Shipping News

“Shipping has entered a period where complexity is building faster than it can be absorbed," said ABS Chairman and CEO John McDonald at the annual gathering of the ABS Hellenic National Committee. "Costs are rising and decision cycles are shortening. This combination is creating a widening gap between what is technically possible and what is operationally viable at sea. Closing that gap is now central to competitiveness.”McDonald expanded on the organization’s latest announcement…

U.S. oil and gas major Chevron will not consider paying a toll to move ships through the Strait of Hormuz, CEO Mike Wirth told Bloomberg TV on Friday.Wirth also said several vessels that transit through the Strait of Hormuz have been attacked in recent days.Perhaps not every day, but there have been "multiple incidents," he said.Chevron currently has six vessels under charter - belonging to a third party - in the waterway, Wirth said. It will be the ship owner who decides whether or not to move through the strait…

Two supertankers and one liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz earlier this week with their transponders switched off, and are heading for India and China, shipping data from LSEG and Kpler showed.The vessels joined a number of tankers leaving the Gulf this month, although oil and LNG traffic overall has still been limited.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Eagle Veracruz, carrying 2 million barrels of crude loaded from Saudi Arabia in late February, is heading to Quanzhou port in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.

CMA CGM delivered a resilient first quarter, but the numbers underscore the increasingly complex environment facing the global container shipping and logistics giant.The Marseille-based group reported first-quarter revenue of $13.23 billion, essentially flat year-over-year, while EBITDA fell 31.6% to $2.11 billion and net income dropped sharply to $250 million, down from $1.12 billion a year earlier.For the shipping division, the picture was mixed. Volumes rose 1.5% to 5.93 million TEU, but maritime revenue declined 8.5% to $8.02 billion as average revenue per container weakened nearly 10%.

French engineering firm GTT has an order from the shipyard Hanwha Ocean for the tank design of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, on behalf of a European ship-owner.GTT will design the cryogenic tanks of the vessel, offering a total capacity of 174,000 m3.The tanks will be fitted with the NO96 Super+ membrane containment system, a technology developed by GTT.Delivery of the vessel is scheduled for the second quarter 2029.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has signed its first annual contract for liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering for car carriers at the Port of Vancouver, expanding LNG fuel supply arrangements for its growing fleet of LNG-fueled vessels operating on North American trade routes.The agreement with Canada-based Seaspan Energy follows MOL’s first LNG bunkering operation on the west coast of North America in March 2025, which the company said marked the first such operation by a Japanese…

French engineering firm GTT has been selected by HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE), on behalf of the ship-owner BW LNG, for the tank design of the world’s first large-scale LNG carriers featuring a three-cargo-tank configuration.This new design will equip four new buildings - two vessels already ordered in November 2025 and two additional vessels ordered in May 2026.The four LNG carriers will be fitted with the GTT Mark III Flex membrane containment system…

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has helped establish a new industry consortium aimed at ending the fragmented way container stowage and lashing data is shared across the sector. The Lashing Exchange Format (LXF) Consortium brings together major classification societies and key software developers to create a common digital standard for transferring data used in container securing arrangements and lashing calculations. Stowage plans and lashing software are closely connected yet often treated as separate workflows because the industry has no standardised way to move information between systems.

INTERCARGO has published the first dedicated ship-to-ship (STS) transfer guidelines for dry bulk carriers, as such operations expand into new trading regions and offshore locations with limited port infrastructure.The ‘Ship to Ship Transfer Guidelines for Bulk Carriers’ establishes a framework for dry bulk STS operations, covering planning, risk assessment, maneuvering, fendering, cargo handling and emergency response procedures.STS transfers are increasingly used in dry bulk shipping where ports cannot accommodate vessel size…

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Registry’s long-term and consistent commitment to shipping continues to be recognized by the international community. The recently released United States Coast Guard (USCG) 2025 Port State Control (PSC) Annual Report recognizes the RMI as a qualifying jurisdiction for the 22nd consecutive year. The RMI is the only one of the world’s three largest registries to achieve QUALSHIP 21 for this year, and the only registry in the world to achieve 22 consecutive years.

Belgian tanker company CMB.Tech said on Tuesday its core profit more than tripled in the first quarter, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz curtailed available shipping tonnage, driving a sharp spike in spot freight rates.Shares of the large, diversified maritime company with a fleet of about 250 ships rose more than 5% in early Brussels trading.

