Baltic News

Russia's seaborne diesel and gasoil exports fell 3% in March from February to around 3.06 million metric tons as repeated drone attacks disrupted fuel loadings at key ports, data from market sources and LSEG showed.Ultra-low-sulphur diesel shipments from the Baltic port of Primorsk, Russia's biggest outlet for diesel exports, fell to 1.713 million tons, down 2.6% from February, the sources said.The Russian Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga were repeatedly hit by Ukrainian drone attacks last week.On March 22, the two ports suspended oil and fuel loadings following drone attacks.

More than two dozen ships sanctioned for being part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet have passed through UK waters since Prime Minister Keir Starmer last week authorised the military to detain vessels used by Moscow to export oil.The figures based on ship tracking data analysed by Reuters show that oil tankers sanctioned by Britain are continuing to travel along England's southern coast in the same numbers as before the announcement.British officials said almost a week ago that…

As the world's ship recycling markets emerge from the Eid al-Fitr holidays, they do so into an environment that continues to generate more questions than answers, says cash buyer GMS.“The post-holiday reopening, always anticipated as a potential catalyst for pent-up activity, has instead delivered something more characteristic of the broader 2026 narrative: confusion. Steel plate prices played opposite roles in Pakistan and India this week, as Indian levels recorded an impressive jump while Pakistani levels continued to bleed, declining non-stop over the course of the last month now.

Russia's Baltic Ust-Luga port, one of its largest petroleum export hubs, was damaged again on Sunday by a Ukrainian drone attack which sparked a blaze later brought under control, Russian officials said.It followed several Ukrainian drone strikes last week on Russia’s western energy corridor when facilities at the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk came under fire, igniting storage tanks and forcing a suspension of oil and oil product loadings.The regional governor of Leningrad said…

Russian oil producers have warned buyers they could declare force majeure on supplies from major Baltic Sea ports as Ukraine presses ahead with attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, two industry sources said on Friday.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Reuters this week that Kyiv was using long-range strikes to maintain pressure on Russia after international oil sanctions on Moscow were eased due to global supply disruptions caused by the Iran war.Ukrainian drones on Friday targeted the port in Ust-Luga, where a fire caused by a previous strike on Wednesday was still raging, the

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the U.S. has been seeking control over the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which were damaged by mysterious blast in September 2022.Explosions that destroyed the pipelines more than three years ago largely severed Russian gas transit to Europe, squeezing energy supplies on the continent although Russia had already largely stopped deliveries.Russia and Western countries have both said the incident was an act of sabotage.

Oil prices slid about 4% on Wednesday on reports that the U.S. had sent Iran a 15-point proposal aimed at ending the war, prompting talk of progress toward a ceasefire.Brent futures fell 3.96, or 3.8%, to $100.53 a barrel at 10:41 a.m. EDT (1441 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $3.57, or 3.9%, to $88.78.Pakistan has delivered a U.S. proposal to Iran, and either Pakistan or Turkey could be a venue for discussions to de-escalate the war, a senior Iranian…

Mark Offshore has agreed with Klaipėda University to operate the research vessel Mintis, expanding its fleet and strengthening its position in offshore renewables and subsea support services.Under the agreement, the Lithuanian university has appointed Mark Offshore as commercial and operational manager for the vessel’s activities within the renewables and energy sectors.The addition of Mintis is aimed at supporting offshore wind, marine survey and nearshore energy projects, as…

A fire broke out at Russia's Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, a major oil export hub, after a major Ukrainian drone attack, Russian officials said on Wednesday.Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on Russian oil refineries and export routes over recent weeks in an attempt to weaken Russia's war economy.Ust-Luga and Primorsk, on the Gulf of Finland, were forced to suspend exports of oil and crude on Sunday after drone attacks but they had restarted loadings on Monday, Reuters reported.But Alexander Drozdenko…

On March 12, Havariekommando, Germany’s Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME), held a naming ceremony for its latest vessel, a Damen Multi Cat (MuC) 2309. The vessel, named Lütt Matten, will operate out of Sassnitz on the Baltic island of Rügen, providing emergency response capabilities. Havariekommando is responsible for performing maritime emergency management in the German Baltic and North Seas. The Damen MuC 2309 is a versatile vessel providing the capability to perform a wide range of duties including transport, monitoring and oil spill recovery.

