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Sunday, April 26, 2026

Navy Ships News

17 Mar 2026

Trump Upset as Other Nations Reject Call for Hormuz Warship Escorts

Source: Pole Star Global

Several U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump's call on Monday to send warships to escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. president, who accused Western partners of ingratitude after decades of support.The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.The conflict has already imposed economic costs on U.S.

03 Mar 2026

Trump's Asian Allies Fear Iran War Will Sap Defenses Against China

© Alejandro / Adobe Stock

Japanese lawmakers reeling from attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel gathered on Monday at the ruling party's offices in Tokyo to question bureaucrats about evacuation plans, energy stocks and the legal basis for U.S. action.But one query posed at the closed-door meeting, described to Reuters by a politician who attended, reflected a deeper fear haunting Asia's corridors of power since Trump's weekend attacks unleashed chaos in the Middle East.How would the region respond…

01 Mar 2026

At Least Three Tankers Hit in Gulf

Source: social media

At least three tankers were damaged off the Gulf coast and one seafarer was killed as Iranian retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran exposed ships to collateral damage, shipping sources and officials said on Sunday.Risks to commercial shipping have surged in the past 24 hours, with more than 200 vessels including oil and liquefied gas tankers dropping anchor around the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, shipping data showed on Sunday.Iran has said it has closed navigation through the critical waterway…

19 Feb 2026

Op/Ed: Constellations of Disasters

Italian Navy Carlo Bergamini-class FREMM frigate ITS Carlo Margottini (F 592) sails near Cape Warth, North Atlantic Ocean, during exercise Formidable Shield 2023. Formidable Shield is a biennial integrated air and missile defense (IAMD) exercise involving a series of live-fire events against subsonic, supersonic, and ballistic targets, incorporating multiple Allied ships, aircraft, and ground forces working across battlespaces to deliver effects. (Courtesy photo by Italian Navy)

After spending about 3 billion dollars, the Constellation frigate program was shut down with absolutely nothing to show for it.The New York Times produced an Op-Ed titled “America can’t make what the Navy Needs.”That title may indicate the United States does not have the technical ability to build ships for the US Navy. However, the article itself clearly shows that the issue relates to the Navy not being able to figure out what it wants US shipbuilders to build.The Navy wanted US shipbuilders to build a standard design.

12 Feb 2026

No Major Injuries as Two US Navy Ships Collide During Refueling

© Adobe Stock/Alex Stemmer

A U.S. warship and a Navy supply vessel collided during refueling Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Southern Command told Reuters in an emailed statement on Thursday.The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Truxtun and the Supply-class fast combat support ship USNS Supply collided during a replenishment at sea, said the statement from the Southern Command, whose areas of responsibility include Central and South America and the Caribbean.

30 Jan 2026

The US Navy Contracting Approach Fails the Stability Test

That was then … Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro gives remarks at the keel laying of the lead ship of the Constellation-class of guided-missile frigates USS Constellation (FFG 62), April 12, 2024.
Source: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd class Jared Mancuso

In the 1990’s, my father was asked to attend a side shell damage on a US Navy vessel. The damage was caused by assist tug hard contact. He surveyed the damage and came back to the office to write it up. His partner Harry Ottaway saw my Dad’s commercial damage repair estimate, and said: “Henk it is a Navy ship. Double it, and double it again”. He did and came pretty close to the Navy’s claimed repair cost.This was not a complex damage, and in actual repair process was no different than the repair of a commercial vessel side shell damage…

03 Dec 2025

Taiwan Says China Sometimes Stages Mock Attacks in Strait

© atdr / Adobe Stock

China's military sometimes simulates attacks on foreign naval vessels in the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan shares intelligence with international partners when they operate in those waters, a senior Taiwan security official said on Wednesday.China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own, says it alone exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction over the strait, a major trade route for about half of global container ships.Both the United States and Taiwan say the strait is an international waterway, however.U.S.

