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.
HII announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of W International SC, LLC and Vivid Empire SC, LLC (collectively “W International”), a South Carolina-based complex metal fabricator specializing in the manufacture of shipbuilding structures, modules and assemblies.
Vantage Drilling International Ltd. reported a net income attributable to shareholders of approximately $67.2 million or $4.97 per diluted share for the three months ended September 30, 2025, based on the weighted average shares outstanding, as compared to a net loss attributable to shareholders of approximately $10.6 million or $0.
HII is partnering with shipyards and fabricators in multiple states to grow its throughput and meet the increased demand for ships by the U.S. Navy. With its customer’s support, HII is bringing the work to more companies and more jobs in more states, expanding capacity of the U.S. shipbuilding industrial base and improving schedule adherence for all ships built by HII.
SunStone Maritime Group A/S, touted as the world’s largest tonnage provider to the expedition cruise industry, announced the delivery of the seventh and final vessel in this first series of newbuilds, the Douglas Mawson. The delivery took place at China Merchants Heavy Industry in Haimen, China, on September 9, 2025.
SAAM, the largest towage operator in the Americas, has introduced Trapananda, the first fully electric tugboat in Latin America, developed in partnership with Chile’s national oil company Enap. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd. (RAL), built by Sanmar Shipyards, and powered by a Corvus Energy lithium-ion battery system, the tug will operate at Puerto Chacabuco in southern Chile.
SAAM christened Trapananda, reported to be the first electric tugboat in Latin America. Thanks to a strategic partnership with Enap, the electric tug will operate in one of the southernmost terminals in the world, Puerto Chacabuco, in the Aysén Region, supporting ship berthing and deberthing operations.
American Cruise Lines announced their biggest season of New England cruises—featuring nine itineraries and five small ships, including the newest cruise ship in the country, American Patriot.American Patriot is the flagship in the company’s new Patriot Class series. The 130-passenger ship passed Sea Trials and will embark on its first cruise this week, sailing June 21 roundtrip from Boston.
Norwegian shipbuilder Vard has marked the start of construction of Island Offshore’s hybrid power ocean energy construction vessel (OECV) at its shipyard in Romania.Vard secured the order for the vessel, named Island Evolution, from Island Offshore back in May 2024, which also included an option for two additional vessels.
After a year of preparing the ship and crew, Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too) has completed its first science expedition to Antarctica. The three-week expedition, which ended in early January, was ambitious in its science scope and required operational refinements to navigate safely in unfamiliar environmental conditions.
The Fascinated by Shipwrecks Podcast, hosted by Kathy A. Smith, is dedicated to the People & the Science of Maritime Archaeology.EPISODE 8 – Guest: Vince Capone – Hunting Shipwrecks with Side Scan Sonar“The robot is navigating underwater and runs a search pattern, collecting the data.
Marine geosciences and offshore construction support services firm Next Geosolutions has acquired a multi-purpose survey vessel (MPSV) from Beitveit Holding for $7.1 million.The vessel, Sea Admiral, will be renamed NG EXPLORER, and will be used for geophysical, geotechnical, environmental and UXO surveys.