Process News

On January 20, Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will sign contracts for the construction of vessels for the Mar Aberto Program, an initiative aimed at renewing and expanding the Petrobras fleet.Petrobras and Transpetro are contracting five gas carrier ships, in addition to 18 barges and 18 pushboats, in a total investment of R$ 2.8 billion, with the potential to generate more than 9,000 direct and indirect jobs.All vessels will be operated by Transpetro and built in shipyards in three states.

Together with its sister company Hanwha Ocean, Q ENERGY France, a Hanwha company, has announced its participation in the pre-qualification process to participate in a call for bids for seabed licenses to develop offshore wind projects in Nova Scotia, Canada.The move underscores the company’s ambition to contribute to Canada’s clean energy transition through large-scale, sustainable offshore wind developments.As part of the Hanwha Group, one of South Korea’s leading global business groups…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has opened applications for additional licenses to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel in the Port of Singapore.The license application is open to both existing LNG licensees and new entrants. This call follows the recent updates to the Singapore LNG bunkering licensing framework and standards, which now include the provision of sea-based LNG reloading and the supply of liquefied bio-methane and e-methane in the Port of Singapore.Licensees are required to implement end-to-end LNG bunkering supply arrangements…

Coach Solutions, a Kongsberg Company, and classification society ClassNK have partnered to deliver an automated emissions data verification process for their mutual clients.The companies said the process creates a seamless experience for shipowners and Document of Compliance holders who need to extract, standardize, verify and share vessel data for transparent use by stakeholders.The integration with ClassNK is a strategic partnership that, from January 2026, will further strengthen Coach’s mission to put practical…

WiseTech Global and Tailwind Shipping Lines, a subsidiary of Lidl, one of Europe’s largest retailers, have announced direct data integration to enable freight forwarders to plan, book, confirm and manage shipments in real-time from within the CargoWise logistics execution platform.Tailwind Shipping Lines operates three liner services which connect key regions across the world: the Panda Express Service (PAX) between China and the Mediterranean; the Tiger Express Service (TEX) between Bangladesh…

Singapore posted record port performance in 2025, supported by resilient global trade and fuel offtake.The nation achieved a record of 3.22 billion gross tonnage (GT) of vessel arrivals and 44.66 million TEUs of container throughput in 2025 – a 3.5% and 8.6% increase from 2024, respectively.Marine fuel sales also hit a new high at 56.77 million tonnes, a 3.4% increase from 2024, with continued growth in the use of alternative marine fuels, which increased to 1.95 million tonnes in 2025 compared to 1.35 million tonnes in 2024.On 14 January 2026…

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued approval in principle (AiP) to HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) for its new design of a floating offshore substation to support deepwater wind farms.The substation concept received a SMART (SHM) Tier 3 AiP from ABS. The approval acknowledges the proposed structural health management system’s alignment with the Tier 3 requirements in the ABS Guide for Smart Functions for Marine Vessels and Offshore Units.The recognition supports the system’s design to integrate high-fidelity measurements with predictive modeling…

A federal judge on Monday cleared Danish offshore wind developer Orsted to resume work on its nearly finished Revolution Wind project, which U.S. President Donald Trump's administration halted along with four other projects last month.The ruling by U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth is a legal setback for Trump, who has spent the last year seeking to block expansion of offshore wind in federal waters. It was the second time in four months the $5 billion Revolution Wind project has sought…

Oil companies aiming to participate in new exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro are in hasty discussions to find tankers and put together operations to transfer the crude safely from vessels and dilapidated Venezuelan ports, four sources familiar with the operations said.Trading houses and oil companies, including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura, are competing for U.S. government deals to export crude from Venezuela, sources said…

P&I correspondents are being urged to strengthen their payment verification procedures after a fraudster intercepted email communications during a sensitive crew claim and diverted a US$200,000 settlement, according to International Transport Intermediaries Club (ITIC).In a case cited in ITIC’s most recent Claims Review, a P&I correspondent was managing a sensitive crew-claim settlement when a third party intercepted email communications and began impersonating several individuals involved in the process…

Hanwha Defense USA (HDUSA), Hanwha Systems Co (HSC), and U.S.-based collaborative autonomy company HavocAI announced they will jointly develop 200-foot autonomous surface vessels (ASV).Hanwha is currently the only shipbuilder with an operational shipyard in the United States to enter into a joint agreement with an autonomous vessels company. Hanwha Philly Shipyard is under consideration to produce the 200-foot autonomous ASV.HavocAI recently closed a $85m funding round, publicly confirmed the sale of dozens of vessels to the U.S.