16 Nov 2025

China Coast Guard Sails in Formation Through Senkaku Islands

© vadimmmus / Adobe Stock

A China Coast Guard ship formation passed through the waters of the Senkaku Islands on Sunday on a "rights enforcement patrol", the China Coast Guard said in a statement, as Beijing ramps up tensions with Japan over its prime minister's remarks on Taiwan.A diplomatic spat between China and Japan has intensified since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament on November 7 that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically-ruled Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.The remarks sparked an angry response from Beijing…

28 Oct 2025

Watch: Supplying America, Securing America

Source: AWO

The American Waterways Operators, the trade association of the American tugboat, towboat and barge industry, has released a new video on the industry's contributions to U.S. national and homeland security.The two-minute video, The Tugboat, Towboat and Barge Industry: Supplying America, Securing America, notes that while the mariners who transport cargo and facilitate commerce on America's rivers, coasts, harbors and Great Lakes are critical to powering the economy, they also play…

15 Oct 2025

China’s Move Against Hanwha Units Seen as Warning, No Immediate Impact

© PictureArt / Adobe Stock

China's sanctions against five U.S.-linked affiliates of South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean are seen as a warning gesture without immediate impact, and Beijing is unlikely to gain much by expanding them, analysts said on Wednesday.The move, announced on Tuesday when the U.S. and China began charging additional port fees targeting each other's vessels, comes ahead of an expected meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in late October to resolve…

14 Oct 2025

Maritime Fees Spiral Deepens as US, China Trade Blows

© Wolfgang Jargstorff / Adobe Stock

The U.S. and China on Tuesday began charging additional port fees on ocean shipping firms that move everything from holiday toys to crude oil, making the high seas a key front in the trade war between the world's two largest economies.A return to an all-out trade war appeared imminent last week, after China announced a major expansion of its rare earths export controls and President Donald Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Chinese goods to triple digits.But after the weekend…

02 Sep 2025

Venezuela's Maduro Says US Seeking Regime Change with Naval Build-Up

file photo (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph T. Miller)

The United States is seeking a regime change in his country with a naval deployment in the Caribbean, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday in a rare press conference.Tensions between the United States and Venezuela have risen in recent weeks amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S.

31 Aug 2025

US Builds Forces in Caribbean: Why?

file photo (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Ryan Williams)

A large buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Southern Caribbean has officials in Caracas and experts in the United States asking: is the move aimed at combating drug cartels, as the Trump administration has suggested, or is it for something else entirely?Seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, are either in the region or are expected to be there soon, bringing along more than 4,500 sailors and marines.U.S. President Donald Trump has said combating drug cartels is a central goal for his administration and U.S.

28 Aug 2025

Tensions Rise as US Warships Arrive in Southern Caribbean

A landing craft air cushion assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4, exits the well deck of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17) while in port. Photo by US Navy/Savannah Hardesty

Tensions between the United States and Venezuela are rising amid a large U.S. naval buildup in the Southern Caribbean and nearby waters, which U.S. officials say aims to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.U.S. President Donald Trump has made cracking down on drug cartels a central goal of his administration, part of a wider effort to limit migration and secure the U.S. southern border. While U.S. Coast Guard and Navy ships regularly operate in the Southern Caribbean, this buildup is significantly larger than usual deployments in the region.A U.S.

04 Aug 2025

Philippines, India Navies Hold First Joint Sail in South China Sea

© Adobe Stock/atdr

The Philippine and Indian navies have sailed together for the first time in the South China Sea, officials said on Monday, as President Ferdinand Marcos left Manila for New Delhi for a state visit.The Philippines has conducted "maritime cooperative activities" with foreign navies since late 2023 as part of its push to counter China's expansive claims in the waterway, including joint passages with treaty ally the United States, as well as Japan, Australia, France and Canada.An Indian official said the passage was in the West Philippine Sea and part of a bilateral exercise with Manila…

