Maritime 2026 opened with a bang between the announcement of Battleships, Venezuela, shadow fleets and yes, U.S. shipbuilding. The commercial building issue may come down to strategic patience or the adaptability to evolve through new technology while ignoring historic, old tactics.
On October 28, 2025 U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, convened the Senate hearing “Sea Change: Reviving Commercial Shipbuilding”. This hearing examined how to modernize and accelerate U.S.
With all the Legislative fanfare, Executive Orders, Committee meetings, lobbying efforts and media announcements concerning American Shipbuilding, Naval Warfare and Maritime Dominance, it is no surprise that the result of the uproar is shear confusion within the maritime industrial base (MIB).
As a result of a major White House office wake-up call or Executive Order 14269 determining it is time to start building ships again, Washington DC announced America’s maritime industry has been “dangerously declining” and with that decline we have allowed China to become the dominant force in global shipbuilding.
On April 30, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), together with several original co-sponsors, reintroduced the SHIPS for America Act in the U.S. Senate, first introduced in December 2024, divided into two bills. Companion legislation was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Trent Kelly (R-MS) and Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA). This is a major, historic effort to revitalize the U.S.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told lawmakers on Tuesday that not all of the agency's proposed multimillion-dollar fees for Chinese-built ships to dock at U.S. ports will be implemented, and they may not be cumulative.Greer told a Senate Finance Committee hearing that the proposals were made to address a lack of shipbuilding in the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s regulatory freeze has injected chaos and uncertainty into a number of lucrative American fisheries, raising the risk of a delayed start to the fishing season for some East Coast cod and haddock fleets and leading to overfishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna, according to Reuters interviews with industry groups and federal government employees.
[The following are exerpts and paraphrasing from testimony given by Matthew O. Paxton, President of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA), to Congress on the morning of February 26, 2025.]While maritime strength and shipbuilding historically have been a cornerstone of global power, shifting times and geopolitical pressures impact readiness and output.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called a draft law proposing to allow offshore oil and gas exploration in its overseas territories "anachronistic" during a debate in the country's Senate on Thursday.In a world first, France banned new oil and gas exploration and production licenses in 2017, hoping other nations would follow suit.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden has contacted seven maritime shipping companies as part of an inquiry into cartel-linked fuel smuggling between the United States and Mexico, asking the firms to explain their vetting procedures for ensuring their tankers aren't used to transport illicit hydrocarbons, according to copies of the letters seen by Reuters.
The Surface Navy Association (SNA) announced the appointment of retired Vice Admiral Ron Boxall as its new President, succeeding retired Vice Admiral Rick Hunt, who has served in the role since 2019. Admiral Boxall will make his first official appearance as SNA President at the upcoming Waterfront West Symposium, taking place September 10–11, 2025, in San Diego.
In a stark address to the U.S. Senate, Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, delivered a firm warning to American policymakers and defense stakeholders: Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot be trusted to negotiate a legitimate or lasting peace in Ukraine.