Maritime Vessels Directory

ABS, Polaris Shipping, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and autonomous navigation solutions provider AVIKUS have signed a four-party Concept Study Agreement for the implementation of a Conditional Unmanned Bridge.Under the agreement, the parties will jointly develop an autonomous navigation concept enabling unmanned bridge operation during deep-sea voyages, when defined conditions are met, on one of Polaris Shipping's 325K Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs).The concept is not a fully unmanned operation across the entire voyage. Rather, it is a phased autonomous navigation concept under which the bridge is left unmanned only under specific low-risk conditions, such as open-ocean passage.

Video: British Commandos Intercept Russian Tanker

2 days ago

British commandos boarded and intercepted a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel on Sunday, leading for the first time an operation to disrupt the oil revenue that helps fund Russia's war in Ukraine.The vessel Smyrtos, sailing under a Cameroonian flag, was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and National Crime Agency (NCA) officials in the early hours on Sunday, with support from Chinook helicopters and other aircraft, a frigate and a minehunter."This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin's war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X.

BRIN Taps Shipbuilder PIRIOU for Research Vessel Pair

4 days ago

The “Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional” (BRIN), Indonesia’s national agency for research and innovation, has commissioned the French shipbuilder PIRIOU to design and build two research vessels:a multimission offshore hydro-oceanographic vessel (ORV – Ocean Going Research Vessel) and a coastal research vessel (CRV – Coastal Research Vessel).The order was signed on June 11, 2026 during a ceremony held in Indonesia, attended by representatives of BRIN, Stéphane BURGAUD, PIRIOU’s Commercial Director, and the project’s institutional partners. Both vessels will be built by PIRIOU VIETNAM, the Group’s industrial subsidiary in Southeast Asia.

From Oil Importer to Export Leader: US Tops Global Oil Shipments

5 days ago

The United States has become the world's largest oil exporter, upending a decades-old order long dominated by Saudi Arabia and Russia, a shift that tightens American companies' grip on energy markets as Washington's war with Iran reshapes global energy trade.America's ascendancy to the top spot marks a stunning reversal for a country that was dependent on Middle Eastern oil for decades and suffered from an oil embargo imposed by some OPEC members in 1973 to retaliate against U.S. support for Israel.U.S. fortunes began to change after 2010, when oil and gas output from its shale formations soared, first making it the world's top gas and then the world's top oil producer.With the U.S.

Hormuz Reopening Could Trigger OPEC’s Next Big Challenge

5 days ago

Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Gulf producers will cheer the eventual reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, but the ensuing flood of oil risks eroding OPEC’s already fragile grip on the market.The Iran war and the closure of the vital waterway – through which nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas flowed before the conflict – have sharply diminished output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and moved the industry’s centre of gravity away from the Middle East.Riyadh’s options for countering these changes are limited.It remains far from clear when the strait will reopen or what conditions will look like when it does. While U.S.

Maritime Reporter and Engineering News (June 2026)