Four shipowners from Sweden, Norway and Canada have ordered four new VINGA product tankers for delivery in 2028 and 2029, expanding the Furetank-developed vessel series to 26 ships.Two of the vessels will be owned by FureBear, a joint venture between Sweden's Furetank and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, while Norway's O.H. Meling and Sweden's Älvtank will each take one.The order marks O.H. Meling's first investment in the VINGA series, while Älvtank already owns three of the vessels.The four 17,999-dwt product tankers will be built at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, China.
Finland's Steerprop won an order to supply complete propulsion packages for four Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) being built for the US Coast Guard by Bollinger Shipyards. Each vessel will be equipped with two Steerprop Contra-Rotating Propellers (CRP) azimuth propulsors and two tunnel thrusters. The vessels will be built to an existing Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design. During the selection process, Steerprop demonstrated that its dual-end propeller CRP concept delivered significantly higher thrust and improved efficiency compared to conventional single-propeller solutions in an MPI
Iran condemned the United States' new economic sanctions on Friday as "state terrorism" and said other countries were legally obliged not to implement them, while the U.S. Treasury Department announced additional targeted Iran-related measures.The Iranian foreign ministry's statement came as mediators stepped up efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which handled 20% of world oil supplies before the war began six months ago and whose status remains the biggest obstacle to a peace deal.
Bencros Marine Fenders, a Slovakia-based manufacturer of rubber fenders for ports, tugs and workboats, announced at the SMM Start-up Night in Hamburg that the CO2 savings embedded in its fenders are now independently verified and can be transferred to its customers as certified emission reductions. The first certificates go live on September 2, 2026 on the registry of carbon standard Proba.Bencros manufactures fenders from rejected rubber compounds sourced from tire factories and industrial rubber production, blended with rubber powder from grinded end-of-life tires.
Shipbuilding rewards experience, but today's rapidly evolving maritime market increasingly demands something else: a willingness to build ships that have never been built before.For Türkiye's RMK Marine, that combination of experience and experimentation is defining its position in the global shipbuilding market. RMK Marine, as one of Türkiye’s leading shipyards, has the capability to build vessels up to 200 meters in length and 28,000 DWT, operating within modern shipyard facilities covering a total area of 160,000 m² in Tuzla/Istanbul and Yalova.
Rather than pinning its decarbonization hopes on future tonnage, shipping can pursue its goals today by retrofitting available technology to existing, conventionally fueled vessels, explains David Sakandelidze, Business Manager for Energy and Efficiency, Berg Propulsion.The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) target for net-zero emissions from ships by around 2050 is now only 24 years away—less than the average lifetime of a commercial ship. Today, 112,000 active vessels emit approximately 1.05 billion metric tons of combined annual emissions.
The following article is an op-ed piece from Andrei Barotov and Kristiina Peterson, Chief Specialists of Maritime Competitiveness at the Estonian Transport AdministrationLeveraging its ‘e-Estonia’ digital society initiative, the government of Estonia is preparing to extend the digital reach of EST Flag ship registration services, while also expanding its tonnage eligibility. Andrei Barotov and Kristiina Peterson, Chief Specialists of Maritime Competitiveness at the Estonian Transport Administration, explainsLaunched in 2020 as part of Estonia’s broad-based Shipping Package 1.
The Iran war's redrawing of the global trade map is forcing Gulf nations to retool their investment play book, ploughing capital into infrastructure, from energy pipelines to ports, to weather the fallout from the conflict.The war has highlighted the Gulf's overreliance on the Strait of Hormuz, previously a chokepoint for 20% of global oil flows but also subject for decades to Iranian threats of disruption.With the strait virtually blocked for much of the past six months
Iran is preparing a list of conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz after mediators asked Tehran to set them out, said Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, adding that ending the regional war was among them.Rezaei said Iran had agreed with Oman on a shipping corridor through the strait, with parts of the route in Omani waters and parts in Iranian waters. Ships would use a designated central channel if the U.S. met Iran's conditions, he said through an interpreter in an Al Manar TV interview.
Sanmar celebrated the delivery of a second tugboat to Ultratug, a leading operator in the Americas, at a special ceremony held at its Altinova Shipyard on August 11, 2026.The tug, UT AMAZONAS, will operate in Colombia and is the sister vessel to UT PATZCUARO, the first tug that Sanmar built for Ultratug, which was delivered just a few months ago and is now operating in Mexico.Guests of honor from Ultratug Colombia at the ceremony were Silvia Herrera, Country Manager of Ultratug Colombia; Cristian Franco, Fleet and Operations Manager, Colombia; and José Morales, Maintenance Engineer, Colombia.
Russia hammered Ukrainian ports, industrial sites and retailers' distribution facilities with missiles and drones in an hours-long attack on Kyiv and other cities that was partly repelled, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday.Commuters went to work in the capital to the boom of air defences firing at waves of drones after an overnight barrage that Ukraine's military said included an unspecified number of ballistic missiles and 258 drones.
Turkey increased its imports of diesel from the United States and India in August to record levels, shipping data showed, as a Russian ban on diesel exports and wider disruption caused by the Iran war prompted its importers to diversify their sources of supply.So far this month, Turkey has imported more than 120,000 barrels per day of Indian diesel, while its imports from the U.S. reached 90,000 bpd, according to commodities data firm Kpler.These volumes are the highest monthly totals on record, according to Kpler data going back to 2017.