The Zero Emissions Ship Technology Association (ZESTAs) launched the Global Liquid Hydrogen Alliance (Alliance), a new international platform dedicated to advancing pure green hydrogen and liquid hydrogen (LH2) as a deployable, scalable, and commercially viable zero-emission fuel for international maritime shipping.The Alliance launches as the transition moves from aspiration to deployment. At MEPC 84, the IMO’s Net Zero Framework emerged intact as the agreed basis for future negotiations…

A ship was reported seized by Iranian personnel off the United Arab Emirates and headed for Iranian waters on Thursday while the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed on the need to keep the nearby Strait of Hormuz shipping lane open.China is close to Iran and is the main buyer of its oil. Iran has largely shut the strait to ships apart from its own since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, causing the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies.The U.S.

U.S. import prices surged in April, with the cost of fuels posting the largest increase in four years, another indication that the U.S.-backed war with Iran was boosting inflation.Import prices increased 1.9% last month after an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in March, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast import prices, which exclude tariffs, would increase 1.0% after a previously reported 0.8% advance in March.In the 12 months through April, import prices vaulted 4.2%.

The Federal Maritime Commission is seeking applications for new members for the National Shipper Advisory Committee (NSAC).NSAC is a federal advisory committee that provides information, insight, and expertise pertaining to conditions in the ocean freight delivery system to the Commission. The Committee advises the FMC on policies relating to the competitiveness, reliability, integrity, and fairness of the supply chain.NSAC is composed of 24 professionals from across the ocean…

Spanish wind propulsion company bound4blue has signed a partnership agreement with LNG consultancy provider Cryosafe Services to support the application of its eSAIL wind propulsion technology on LNG carriers.The companies said they would collaborate on evaluating eSAIL integration and configuration options for LNG vessels, including operational factors such as vessel air draft, cargo operations, gangway entry and mooring line arrangements to ensure compliance with LNG terminals…

A Chinese supertanker carrying two million barrels of Iraqi crude sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after being stranded in the Gulf for more than two months due to the U.S.-Iran war, LSEG and Kpler ship-tracking data showed.The VLCC Yuan Hua Hu is now anchored off the Gulf of Oman, near where the U.S. Navy has set up a blockade on Iranian vessels, LSEG data showed.The crossing comes as U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are due to meet over the next two days…

As European and international shipping emissions rules continue to expand, maritime technology companies Awake.Al and Tidalis have announced a partnership focused on emissions monitoring and reporting for ports and shipping companies. The collaboration links operational port-call data with existing maritime operational systems to support automated emissions reporting.Awake.Al's emissions monitoring software will be made available in combination with Tidalis' vessel traffic services and port management systems used by ports, coastguards and maritime authorities worldwide.

Eni and MSC Cruises have completed a test of Enilive’s HVO biofuel in maritime transport, confirming the technical feasibility of using the renewable diesel in pure form to power cruise ship engines.The trial involved powering one of the engines on the cruise ship MSC Opera for about 2,000 hours using pure HVO without modifications to the engine, while performance and emissions data were monitored.The companies said the test demonstrated that HVO can be used immediately in marine engines validated for its use without requiring technological upgrades…

At a ceremony in Brussels, Danish shipping company Hafnia was selected as the recipient of the Diversity & Inclusion Honours in Maritime 2026.Hafnia won the award for their Hafnia Culture Lab research project conducted in collaboration with the University of Southern Denmark and the Danish Maritime Fund.Initiated in 2023 with independent research by the University of Southern Denmark, the study examined seven Hafnia vessels with crews of at least 50% women and included interviews…

German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday reported a first-quarter loss, citing the impact of lower freight rates and operational disruptions stemming from severe weather conditions and the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz on the back of the Iran war.The group posted a net loss of 219 million euros ($257.00 million) compared to a profit of 446 million euros in the first three months of 2025.Hundreds of commercial vessels and up to 20,000 seafarers have been unable to transit the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy-trade waterway that has been virtually closed since the U.S.

With demonstration projects now underway, including a nuclear-powered LNG tanker and an offshore vessel, the debate is shifting from whether nuclear shipping is possible to how it can be delivered. Jan Emblemsvåg, Professor at the Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU)'s Department of Ocean Operations and Civil Engineering in Ålesund, argues that the key barriers are no longer technical, but regulatory, commercial and political.Nuclear propulsion is returning to the…

Anemoi Marine Technologies’ Rotor Sail wind-assisted propulsion system has completed more than eight years of continuous commercial operation after M/V Afros successfully passed its second intermediate dry dock survey.The survey, conducted by Lloyd’s Register in China in April, confirmed the structural integrity and operational condition of the vessel’s four Rotor Sails, Anemoi said.The 64,000-deadweight-tonne Ultramax bulk carrier Afros became the first bulk carrier fitted with Rotor Sails when the system was installed in 2018.According to Anemoi…