George Procopiou’s Dynacom Orders Eight Ships at Hengli in Near-$1B VLAC/VLCC Deal
George Procopiou’s Dynacom has placed another eight-vessel newbuilding package with China’s Hengli Heavy Industries in a deal reported at close to $1 billion, further expanding one of the industry’s largest owner-yard construction programs. Hengli...
Hydrogen Injection Without Replacing the Engine
Marine Hydrogen Injection Retrofit Hydrogen Injection Without Replacing the Engine: 10 Checks Before Owners Believe the Fuel-Saving Claim A 24% fuel saving on an 8,500-nautical-mile bulk-carrier voyage will get every owner’s attention. But the...
Japan Adds $635M to Shipyard Revival Push as Five More Yard Groups Win Support
Japan has approved a second round of shipbuilding capacity investments under its Shipbuilding Industry Revitalisation Fund, authorizing up to ¥98 billion, about $635 million, in government support for five plans led by Oshima Shipbuilding,...
Hidden Costs Behind Liquid Hydrogen Cruise Ships
Hydrogen fuel cell cruise ship Liquid hydrogen cruise ships are here. The hard part is everything wrapped around the 6 MW fuel-cell system. The headline sounds clean: hydrogen in, water out. Ship operators know...
Saudi Pipeline Outage Puts 4% of Global Oil Supply at Risk as Red Sea Route Tightens
Saudi Arabia faces the prospect of a sharp reduction in crude exports if its damaged East-West oil pipeline is not restarted within days after drone attacks forced the kingdom to shut the route. The...
Middle East Shipping Squeezed at Both Chokepoints as Houthis Tighten Red Sea Grip and Hormuz Attacks Continue
Yemen’s Houthis have expanded their physical presence around the southern Red Sea after seizing the port of Mokha, Mayun Island inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and, most recently, Greater and Lesser Hanish islands. Commercial...
Inside a Modern SIGINT Ship: 10 Systems Driving the New Naval Intelligence-Vessel Market
Naval intelligence-vessel supplier report Inside a Modern SIGINT Ship: 10 Systems Driving the New Naval Intelligence-Vessel Market Germany’s fourth signals-intelligence ship plan is a reminder that the most valuable equipment on an intelligence vessel...
Maintenance-Free Gyrocompass vs Traditional Gyro: The Marine Retrofit Cost Test
Marine gyrocompass retrofit The gyrocompass decision is moving from accuracy alone to lifetime ownership cost A traditional gyro can be a solid piece of kit, but shipowners know the rhythm: service windows, gyrosphere work,...
Suspected Pirate Hijacking of Bulker Glamor Reported Off Yemen
A suspected pirate hijacking involving the 24,073-dwt Glamor was reported in the Gulf of Aden on September 10 after the vessel was approached by an unidentified skiff approximately 98 nautical miles southwest of Al...
Bunker Strategy 2027: 8 Ways Owners Are Responding to Tight Fuel Supply
ShipUniverse Bunker Strategy Report | September 2026 8 Ways Shipowners Are Reworking Bunker Strategy as Marine Fuel Supplies Tighten Into 2027 There was a time when the bunker meeting mostly came down to price,...
Edge AI vs Cloud AI at Sea
A ship can have a fast satellite connection and still be a bad place to depend on the cloud for every AI decision. Connectivity at sea is better than it has ever been. So...
Drewry WCI Holds at $4,476 as U.S. Container Rates Rise and Europe Lanes Slide
Drewry’s World Container Index held essentially flat for a second week, with the September 10 reading at $4,476 per 40-foot container compared with $4,465 a week earlier, an increase of about 0.2% that Drewry...
$900M Montevideo Container Terminal Proposed as Neltume Targets 1.15M TEU Capacity
Neltume Ports, the majority shareholder of Montecon, has formally submitted a proposal to Uruguay’s government for a new $900 million specialized container terminal at the Port of Montevideo. The planned Montevideo Container Terminal would...
Low-Water River Cruising & 8 Vessel Technologies That Could Protect Itineraries and Revenue
River Cruise Resilience Low-water river cruising: 8 vessel technologies that could protect itineraries and revenue. Low water does not cancel a river cruise all at once. It chips away at the product: one missed...
Naval Shipboard 5G: Key Systems That Could Benefit From Private High-Speed Networks
Naval shipboard network procurement report Naval shipboard 5G is not about faster sailor phones The real case for private shipboard 5G is not browsing speed. It is whether a warship can move video, sensor...
