Guardian News

Cellula Robotics USA Inc. has announced its role in delivering a long-endurance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) under a contract awarded by the Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) as part of the Combat Autonomous Maritime Platform (CAMP) initiative. Under the contract led by Metron Inc., Cellula Robotics USA Inc. will be responsible for delivery of a commercial off-the-shelf, fuel cell-powered Guardian AUV. The vehicle is designed for long endurance missions, with the ability to…

Thordon Bearings Inc. has partnered with the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) to launch the Thordon Bearings Graduate Scholarship, an annual award that will support exceptional postgraduate students developing solutions to reduce the marine industry’s environmental footprint.Made possible through a significant contribution from Thordon founder George A. “Sandy” Thomson, the scholarship is intended to inspire the design of greener, cleaner, and more efficient vessels.

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California had disrupted several major wildlife trafficking operations, including seizing hundreds of illegal products made from ivory, rhino horn, walrus tusks, suspected bear gall bladders, saiga antelope, and turtle shells.“The international illegal market for these products encourages poaching and threatens global biodiversity — California wants no part of it. We’re using every tool at our disposal to catch and shut down these trafficking rings…

Facing deepening fractures in the global trade order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint declaration that emphasized the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit on Saturday.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, hosted by South Korea this year, unfolded under the shadow of rising geopolitical tensions and aggressive economic strategies - ranging from U.S. tariffs to China's export controls - that have pressured global trade.Ahead of the gathering, U.S.

Interest in hybrid government and patrol boats is growing as boat builders demonstrate their many benefits.Launched last year at Seawork, Sweden-based Marell Boats says its M17 Patrol was the star of the show with its hybrid powertrain from Scania and propulsion system by Marine Jet Power.Like others in the patrol boat market, Project Manager Mario Celegin is seeing increasing interest in hybrid patrol boats. There’s a lot of reasons why: near-silent patrolling in electric mode…

Geoffrey Hinton, the godfather of AI, has compared developing AI agents to owning a pet tiger.Speaking this week at the World AI Conference (WAIC 2025) in Shanghai, Yicai Global reported him saying: "Our current situation is like someone keeping a tiger as a pet. A tiger cub can indeed be a cute pet, but if you continue to keep it, you must ensure that it does not kill you when it grows up.”He says there are two choices: either train it so that it doesn't attack you or eliminate it.“For AI, we have no way to eliminate it,” he warned.

Iraq’s state oil marketer SOMO has identified several tankers suspected of loading petroleum products illegally from the ports of Umm Qasr and Khor al-Zubair, according to an official letter dated Sunday and seen by Reuters.The tankers allegedly used advanced techniques such as Automatic Identification System spoofing to conceal their locations or alter their routes. SOMO said the vessels were not listed in its official loading schedules, raising concerns about unauthorized shipments.“These…

Optimarin has unveiled its latest ballast water treatment system, Optimarin Guardian, ahead of Nor-Shipping 2025. Designed to meet the evolving needs of vessel operators—specially in light of geopolitical uncertainty and rising energy costs—Guardian combines high treatment efficiency with low power consumption and reduced lifecycle cost.The launch is part of Optimarin’s broader strategy to respond to changing market dynamics through increased supply chain flexibility, expanded service offerings…

On World Donkey Day (May 8), international animal welfare charity, The Donkey Sanctuary, acknowledges Swire Shipping as the first global shipping line to commit publicly to a ‘No Donkey Skins Carriage policy’.In February last year, African Heads of State and Governments endorsed a continent-wide moratorium on the slaughter of donkeys for their skins at the 37th African Union Summit. The agreement was made in recognition of animal welfare concerns and the vital role donkeys play in supporting communities and economies across Africa.Millions of donkeys are killed for their skins each year…

In the demanding environment of ultra-deep waters, where reliability is paramount, Parkburn Precision Handling Systems and Scantrol AS have joined forces to deliver an impactful solution. This collaboration has enabled Stabbert Maritime Group's Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) Ocean Guardian to achieve successful operations since delivery over two years ago.Parkburn, an innovator in winching technologies and cable handling systems across the marine, industrial, and oil & gas sectors, often collaborates with specialized suppliers to enhance its systems performance.

Benny Cenac Jr.’s Houma based Main Iron Works Company has completed the 10th boat newbuild for Ingram Marine Group. This partnership with Main Iron Works and Ingram began in 2021 and included the construction of 10 new towboats to be completed by the end of 2024. The first towboat, the Adrienne M. Moore was delivered to Ingram on March 30, 2021 with the 10th and last - M/V David North - delivered on January 29, 2025.M/V David North measures 69 x 30 x 10.5-ft. and is powered by twin Caterpillar C32 800 hp tier 3 diesel engines. It has a pair of Northern Lights 99kw generators.

