Fincantieri Launches First Next-Gen Offshore Patrol Vessel for Italian Navy
Fincantieri has launched the first next-generation Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Italian Navy at its Riva Trigoso shipyard, marking a milestone in a four-ship program led by Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, a joint venture between Fincantieri and Leonardo.The vessel, named Ugolino Vivaldi, is the first of four units being built under a program assigned to Orizzonte Sistemi Navali — owned 51% by Fincantieri and 49% by Leonardo — by the Naval Armaments Directorate…
GLO Marine to Invest $7M in New Vessel Retrofit Hub in Romania
Retrofit specialist GLO Marine has announced a $7 million (€6 million) investment in a new integrated assembly and production facility in Galați, Romania, as it seeks to expand its end-to-end vessel upgrade and decarbonization capabilities.The new facility will allow the company to engineer, fabricate, pre-assemble and integrate complex retrofit systems under a coordinated delivery model. Construction is underway…
Seatrium Targets $40M Cost Savings in Continued Divestment Drive
Seatrium has put in motion a series of non-core asset divestments set to complete by early 2026, targeting over $40 million (S$50 million) in annualized operational cost savings.The Singapore-based offshore and marine group said the savings will follow recent divestments of the AmFELS yard in Texas and the GNL Platform Supply Vessels disclosed in 2025, alongside additional transactions earlier.The company said the divestments form part of its strategy to rationalize non-core assets…
SeaBird Exploration Nets Contract Extension for Seismic Survey Vessel
Norwegian marine seismic survey services firm SeaBird Exploration, part of SED Energy Holdings, has secured a contract extension for its Fulmar Explorer seismic survey vessel.SeaBird Exploration has signed a three-month contract extension for ocean bottom node (OBN) source work for the vessel in the Western Hemisphere.This extension now commits the 2009-built vessel through mid-June 2026, maintaining the same commercial terms as the original agreement…
Tidewater to Acquire Wilson Sons Ultratug Offshore in $500M
All-Cash Deal, Expanding Brazil FootprintTidewater Inc. (NYSE: TDW) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wilson Sons Ultratug Participações S.A. and its affiliate Atlantic Offshore Services S.A. (collectively, WSUT) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $500 million, including the assumption of existing debt.The acquisition significantly strengthens Tidewater’s position in the…
Passengers Evacuated from World Legacy
All 271 passengers from the Liberia-registered passenger vessel World Legacy have been safely evacuated.The fire occurred on February 20 while the vessel was en route to Singapore and resulted in the death of one crew member. The fire was brought under control by the crew shortly after.Passengers who required medical attention were attended to by paramedics, and four have been taken to hospital.Based on preliminary investigations, the fire occurred at the lounge area on deck nine of the vessel.
Call for Australian Government to Take Up Sustainable Seafarer Welfare
On the 20th anniversary of the Maritime Labour Convention, the NGO Human Rights at Sea has called on Catherine King, Australia’s Minister for Transport, to take action on the consistent provision of seafarer welfare services after an advocate has travelled the nation securing funding in the absence of federal government support.The February announcement that Flinders Port Holdings has committed $200…
Costamere Bulkers Reports Loss, but Solid Fundamentals
Costamare Bulkers has reported its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2025, reflecting on the company’s performance during its second full quarter as an independent, publicly traded company.Costamare Bulkers had no operating activity during the year ended December 31, 2024 and remained a wholly-owned subsidiary of Costamare Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed company…
Partners Study Year-Round Shipping from Canada’s Churchill Port
Arctic Gateway Group (AGG) has partnered with Canadian shipping company Fednav to examine the operational requirements that would be necessary to support year-round shipping from the Port of Churchill.The work for this review is underway and is expected to be completed this summer.Fednav’s work with AGG will focus on understanding the practical operational considerations of navigating ice-covered waters in Hudson Bay.
