 3%, to $76.8, after settling at its highest since June.

The U.S. Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, adding he had ordered the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf.The move marks one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices amid escalating conflict in the Middle East that has raised risks to shipping through key waterways.Global crude prices have spiked since Israeli and U.S.

In December of 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard announced the award of two contracts to build up to six Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) icebreakers. The announcement declaring the vessels would be built between the United States and Finland in a major step forward for America’s national security in the Arctic region. The decision process encompassed more than the security of the Arctic passage. It announces a major shift in the U.S. Shipbuilding process. A second round of contracts were approved February 11…

The Pentagon is sending an aircraft carrier from the Caribbean to the Middle East, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday, a move that would put two carriers in the region as tensions soar between the United States and Iran.The Gerald R. Ford carrier, the United States' newest and the world's largest carrier, has been operating in the Caribbean with its escort ships and took part in operations in Venezuela earlier this year.One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity…

Saronic was selected to support the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Pulling Guard program, an effort to develop and demonstrate semi-autonomous escort systems designed to enhance the survivability of unarmed logistics vessels. Saronic will participate in the program under Focus Area 2 (FA2), where it will focus on designing an autonomy-enabled, modular vessel to address maritime security challenges.DARPA’s Pulling Guard program aims to develop semi-autonomous overwatch and escort capabilities, collectively referred to as the Pulling Guard system.