U.S. D.O.T., MARITIME ADMINISTRATION

ElbFeeder, a joint venture of the Icelandic transportation company Eimskip and German listed ship-owner Ernst Russ, signed contracts for a pair of 2,280-TEU container vessels with the shipyard China Merchants Jin Ling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co. Ltd. The newbuildings will be an addition to the ElbFeeder joint venture and expand it to a total of nine vessels. Options for two additional vessels were negotiated.The newbuildings will be employed in the Eimskip Blue Line between Reykjavik and Rotterdam for an initial 10-year period through a time-charter agreement signed in combination with the newbuilding contract.

The United States has told countries to reject a United Nations' marine fuel emissions-cutting deal or face tariffs, visa restrictions and port levies, U.S. and European officials and sources told Reuters.The Trump administration is looking to boost U.S. economic might, including by taking a bigger role in global shipping, and has used tariffs as a weapon to extract better terms from Washington’s trade partners.In April, countries struck a draft agreement through the U.N.'s International Maritime Organization (IMO) that would impose a fee on ships that breach global carbon emissions standards.

Despite significantly weaker freight rates, the average price for five-year-old container ships has increased 17% year-on-year and 6% since the beginning of 2025,” says Niels Rasmussen, Chief Shipping Analyst at BIMCO.The average per TEU price of a basket of seven five-year-old container ships was $9,761/TEU in late August 2024. Since then, the price has risen to $10,758/TEU at the beginning of 2025 and to $11,413/TEU in late August.Feeder ships smaller than 3,000 TEU have seen the highest price increase at an average of 26% year-on-year.

New Wave Media, a leading B2B media company serving the global maritime, offshore energy, subsea and logistics sectors, acquired the Port of the Future Conference & Exhibition, a premier international symposium known for its focus on advancing port infrastructure, technology, and policy.Under the continued leadership of its founder, Kevin Clement, the event will retain its iconic tagline — “2 Days, 50 Ports” — and continue to convene top-tier port and terminal executives from around the world.The 2026 Port of the Future Conference is scheduled to be held March 23-25, 2026, at the Hilton University of Houston.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) has conducted a steel cutting ceremony for a 115,000-ton product tanker at the HD Hyundai Philippines Shipyard in Subic Bay, Philippines.The vessel is the first ship built by HD Hyundai Philippines and is the first in a series of four vessels ordered from an Asian shipping company in December last year.Last May, HD KSOE signed a lease agreement with Cerberus Capital for a portion of the Philippine shipyard site, marking the launch of this second HD KSOE overseas shipyard.