Underwater welding is one of the most demanding and hazardous tasks in the maritime and offshore world, relying heavily on a small, highly specialized pool of industrial divers. As port infrastructure ages and offshore structures expand, demand for underwater repair continues to outpace available manpower. A new research project out of Germany aims to fundamentally change that equation.Led by the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, the MARIOW (Maritime AI-Guided…

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today that it will reissue 56 existing nationwide permits and issue one new permit for work in wetlands and other waters that are regulated by Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and/or Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899.One existing permit will not be reissued.A pre-publication copy of the new final nationwide permit action is posted to the Office of the Federal Register website. The final action is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register in the coming days.

The quest to rebuild the U.S. iceabreaking fleet continues to move at lightening speed, with Seaspan Shipyards (Seaspan) signing agreements with Bollinger Shipyards (Bollinger) and Rauma Marine Constructions Oy (Rauma) to provide its Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design and associated supply chain packages to enable rapid construction and delivery of up to six vessels for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) program.Rauma will build up to two vessels in Finland with delivery expected in 2028 under the contracts formally announced by the U.S. Coast Guard last week.

Venezuelan and U.S. officials are discussing exporting Venezuelan crude to refiners in the United States, five government, industry and shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a blockade on exports imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump since mid-December. The blockade was part of rising U.S. pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that culminated in U.S.

Chinese multinational oilfield equipment and services provider Jereh Group has delivered slop treatment units and oil purifiers to CIMC Raffles for Petrobras’ P84 and P85 floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units, bound for deployment at the Atapu and Sépia fields, off Brazil.The equipment will support slop water and oil separation during deepwater production. The systems are designed to handle complex wastewater streams including deck drainage, machinery space oily water…

Empire Offshore Wind LLC (Empire) filed a civil suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today, January 2, 2026, challenging the U.S. Department of the Interior’s order directing a suspension to the Empire Wind project. As part of that case, Empire plans to seek a preliminary injunction and allow construction to continue while the litigation proceeds. While Empire continues to work closely with Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the other relevant authorities to find a prompt resolution to the matter…

On Friday, January 2, 2026, Orsted said  it was challenging the U.S. government's suspension of the lease for its Revolution Wind joint venture and would seek a court injunction against the decision to halt its $5 billion offshore wind project.The Trump administration suspended leases on December 22 for five large offshore wind projects that are under construction off the U.S. East Coast over what it called national security concerns, sending shares of offshore wind companies…

Norwegian offshore vessel owner DOF Group has secured a new four-year contract with Petrobras for the remotely operated support vessel (RSV) Skandi Commander.The contract was awarded following the same competitive tender process that led to six previous four-year RSV contracts announced earlier.The Skandi Commander will be equipped with both a Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), the latter being a unique feature of this agreement.The contract…

WAPS: Making the Wind Blow for Shipping’s DecarbonizationIn the evolving landscape of maritime decarbonization, few subjects are as timely or arguably as misunderstood as wind-assisted propulsion. Yet the shipping industry finds itself at a decisive moment, driven by regulatory tightening, customer expectations for greener supply chains, and an urgent need to manage escalating fuel costs. Wind-assisted propulsion systems (WAPS), and wingsails in particular, are no longer speculative technologies. They are proven, available, and scalable solutions ready to meet the moment, writes Dr.

The maritime industry is entering a new era of accountability. Environmental standards are tightening, customer expectations are rising, and regulatory bodies are demanding more transparency than ever before. From carbon reporting to waste documentation to diversity and inclusion expectations, the compliance landscape is expanding rapidly. What once felt like occasional paperwork now resembles an ongoing audit. For maritime organizations, the question is no longer whether these requirements will affect day-to-day operations, but whether crews and shore teams are trained to handle them.

With lower emissions and proven reliability, it’s the ready-now solution for cleaner port operations.As demand for cleaner energy grows, port authorities and terminal operators face the challenge of finding environmentally friendly options without increasing budgets or sacrificing productivity. Propane has met these performance criteria at ports for decades, powering everything from terminal tractors and forklifts to shore power and generators. It reduces emissions while ensuring critical operational uptime…

Oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel on Friday as investors weighed a looming global supply glut, while also keeping an eye on a potential Ukraine peace deal ahead of talks this weekend between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump.Brent crude futures fell $1.13 or 1.82% to $61.11 per barrel by 1:14 p.m. EDT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.13 or 1.94% to $57.22.While supply disruptions have helped oil prices rebound in recent sessions from their near five-year low on December 16…