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Oil fell on Friday as Middle East supply concerns eased after President Donald Trump said the US would not attack Iran before midterm elections next month and talked of "productive" talks to end their war that has disrupted global energy markets.Plans by China, the world's top oil importer, to resume refined fuel exports after a brief halt during its Golden Week holiday, also weighed on the market. Reuters reported the development on Friday, citing sources.Brent crude futures dropped $1.10, or 1.1%, to $103.18 a barrel by 1328 GMT.

A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, causing a fire that has since been extinguished, British navy affiliated agency UKMTO said, citing multiple sources.While there was no claim of responsibility, maritime security sources said on Friday that the strike was outside of the Hormuz area and indicated a widening of risk for ships.Earlier this week a tanker was struck off the coast of Qatar inside the Gulf.The status of the crew, extent of damage and environmental impact from the vessel struck on Friday remain unkno

The US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting individuals, networks and 17 vessels for transporting Iranian crude, oil products and petrochemicals, the Treasury Department said, as Washington stepped up economic pressure on Tehran.The sanctions are part of the department's "Operation Economic Outcast," which aims to cut Iran's funding for the war with the US, missile construction, cyberattacks and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC."Today's action represents…

Bollinger Shipyards this week welcomed Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Russ Vought, Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Kevin Lunday, and senior Coast Guard and Administration officials to its Houma and LaShip facilities for a firsthand look at progress on the Arctic Security Cutter (ASC) program.During the visit, Bollinger leadership provided updates on construction readiness, workforce development and infrastructure investments supporting the Coast Guard's next generation fleet of medium polar icebreakers.

The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command is a critical part of the United States’ national security equation, as any navy only goes as far as its supply chain allows. RADM Benjamin Nicholson, Commander, U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command, visited with Maritime Matters: The MarineLink Podcast, for a deep discussion on MSC, including changes in mariner pay and benefits that will enable it to attract and retain the seafarers it wants and needs.Military Sealift Command occupies an unusual position in the U.S. Navy enterprise.

Gecko Robotics announced a partnership with Anduril Industries to help accelerate American shipbuilding using advanced robotics, AI-powered software, and automated quality assurance. The partnership will support Anduril's Arsenal-2, a new software-defined shipyard in Baltimore County, Maryland, announced as part of the company's $3.7 billion investment to expand production for the Virginia-class submarine program. Gecko's technology will be deployed at Anduril's new 160,000-square-foot protofactory in Orange County…

US natural gas futures held near a two-week high on Thursday as a bigger-than-expected storage build last week offset the drop in output in recent days as energy firms reduced flows on offshore Gulf of Mexico pipelines ahead of Hurricane Isaias.Front-month gas futures for November delivery <NGc1> on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell 1.1 cents, or 0.3%, to $3.192 per million British thermal units (mmBtu). On Wednesday, the contract closed at its highest level since September…

Tankers are facing a higher risk of attacks and intimidation as they try to get critical shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran issued new warnings it would block routes that it has not authorized, sources said.Last week already saw the biggest number of attacks on tankers in the key waterway since the Iran war began - cutting the number of vessels trying to get through to the lowest in more than two months.Iran has now warned regional countries that any attempt to open new routes for oil exports would be considered hostile…

"During the first nine months of 2026, clean product volumes loaded on LR2 tankers fell 28% year-on-year following disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the lower volumes, tonne-mile demand increased 2% year-on-year,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.LR2 product tankers loaded on average 2.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) of clean products during the first three quarters of 2026, 0.8 mbpd less than in the same period of 2025. In 2025, more than 40% of clean product volumes carried by LR2s were loaded in the Persian Gulf, equivalent to 1.2 mbpd.

Oil prices settled lower on Wednesday following a choppy session after the International Energy Agency agreed to speed up a release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel in a bid to curb record-high fuel prices as the Iran war squeezes global supplies.Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled down 38 cents, or 0.38%, at $100.20 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 settled down $1.16, or 1.3%, to $88.28.The IEA said completing previously announced releases as quickly as possible could bring around 100 million barrels to market…

Turkey is sending mainly defensive and technical support to Saudi Arabia to help it fight Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, two officials said on Wednesday, after the NATO member and Pakistan pledged to act on the collective defence commitment of their newly formed alliance.Turkey, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August, under which an armed attack on one member constituted an attack on all. They have been working to set the parameters of the new alliance and have held political and military meetings in response to the Houthi attacks.On Monday…

Most Gulf stock markets ended lower on Wednesday as fighting between Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces intensified on several fronts.Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces are pushing a major offensive to retake ground lost to weeks of Houthi advances, backed by stepped-up Saudi air strikes.The Houthis struck Aden International Airport on Wednesday with ballistic missiles and explosive drones, Yemen's Transport Ministry said, marking a sharp escalation…