Indigenous Protesters Occupy Cargill's Santarem Port Terminal
Indigenous protesters have occupied Cargill's Santarem river port terminal in Brazil's Para state and "completely" interrupted operations at the site, the U.S. grain trader said in a statement on Saturday.The protesters forced Cargill employees to evacuate the private terminal on Friday evening, the firm said, adding that it is in contact with local authorities for an eviction to be carried out "in…
Australian Warship Transits Taiwan Strait
An Australian warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a government source said on Sunday, in the latest transit of the sensitive waterway by a U.S. ally that Chinese state-backed media said was tracked and monitored by the nation's military.In addition to claiming sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, Beijing views the narrow, highly strategic strait as Chinese territorial waters and has responded aggressively on occasion to foreign navies sailing there.The Toowoomba…
Supreme Court Wades in on US-Cuba Business Disputes
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to explore legal questions arising from the fraught history of U.S.-Cuban relations when it considers the scope of a 1996 law that lets U.S. nationals seek compensation for property confiscated by the communist-led Cuban government.The justices hear arguments on Monday in two cases centered on the federal law called the Helms-Burton Act, one involving U.S. oil major ExxonMobil and the other involving the cruise lines Carnival…
Greenland Says “No Thanks” to Trump's Hospital Ship
Greenland's Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Sunday "no thanks" to U.S. President Donald Trump's idea of sending a hospital ship to Greenland, a territory that Trump has repeatedly said he wishes to take over.Trump said on Saturday on social media he was working with Louisiana Governor and special envoy to Greenland, Jeff Landry, to send a hospital boat to Greenland."President Trump's idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted.
Xeneta: Weekly Ocean Container Shipping Market Update
“Average spot rates are down this week across all main fronthaul trades out of the Far East. From Far East to US West Coast and US East Coast, it is a textbook market development with falling spot rates coinciding with a slight uptick in offered capacity,” said Peter Sand, Xeneta Chief Analyst.“It is a different story from Far East to North Europe where offered capacity has decreased week-on-week but spot rates continue to fall.
Croatia to Allow Russian Oil to Hungary, Slovakia
Croatian pipeline operator JANAF must allow transit of Russian seaborne oil to Hungary and Slovakia, refiner MOL Group said on Friday, noting both countries have exemptions to EU sanctions on such imports.Hungary and Slovakia are scrambling for oil after the Druzhba pipeline from Russia via Ukraine was halted on January 27.MOL has contracted more oil by tankers from various countries, including Russia…
AKOFS Offshore Inks New Vessel Deal with Petrobras
Norway-based subsea well intervention and installation services company AKOFS Offshore has signed a firm contract with Petrobras for its Aker Wayfarer vessel.AKOFS Offshore, majority owned by Akastor, said the 2010-built vessel will continue to perform services as a Subsea Equipment Support Vessel (SESV) for Petrobras in Brazil.The contract, valued at $330 million, has a duration of four years, with operations expected to begin in September 2027…
Orange Marine Orders Two More Cable Laying and Repair Vessels from Vard
Norwegian ship designer and builder VARD has secured on order from France’s Orange Marine for two additional cable laying and repair vessels of the VARD 9 03 design, to be built at Colombo Dockyard in Sri Lanka.The vessels will be based on the same design as CS Sophie Germain, delivered to Orange Marine in July 2023.The order continues a long-standing collaboration between VARD and Orange Marine that began in 2012…
One Dead After RoPax Fire Off Singapore
A fire onboard the Liberia-registered passenger vessel World Legacy while it was en route to Singapore has resulted in the death of one crew member.The incident occurred on February 20 at about 4:00am (Singapore Time). The fire was brought under control by the crew shortly after.The vessel is in a stable condition and is currently anchored at Raffles Reserved Anchorage.Singapore MPA patrol craft, the…
Hanwha Ocean Partners with Ontario Shipyards
Hanwha Ocean and Ontario Shipyards have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to accelerate the return of large-scale shipbuilding in Ontario and to strengthen Canada's ability to deliver future naval programs.In parallel, Hanwha Ocean, Ontario Shipyards and Mohawk College have entered into a Letter of Intent (LoI) to establish an embedded shipbuilding training hub at Ontario Shipyards' Hamilton facility…
LR Verifies Performance Assessment Methodology for Jet Sail
GT Wings has secured Lloyd’s Register (LR) verification of sea trials performance assessment methodology for its AirWing™ Jet Sail technology.The announcement follows some 10 months of commercial operation of a 20-metre AirWing™ onboard MV Vectis Progress, a general cargo vessel operated by Carisbrooke Shipping.Installed in March 2025, the AirWing™ has been operating on live commercial routes across the Atlantic…