Oil prices dropped about 8% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would postpone any military strikes against Iranian power plants for five days and cited constructive talks to resolve hostilities in the Middle East, hours before a deadline that threatened to escalate the four-week-old war.Brent futures fell $8.92, or 8.0%, to $103.27 a barrel at 12:31 p.m. EDT (1631 GMT), while U.S. West Texas Intermediate lost $7.17, or 7.3%, to $91.06.Extreme price changes in…

Eid al-Fitr has arrived to greet the world's ship recycling markets this week, and as is tradition, it came bearing the gift of silence, reports cash buyer GMS. “From Chattogram to Gadani, Alang to Aliağa, the holy festival has pressed pause on an industry that was already beginning to feel the compounding weight of war, currency volatility, and a stubborn absence of fresh tonnage offerings.”The ongoing conflict in the Middle East, which has now stretched into its third week following the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran…

Aker Solutions has been awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract by KN Energies to support the development of the company’s CO₂ transshipment terminal infrastructure project in Klaipėda, Lithuania.The project forms part of the CCS Baltic Consortium, which aims to develop the first cross-border carbon capture, transport, and storage (CCS) network in the Baltic region. The Klaipėda terminal infrastructure development is recognized as a project of common interest…

"During the first 11 weeks of 2026, bauxite shipments have surged 16% y/y, driven by strong Chinese demand for Guinean cargoes. Guinean bauxite has remained highly competitive, accounting for 79% of shipments and pushing non-Guinean bauxite shipments down 3% y/y. Bauxite has been one of the fastest growing dry bulk commodities, growing 10% on average between 2021 and 2025,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Rising bauxite shipments are driven by China’s need…

The Swedish coast guard said on Thursday it boarded and took control of a suspected stateless vessel in Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea, in the second such incident in less than a week.The 228-meter-long (250 yards) tanker Sea Owl I was flying the Comorian flag, and the coast guard said it suspected the ship was sailing under a false flag.The ship is also on the sanctions list of several countries, including the EU."The threats to maritime safety and the environment are too high," said Daniel Stenling, deputy chief of operations at the coast guard.

Scandlines has put its new ferry, The Baltic Whale, into service on the Rødby-Puttgarden route from Denmark to Germany.The ferry marks an important step towards the company’s long-term goal of sailing without direct emissions by 2040 and strengthening capacity for freight customers. The Baltic Whale is among the world’s largest ferries that can operate solely on shore-based electricity.The Baltic Whale has one of the world's largest battery systems on board a ferry and can operate without direct emissions during normal operation.

German ferry operator TT-Line has revealed that its ro-ro passenger vessels, Nils Holgersson and Peter Pan, successfully operated on bio-LNG during 2025, enjoying a significant emissions reduction.The 230-metre vessels were commissioned in 2022 and 2023 respectively and are powered by 2 × 8L51/60DF + 2 × 6L51/60DF engines each. They trade in the Baltic Sea between Germany, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania.TT-Line and Everllence collaborated on continuous emission-measurements on board…

The Swedish coast guard said it boarded and took control of a suspected stateless vessel in Swedish waters of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and it was carrying out investigations on the ship."At 3:50 p.m. today, the Coast Guard took control of a vessel with unclear flag status and thus suspected of being a stateless vessel," it said in a statement, adding that the boarding had taken place off the coast of the southern Swedish town Trelleborg.The ship Caffa was sailing under a Guinean flag…

Russian flagship Urals oil is selling at a premium to the Brent international benchmark at delivery in Indian ports for the first time ever, fuelled by rising demand due to the Iran war, traders said on Friday.The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, which began a week ago, has choked the Strait of Hormuz, the main route for global oil.Russian oil had traded at a discount of several U.S. dollars per barrel to Brent in Indian ports since the start of conflict in Ukraine in 2022 as Russia diverted oil sales to Asia after the EU imposed an embargo on Russian sales.

Russia has been unable to capitalize on this week's surge in global crude prices, as days of Ukrainian drone attacks and harsh winter storms have sharply curtailed its capacity to export oil, industry sources said.Russia's Sheskharis oil terminal in Novorossiysk port suspended oil loadings on Monday after a Ukrainian drone attack left a fuel terminal ablaze and damaged dozens of buildings, Russian and Ukrainian officials and three trade sources said.Crude oil benchmarks rose about 8% on Tuesday…

The chaos in the Middle East is leaving regional and international markets bracing for the inevitable whirlpool of global insanity that is about to suck the entire world into short-term (at the very least) tumult, reports cash buyer GMS.Oil was already on its way up during the week, but as the weekend came around, it spiked over 10%, jumping from around USD 63/barrel last week to nearly USD 71.90/barrel (at the time of writing). The Baltic Exchange was also on its way up (rising 1.1%) but remained comparatively subdued in comparison to oil futures…yet.The Cape…

Dutch offshore services provider Boskalis, in consortium with TKF Subsea Solutions, has signed a contract with OWP Gennaker, as developed by Skyborn Renewables, for the supply and installation of inter-array cables for the Gennaker offshore wind farm in the German Baltic Sea.The contract for around 140 kilometers of 66 kilovolt inter-array cables has been classified by Boskalis as sizable, carrying a value between $58 million and $177 million (€50 million and €150 million).Under the agreement…

International market turmoil from the direct / indirect imposition of global tariffs and related actions saw a crazy Week 8 wind up in 2026, as freight rates and oil prices both moved up and subsequently down, reports cash buyer GMS.As oil rose above USD 63/barrel from last week to well over USD 66/barrel this week, it retreated back down to USD 65.93/barrel by week’s end, amid investors and forecasters increasingly weighing the possibility of Trump launching another confounding attack against Iran…