Transit routes in the Strait of Hormuz deemed illegal by Iran will soon be closed, an adviser to the Revolutionary Guards' Commander told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Wednesday, referring to the southern pathway hugging Oman's coast.Mohammadreza Naqdi said these "few routes" had been created by blasting and damaging some of the rocky passages in the strategic waterway and were used by "small boats smuggling oil and transferring it to tankers", challenging the narrative that Gulf oil exports are regaining pre-war levels."The Strait of Hormuz is closed…

Attacks on tankers sailing through the Strait of Hormuz hit their highest last week of any week since the Iran war began, according to maritime security sources tracking incidents, amid a bigger export push by Gulf producers.Attacks, attempted attacks and harassment activity including drone overflights, surveillance and hailing using VHF radio by Iran's Revolutionary Guards have persisted in the strait, the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said in a note on Sunday."These actions continue to demonstrate Iran’s intent to assert presence along key transit lanes and maintain pr

TOTE Services, LLC, a U.S. maritime services company specializing in vessel construction management and ship management, signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation - Maritime Administration (MARAD) to serve as vessel construction manager (VCM) for the Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel (MRIV) program. The MRIV will support the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in advancing national security. Immediately following this award, TOTE Services also executed a shipyard subcontract with Hanwha Philly Shipyard (HPSI) to construct the first MRIV.

A contract equipping US dredgers and support vessels with secure IT infrastructure has demonstrated the value of high-end network solutions – even as the maritime sector plays catch-up with modern cybersecurity realitiesToday’s ‘connected ship’ has access to more advanced technology and greater bandwidth than ever before. However, while these solutions have the capability to boost situational awareness and enhance ship-to-shore communications, the more systems installed on board…

Anduril Industries plans to invest $3.7 billion in a new Maryland shipyard to manufacture Virginia-class submarine components and other subsea systems, alongside a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $2.9 billion tied to production targets.The Arsenal-2 facility will be built at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, Baltimore County, with permitting and site preparation beginning immediately and initial operations expected in 2030.The combined public and private investment totals $6.6 billion, with Anduril set to build and operate the site. The U.S.

Oil prices climbed on Wednesday as the market weighed supply constraints from a storm heading for US oil-producing regions and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia against increased supplies of Middle East crude.Brent futures LCOc1 rose 81 cents, or 0.8%, to $101.39 a barrel by 0635 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 gained 61 cents, or 0.7%, to $90.05 a barrel.US forecasters said on Tuesday a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico would become…

In a spare few minutes I took a quick look at the U.S. Center for Maritime Innovation Report: Small Modular Reactor Technologies for Maritime Applications of May 19, 2026.As near as I can figure, it focuses on two major concerns with regard to the use of SMRs in commercial ships:1. Insurance obstacles and2. Possible adverse reactions by the public to nuclear commercial ships.That is weird to me, since my major concern would be that it is taking way too long to simply build a commercial ship with an SMR as its power source.

The disruption caused by the Iran war is forcing the energy industry to rethink its just-in-time approach to efficient supply chains and to consider investing in alternative routes which bypass the Gulf and the Red Sea.Attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have cut energy exports, boosting prices and inflation globally."The biggest lesson of the crisis is that we need not only to think to produce but also to export," said TotalEnergies CEO…

The US Energy Information Administration raised its oil price forecast for this year and next year on Tuesday, as global stockpiles fall rapidly and diesel markets remain tight due to the ongoing Iran war.Attacks on Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, a key export route for one of the world's largest oil producers, underscore the risk of further disruptions to physical oil flows and prices, the EIA said in its Short-Term Energy Outlook.At the same time, exceptionally tight diesel supplies are boosting demand for crude as refiners seek to maximize diesel production…

Incat Crowther will provide naval architecture and design services to America’s largest shipbuilder HII for ROMULUS unmanned surface vessels (USVs) being built under the U.S. Navy's Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel (MUSV) program.HII has been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to build the vessels, with Incat Crowther supporting the program through its Louisiana-based team as a member of the ROMULUS project team.ROMULUS is a modular family of AI-enabled unmanned surface vessels based on HII's open-architecture Odyssey Advanced Autonomy Solutions and designed to address current and emerging U.S.

Sanmar Shipyards will build six new tugs for FAIRPLAY Towage Group under a fleet expansion program covering vessels for harbor, escort and offshore operations, with deliveries scheduled throughout 2027 and 2028.The order comprises three Robert Allan-designed vessel classes with bollard pulls ranging from 80 to 120 tonnes. All six will feature IMO Tier III-compliant main engines, Ice Class notation and FiFi 1 firefighting capability.The largest vessel will be a RAmpage 4200 offshore tug with 120 tonnes of bollard pull…