NAUTICA 20

A U.S. Navy helicopter and a fighter jet crashed separately into the South China Sea within the space of an hour during routine operations conducted from the same aircraft carrier on Sunday, the U.S. Navy said, adding all personnel were safe.The incidents came while President Donald Trump was on a visit to Asia.Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, Trump said the crashes were unusual and could be due to "bad fuel," adding that what caused them would likely soon be known.The U.S. Pacific Fleet, in a post on X, said: "All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition. The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation.

South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and U.S. military shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls have agreed to jointly build U.S. navy auxiliary ships, the South Korean shipbuilder said on Sunday.HHI has a strong track record in this field, having delivered its first auxiliary vessel, HMNZS Endeavour, to New Zealand in 1987, followed by the HMNZS Aotearoa in 2020. The company has also supplied the Republic of Korea Navy with three Cheonji-class and one Soyang-class auxiliary ships.Leveraging HII’s complex shipbuilding experience and HHI’s expertise with proven designs, the two companies will team to respond to the U.S.

Italy's antitrust regulator said on Friday that Shipping Agencies Services (SAS), a unit of maritime group MSC, would drop its acquisition of a 49% stake in ferry operator Moby after the watchdog opened a probe into alleged restriction of competition.Moby, majority-owned by Onorato Armatori group, runs ferries linking Italy's mainland to tourist islands such as Sardinia and Corsica.The Italian authority, which opened an investigation into the acquisition last year, said the deal could have weakened competition on routes where Moby and ferry company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV), controlled by SAS, operate.

The U.S. military killed five alleged drug smugglers in strikes against two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Wednesday, in an expansion of the Trump administration's use of the armed forces in its counter-narcotics campaign.On Wednesday afternoon, Hegseth said the military attacked a vessel in the eastern Pacific Ocean and killed two men on Tuesday. It was the first known U.S. military operation in the Pacific since President Donald Trump kicked off a new offensive against the drug trade.Hours later, Hegseth said the military had struck another vessel in the eastern Pacific on Wednesday, killing three men.

Arguably there are no two names more closely related to Pilot Boat design and construction in the United States than Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding and Ray Hunt Designs. Together the dynamic duo has designed and built more than 80 vessels – not to mention a vibrant refurbish and repair operation – design and building for pilot organizations around the country. In a recent episode of Maritime Matters: The MarineLink Podcast, a trio of executives: Peter Duclos, President, Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding; Winn Willard, President and Robert Provencal, Designer, Ray Hunt Designs, discuss the evolution and future of boat design for this demanding operation.