24 Jul 2025

Shipbuilding is a Leverage Point in South Korea's Trump Tariff Negotiations

Copyright Mirko/AdobeStock

South Korea and the United States havehttps://www.marinelink.com/news/hanwha-build-usflagged-lng-carrier-528214 been discussing a shipbuilding tie-up that could include investments to modernize U.S. shipyards and more help to repair the U.S. naval fleet as Seoul seeks better tariff terms, government and industry sources said.U.S. President Donald Trump, who has made revitalizing the aging U.S. shipbuilding industry a priority to keep up with China, has repeatedly raised the idea…

19 Jun 2025

Taiwan Welcomes Royal Navy Transit of Taiwan Strait

© Peter Hermes Furian / Adobe Stock

A British Royal Navy patrol vessel has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a Navy spokesperson said on Thursday, saying the passage complied with international law."HMS Spey's routine navigation through the Taiwan Strait was part of a long-planned deployment and took place in full compliance with international law," the spokesperson said in a statement.While Britain's Ministry of Defence did not say when the passage took place, Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement that…

22 Apr 2025

NAG Marine inks $28.5m Navy Contract for HMI's

Image courtesy NAG Marine

NAG Marine, LLC, a provider of shipboard automation and ruggedized computer systems for maritime applications, has been awarded a $28,591,735 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract by the U.S. Navy for the design, production, and delivery of advanced human-machine interfaces (HMIs). These interfaces will support propulsion auxiliary control, damage control, ballast control, and various other machinery systems across multiple U.S. and allied fleets.Under this five-year contract…

16 Feb 2025

US Drops Website Wording on Taiwan Independence

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 3rd Class Trevor Hale)

The U.S. State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, among changes that the island's government praised on Sunday as supporting Taiwan.The fact sheet on Taiwan retains Washington's opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.But as well as dropping the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence", the page has added a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S.

16 Feb 2025

China Condemns Sailing of Canadian Warship in Taiwan Strait

Historical photo of HMCS Ottawa (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jamaal Liddell)

China's military on Monday condemned the sailing of a Canadian warship in the Taiwan Strait, saying its air and naval forces had monitored and warned the ship, a mission that came just a few days after U.S. Navy ships made a similar mission.The U.S. Navy, and occasionally ships from allied countries like Canada, Britain and France, transit the strait, which they consider an international waterway, around once a month. Taiwan also considers it an international waterway but China…

11 Apr 2025

Estonian Navy Detains Russia-Bound Oil Tanker

The Estonian navy detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker on an EU sanctions list on Friday, accusing it of sailing illegally without a valid country flag. Credit: Adobe Stock/Stuwdamdorp

The Estonian navy detained and boarded a Russia-bound oil tanker on an EU sanctions list on Friday, accusing it of sailing illegally without a valid country flag.The vessel, the Kiwala, has been under EU sanctions since February as part of Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", a term Western countries use for ships they say Moscow deploys to circumvent international sanctions. The ships are typically not regulated or insured by conventional Western providers.The Kiwala was on its way to Russia at the time of the seizure, MarineTraffic data showed.

16 Mar 2025

Houthis to Escalate Attacks

© Dennis Gross / Adobe Stock

The United States will keep attacking Yemen's Houthis until they end attacks on shipping, the U.S. defense secretary said on Sunday, as the Iran-aligned group signaled it could escalate in response to deadly U.S. strikes the day before.The airstrikes, which the Houthi-run health ministry said killed at least 53 people, are the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since President Donald Trump took office in January. One U.S. official told Reuters the campaign might continue for weeks.Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday that his militants would target U.S.

02 Mar 2025

Norway Commits to Bunkering US Navy Vessels After Boycott Call

© Wojciech Wrzesień / Adobe Stock

NATO member Norway will continue to supply fuel for U.S. Navy ships, the country's defence minister said on Sunday, after a call from a private marine fuel supplier to stop doing so in response to the apparent breakdown in U.S.-Ukrainian relations."We have seen reports raising concerns about support for U.S. Navy vessels in Norway. This is not in line with the Norwegian government's policy," Norway's Defence Minister Tore Sandvik said in a statement."American forces will continue to receive the supply and support they require from Norway…