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.
China's trade surplus topped $1 trillion for the first time as manufacturers seeking to avoid President Donald Trump's tariffs shipped more to non-U.S. markets in November, with exports to Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia surging.Shipments to the United States dropped by close to one-third from the same month a year before."The tariff cuts agreed under the U.S.
By Captain Bobbie Scolley, U.S. Navy (ret.) and Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, U.S. Navy (ret.)For more than six decades, spanning from 1905 to the late 1970s, the U.S. Navy’s diving apparatus for deep ocean operations and salvage remained fundamentally unchanged. During this period, the demographic of navy divers also saw little alteration.
DP World chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem has resigned with mounting pressure over his alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein.Bin Sulayem, one of the Middle East's most prominent business figures, is among the highest-profile executives to face scrutiny and be removed from senior roles following the recent release of the Epstein files.
With everything going on around the maritime industry these days — from a Presidential Executive Order to Make U.S. Maritime Great Again, to bipartisan legislation in Congress to boost our shipyards and merchant marine, to the import tariff rollercoaster ride we’re all on — it’s easy to forget some other important U.S. maritime policy initiatives whose benefits are just over the horizon.
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) has completed a joint demonstration with Singapore-based Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD) that verified the long-term use and storage of biofuel onboard ships, confirming its technical safety and sustainable usability.The six-month trial, as part of Project LOTUS, involved continuous use of B24 biofuel on a pure car and truck carrier.
Thousands of license applications by U.S. companies to export goods and technology around the globe, including to China, are in limbo because turmoil at the agency in charge of approving them has left it nearly paralyzed, two sources said.While U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has become a familiar face touting President Donald Trump's tariff and trade deals
On March 5, 2025, the United States Senate passed an important bill to authorize funding for our United States Coast Guard, after failing to do so in the previous Congress. S. 524, the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025, would if enacted into law authorize appropriations to fund the Coast Guard totaling $30.45 billion for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
A fire broke out on the Panama-flagged livestock carrier North Star 1 while it was docked at the Port of São Sebastião, Brazil, on 3 March.Some of the 28 crew onboard required medical attention due to smoke inhalation, and the 2,600 cattle onboard, destined for Turkey, were disembarked.The fire was reported to have started in a provisions store containing livestock fodder.
The 52-year-old livestock carrier Spiridon II rejected by Turkey has now left the area after its cargo of over 2,800 cows was rejected by local authorities.Court transcripts translated by Animal Welfare Foundation indicate that 58 cows died in transit to Turkey, 140 cows had miscarriages in transit, 50 newborn calves were present on board, but another 90 are unaccounted for.
The 52-year-old MV Spiridon II loaded 2901 cattle has been stranded off Turkey, denied permission to unload due to issues with the animals’ ear tag.According to local media, the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry inspected the cattle when the vessel arrived but denied permission to land the animals because approximately 500 of the ear tags did not match documentation on the ship.
Ecuadorian activist María Chóez, a vocal advocate for the families of missing tuna fishers, has been murdered.According to witnesses cited by NGO Human Rights at Sea, the 48-year-old was shot in the head by occupants of a vehicle on September 25 in Manta, Ecuador.She was reported as being a family member of one of the 21 fishermen from the Patricia Lynn tuna vessel that went missing on December