VELOX

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz slowed over the weekend, data showed on Monday, following attacks on tankers, while U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the Middle East conflict stalled.Five commodity vessels transited the strait on Saturday, with none registered for Sunday, shiptracking data from Kpler showed, versus 31 in the prior weekend.Ships entering the strait on Saturday included an empty very large crude carrier with its Automatic Identification System switched off and an Indian-flagged very large gas carrier that used the Iranian route, Kpler data showed.A small tanker laden with Iranian fuel oil exited, it showed.

The leader of U.S. Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, wrote on Sunday that his recent visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln was "awe-inspiring" and hailed the crew's "resilience" following reports of concerns about mental health and deteriorating conditions aboard the aircraft carrier.The ship has not made a port call in more than 200 days, setting a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea, according to Democratic lawmakers who have called for answers after sailors' families raised concerns about worsening conditions on the Lincoln.

U.S. President Donald Trump has allowed the Navy to build ships overseas and ordered it to abandon a complex system for launching jet fighters from its aircraft carriers and instead return to using steam catapults, the White House said on Thursday.Trump signed a national security memorandum directing the change, which would require the fourth vessel in the Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers to abandon the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) used on the first three vessels. The design change is expected to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.Huntington Ingalls is the primary contractor building Ford-class aircraft carriers.

Technology identification, trial and adoption is cornerstone to running an efficient, cost-effective maritime operation. But with the speed of technological change, particularly in regards to Artificial Intelligence (AI), the process is neither straight nor short. We visited recently with Kenji Togasaki, SVP, Innovation Office, IINO Lines (USA), who’s job it is with his IINO Lines team to scout new technologies and implement them onto the fleet with IINO technical group in Tokyo. Japanese shipowners are renowned globally, world leaders in the design, construction and operation of modern tonnage.

A wave of new investment in dedicated shuttle tankers has been spurred by the age profile of the existing fleet coupled with surging developments in the Brazilian offshore market.Constituting a specialized asset class, dynamic positioning (DP) shuttle tankers are a flexible and cost effective way of lifting and transporting oil from offshore fields, where subsea pipelines are not a practical or economically viable option.Production platforms or floating units are increasingly located in deepwater areas prone to challenging weather and hydrological conditions, and where high extraction rates generate demand for consistent