The Coast Guard gets its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years.The Coast Guard has accepted its first new polar icebreaker in more than 25 years, but it’s not really new. The 12,900-ton, 360-foot Anchor Handling Tug Support Ship (AHTS) Aiviq was acquired by the Coast Guard and renamed USCGC Storis (WAGB 21).According to a Coast Guard statement, “On Nov. 20, the Coast Guard purchased the M/V Aiviq, a 360-foot U.S.-built polar class 3-equivalent icebreaker for $125 million in a deal with Offshore Surface Vessels LLC.

As global reliance on subsea infrastructure grows, so do the risks. Discover how safeguarding undersea assets opens new frontiers for innovation and investment.Importance of Subsea InfrastructureSubsea infrastructure plays a critical role in maintaining the operational continuity of the modern society and the global economy. This vast network includes subsea data and communication cables, pipelines for energy transportation, electricity cables, and resource extraction systems.

Zelim, an Edinburgh-based maritime safety innovator, has appointed a former Commander of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Matthew Mitchell to lead its U.S. office as part of the strategy to open new markets for its man-overboard and security threat detection and recovery technologies.Commander Matthew Mitchell, who has 20 years’ service with the USCG, most recently as head of search and rescue and policy, joins Zelim as Director of Search and Rescue to lead the newly incorporated…

There is a small but global fleet of clean up boats preventing trash from flowing into the ocean. More than that, these battery-powered, autonomous boats are performing a growing range of other tasks.For the developers of Clearbot, the inspiration to be involved in removing trash from waterways arose from personal experience. They had watched villagers in India catching fish in rivers carpeted with trash and surfers in Bali manually hauling in trash from otherwise beautiful beaches.Samyuktha Sriram…

Esgian has no rig contracts to announced but provides an update on rig moves and drilling operations in the US Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Morocco and Norway in its Week 38 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report SummaryDrilling Activity and DiscoveriesExxonMobil has abandoned the Persephone C-54 well on EL 1169 in the Orphan Basin offshore Newfoundland, Canada.Seadrill’s 12,000-ft drillship West Neptune has resumed drilling operations on LLOG’s Who Dat South exploration well in the US Gulf of Mexico…

Zelim, an Edinburgh based sea survival innovator, has unveiled the world's first unmanned/manned remotely controlled person-in-water rescue vessel.The vessel, dubbed GUARDIAN, is 8.4 meters long, 2.5 meters wide aluminium hulled Next Generation Fast Rescue Craft (FRC), presented to the international maritime industry for the first time at the SMM Trade Fair, which is taking place in Hamburg, Germany.Specifically designed for rapid deployment from a ship to recover both conscious and unconscious man-overboard casualties…

Australian shipbuilding group Austal announced it has delivered the seventh of 10 Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats (ECCPB’s) it is building under contract to the Royal Australian Navy.Officially handed over at Austal’s Henderson, Western Australia shipyard, ADV Cape Solander is the first of two Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boats scheduled for delivery to the Royal Australian Navy in CY2024.“The Austal Australia team are continuing to demonstrate outstanding capability, productivity and efficiency with the Evolved Cape-class Patrol Boat Project…

Salvors have recovered Fiji's naval patrol boat RFNS Puamau, three weeks after the brand new vessel went aground on its maiden patrol.The vessel was successfully recovered from the reef at Fulaga and towed to the safe waters of Ogea Island where a thorough damage assessment will be conducted, the Republic of Fiji Navy said.RFNS Puamau is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to Fiji's Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March…

Australian shipbuilder Austal announced that the Australian Government has ordered two additional Guardian-class Patrol Boats from Austal Australia, valued at approximately A$39 million.The 39.5-meter, steel-hull patrol boats, to be constructed at Henderson in Western Australia and scheduled for delivery in 2026, are in addition to the 22 Guardian-class Patrol Boats previously ordered by the Australian Government under the Pacific Patrol Boat Replacement Project (SEA3036-1) since…

When a missile fired by Yemen's Houthi Islamists landed near his ship in the Red Sea, Costas Rassias vowed to stop sailing through the perilous waters."I froze," said the Greek 34-year-old second class marine engineer, describing the close call. "I weighed what was more important - my life, or a better income?"As attacks on merchant ships by the Iran-backed Houthis persist, traumatised seafarers are refusing to sail through the Red Sea, according to interviews with more than 15…

Responders are working to salvage Fiji's brand new naval patrol boat, which ran aground during its maiden voyage last week.The vessel, RFNS Puamau, is a Guardian-class Patrol Boat (GCPB) built by Austal for the Australian Department of Defence, which gifted the vessel to the Republic of Fiji Navy.Just months after the vessel's official handover in March, it hit a reef on Fiji's remote Lau group of islands on June 10, during its first patrol.Now salvors are working to recover the stricken vessel while minimizing environmental impacts, including a potential oil spill.

Closer international cooperation between naval missions in the Red Sea has reduced the number of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis over the past week, Greek Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.Greece is the home of the headquarters of the European Union's naval operation in the Red Sea, which is dubbed "Aspides" and in Greek means "Shields"."For us, it is a satisfaction that during the past week we see a notable reduction in the number and intensity of attacks.