KGM 27

Facility will include 150,000 square feet of covered manufacturing space optimized for serial productionNew yard will support 200 new jobs and expands shipbuilding capacity Master Boat Builders announced plans to build a new $60 million, 150,000 sq ft manufacturing facility dedicated exclusively to government and defense shipbuilding programs. The new 20-acre site is located directly across Bayou Coden from the company’s existing yard.“This new facility is about building more capability here at home,” said Garrett Rice, President, Master Boat Builders.

Sticking to legacy tactics won't beat China — adopt Secretary Hegseth's and the Army initiatives or surrender the edge.In a recent address, Admiral Christopher Grady, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, underscored the urgent need for a robotic hull-cleaning system to enable anytime maintenance, reduce drag, boost speed, and minimize fuel consumption for naval vessels. Hearing this, I immediately recognized an opportunity for the U.S. Army to step up and drive maritime innovation forward—at wartime speed. We transformed that vision into reality in record time, successfully demonstrating the technology on an Army Logistics Support Vessel (LSV) in Pearl Harbor last month.

Seatrium has issued a notice of arbitration against an affiliate of Maersk Offshore Wind, escalating a dispute over the termination of a contract for a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV) intended for the Empire Wind 1 project in the United States.The move follows a notice of arbitration delivered by the buyer on October 21, one day after Seatrium notified the buyer that the vessel would be ready for delivery by January 30, 2026. The dispute will be heard in London under the current terms of the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA).

One of Australia's biggest coal export ports will resume operations on Monday, the port operator said, after climate-change protesters disrupted shipping at the Port of Newcastle for a second day on Sunday.Climate activist group Rising Tide, which claimed responsibility for the latest protest, said hundreds of activists paddled kayaks into the shipping lane of Newcastle Harbour on Sunday morning, violating an exclusion zone.The port, 170 km (110 miles) north of New South Wales state capital Sydney, is the largest bulk shipping port on the east coast of Australia, a nation where climate change is a divisive issue.

Wärtsilä has identified four key trends it expects to shape the global shipping industry in 2026, citing accelerating digitalization, rising decarbonization pressures and growing uncertainty over regulatory trajectories.The company highlighted lifecycle optimization as a major theme, with vessel owners increasingly moving from short-term fixes to long-term strategies that account for environmental impact, operational efficiency and economic performance from vessel design to end-of-life. It said collaboration between owners, operators and equipment makers is becoming more important as regulations evolve and new technologies enter the market.