Fire Safety: 25 Killed at Qingdao Shipyard as Fires Hit Ferries, Tankers and Cargo Ships
A fire aboard the 55,742-dwt bulk carrier Ocean Melody killed 25 people while the Liberian-flagged vessel was undergoing repair and inspection work at CSSC’s Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding yard in China on September 10. The...
Arctic LNG 2 Hits Hanwha Ocean With Another $1bn Claim Over Canceled Arc7 Tankers
Russia’s Arctic LNG 2 has opened a new arbitration against South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, seeking an initial $1 billion in damages over alleged breaches of Step-In Agreements...
Can Variable-Speed Gensets Cut Ship Fuel Use 15%? 7 Vessel Types to Watch
Variable-Speed Gensets vs Constant-Speed Generators: 7 Vessel Types Where the Retrofit Could Pay First A generator running at full synchronous speed does not care that the ship only needs a quarter of its rated...
Purchasing Tasks Fleets Can Automate Before Touching Bridge Autonomy as AI Procure-to-Pay for Ships Moves Forward
Bridge autonomy can wait. One of shipping’s more immediate AI opportunities is sitting in the purchasing inbox. A vessel can have modern machinery automation while its shore team still copies supplier quotes from PDFs,...
Brent Breaks $100 as Bunker Costs Surge and 2027 Outlook Shifts
Marine fuel markets moved sharply higher on September 9 as renewed attacks on tankers and energy infrastructure in the Middle East pushed front-month Brent crude to a $101.21-per-barrel close and WTI to $96.05, their...
22 MW Cruise Ship Pods Are Here and The Key Questions Owners Need to Ask Before Choosing Next-Generation Pod Propulsion
Cruise Ship Pod Propulsion 22 MW cruise pods are here. The decision is bigger than choosing a propulsor. Pod propulsion sits where a cruise ship’s money, comfort and risk all meet. The pod affects...
Austal USA Draws $1.25B-$1.35B U.S. Bid, Topping Hanwha Offer
Austal has received a new non-binding proposal from U.S.-based Wildcat Infrastructure LLC to acquire Austal USA at an enterprise value of US$1.25 billion to US$1.35 billion, putting the entire Wildcat range above Hanwha Defence...
7 Reasons Navies Keep Buying Proven Gas Turbines for Next-Generation Warships
Naval propulsion procurement report Old engine, new destroyer The surprise is not that a next-generation destroyer still needs a gas turbine. The surprise is how often the safest futuristic ship begins with a proven...
Rotterdam World Gateway Secures Largest Financing Yet for €500M Expansion Toward 5M TEU
Rotterdam World Gateway has completed the largest financing in its history to support the next stage of its automated container terminal expansion at Maasvlakte 2, combining a senior U.S. private placement with a subordinated...
Hormuz Tanker War Erupts, Trading Blows in the Biggest Wave Yet
The Hormuz conflict has moved into a more dangerous phase as both sides target shipping, energy assets and military-linked vessels in the same compressed waterway. U.S. forces said they destroyed five Iranian oil tankers...
7 Remote Ship Inspection Technologies Cutting Tank, Hold and Hull Survey Costs
Remote Ship Inspections Are Starting to Attack the Expensive Part of the Survey A surveyor looking at steel has never been the expensive bit. Getting him close enough to look at it is. Scaffolding...
9 Maritime Uses Owners Can Buy Today as Digital Twins Move Beyond the 3D Model
Maritime digital twins The useful digital twin is not the prettiest 3D model. It is the one that changes the next decision. Owners do not need another glossy rendering of a vessel. They need...
AEVEX’s $650 Million BlackSea Deal Turns Drone Boats Into a Defense Scale Race
AEVEX has completed its acquisition of BlackSea Technologies, closing a deal worth up to $650 million and giving the defense technology company a much larger position in maritime autonomy. BlackSea now becomes AEVEX’s Maritime...
Greece Finalizes Acquisition of Two Italian FREMM Frigates With 2028 and 2029 Deliveries
Greece and Italy have formally activated the transfer of two Italian Navy Bergamini-class FREMM frigates, completing the legal, financial and technical framework for one of Athens’ fastest major surface-combatant acquisitions in years. The Implementing...
Air Lubrication vs Silicone Coatings vs Thruster Grids: Which Cruise Efficiency Upgrade Wins?
Cruise Efficiency Upgrade Comparison Air lubrication, silicone coatings and thruster grids all cut drag. They do not win on the same ship. Underwater efficiency is where cruise operators can still find real fuel savings...