SEVAN DRILLER

The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command is a critical part of the United States’ national security equation, as any navy only goes as far as its supply chain allows. RADM Benjamin Nicholson, Commander, U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command, visited with Maritime Matters: The MarineLink Podcast, for a deep discussion on MSC, including changes in mariner pay and benefits that will enable it to attract and retain the seafarers it wants and needs.Military Sealift Command occupies an unusual position in the U.S. Navy enterprise.

TOTE Services, LLC, a U.S. maritime services company specializing in vessel construction management and ship management, signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation - Maritime Administration (MARAD) to serve as vessel construction manager (VCM) for the Missile Range Instrumentation Vessel (MRIV) program. The MRIV will support the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in advancing national security.  Immediately following this award, TOTE Services also executed a shipyard subcontract with Hanwha Philly Shipyard (HPSI) to construct the first MRIV. This ship will be the first in a planned series of vessels for MDA.The MRIV program was announced this summer by U.S.

Anduril Industries plans to invest $3.7 billion in a new Maryland shipyard to manufacture Virginia-class submarine components and other subsea systems, alongside a U.S. Navy contract worth up to $2.9 billion tied to production targets.The Arsenal-2 facility will be built at Tradepoint Atlantic in Sparrows Point, Baltimore County, with permitting and site preparation beginning immediately and initial operations expected in 2030.The combined public and private investment totals $6.6 billion, with Anduril set to build and operate the site. The U.S.

Several top energy executives were dropped from the schedule of the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh, as Saudi authorities pressed ahead with the event despite deadly attacks on the capital claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis.The chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell, Chevron and BP had all been expected at the event, which began on Sunday, but were no longer on the agenda that conference organizers released early Monday.“To everyone who travelled to Riyadh, thank you,” said Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who opened Monday’s session of the gathering for energy policy and industry.

Iran is still reviewing a US response to its proposal regarding the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and will reply to Washington via intermediaries when the review is over, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.Baghaei also told a press conference that Iran continues to exchange messages via intermediaries, without elaborating. Qatar and Pakistan, among others, have acted as mediators in efforts to end the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.After a June interim ceasefire crumbled and on-off strikes resumed, Iran presented its proposal in mid-September and later confirmed receipt of a US response.