Since the Iranian Revolution and overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979, the Strait of Hormuz has been a geographic constant as a choke point for which closure has been threatened from time to time but never truly closed. The longstanding assumption of the continued openness of the strait collapsed on February 28, 2026.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb sealed an agreement on Thursday for the U.S. Coast Guard to acquire up to 11 icebreaker ships to bolster U.S. national security in the Arctic.Trump and Stubb have established friendly ties since Trump regained power in January, and the two met in March at the president's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and played a round of golf.
In a major move to accelerate the U.S. Coast Guard’s icebreaking fleet expansion, Bollinger Shipyards, Rauma Shipyards, Seaspan Shipyards, and Aker Arctic announced a partnership to deliver next-generation Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) under the Coast Guard’s multibillion-dollar icebreaker program.The collaboration combines U.S.
Bollinger Shipyards has opened a 7,200-square-foot workforce training center at its Gulfport, Mississippi, facility to expand skilled trades training for the U.S. shipbuilding industry.The facility was developed in partnership with the U.S. Navy's Submarine Industrial Base (SIB) Program Office and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
Bordelon Marine has completed the conversion and redelivery of the MV Lilly Bordelon, a Stingray Series 260 Class DP-2 Ultra-Light Intervention Vessel (ULIV).Repurposed from an existing platform, the Lilly Bordelon has been transformed into a subsea intervention vessel designed to deliver solutions for offshore operations. The vessel features over 5,500 sq. ft.
The U.S. Coast Guard has awarded a contract to Bordelon Marine to provide a commercial support vessel that will transport supplies, equipment and personnel to Coast Guard cutters operating in the Caribbean, Gulf of America, and other maritime areas in the Western Hemisphere.The contract supports the Coast Guard’s Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean (HSC-Ocean) initiative
On March 17, 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security took the extraordinary step of issuing a sweeping waiver of the Jones Act at the request of the U.S. Department of Defense. The waiver, one of the broadest in the history of the nation’s cabotage laws, opened U.S. domestic waterways to foreign-flagged and foreign-built vessels carrying hundreds of energy and agricultural commodity types.
The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) graduated 188 new merchant marine and military officers during its 90th commencement ceremony.U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy, whose department oversees the Academy, one of the Nation’s five service academies, introduced the keynote speaker, U.S. Secretary of the Army Daniel Driscoll.
Autonomous vehicles are increasingly sophisticated defensive tools for ports wanting to protect against maritime threats - including attacks from other autonomous vehicles.In December 15 last year, the Security Service of Ukraine reported that its underwater drone had struck a Russian submarine in Novorossiysk. The incident highlighted just how sophisticated potential threats have become.
The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) announced its valedictorian and salutatorian for the Class of 2026, recognizing two midshipmen who have demonstrated exceptional academic achievement, leadership, and perseverance throughout their time at Kings Point.Midshipman John Walter Smolenski, a Maritime Logistics and Security major from Colonia, New Jersey, has been named valedictorian