MEDUSA

Four shipowners from Sweden, Norway and Canada have ordered four new VINGA product tankers for delivery in 2028 and 2029, expanding the Furetank-developed vessel series to 26 ships.Two of the vessels will be owned by FureBear, a joint venture between Sweden's Furetank and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation, while Norway's O.H. Meling and Sweden's Älvtank will each take one.The order marks O.H. Meling's first investment in the VINGA series, while Älvtank already owns three of the vessels.The four 17,999-dwt product tankers will be built at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, China. They will enter the Gothia Tanker Alliance and be commercially managed by Furetank Chartering.

Finland's Steerprop won an order to supply complete propulsion packages for four Arctic Security Cutters (ASCs) being built for the US Coast Guard by Bollinger Shipyards. Each vessel will be equipped with two Steerprop Contra-Rotating Propellers (CRP) azimuth propulsors and two tunnel thrusters. The vessels will be built to an existing Multi-Purpose Icebreaker (MPI) design. During the selection process, Steerprop demonstrated that its dual-end propeller CRP concept delivered significantly higher thrust and improved efficiency compared to conventional single-propeller solutions in an MPI reference case.

At least three Indian oil refiners and a global energy major plan to stop using vessels on Iran's new blacklist, including for ship-to-ship transfers, due to security concerns, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said this week.Tehran announced on Sunday a blacklist of 45 ships it said had broken its rules for crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and would take action against any vessels transferring loads with them, escalating its threats over the key waterway for global energy supplies six months into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Maritime Administration (MARAD) and CORE POWER (US) Inc. signed an agreement to accelerate the commercial, industrial, and regulatory pathways for U.S.-flagged nuclear-powered commercial ships. Fueled by small modular reactor (SMR) technology, this first-of-its-kind partnership will advance the President Trump's agenda to strengthen American shipping and secure energy dominance."President Trump has made it clear that American energy dominance and maritime strength go hand in hand," said Maritime Administrator Stephen M. Carmel. "This framework ensures that the United States leads the world with a secure U.S.-flagged fleet.

A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile 63 nautical miles west of Saudi Arabia's port city of Yanbu, leading to a fire on the vessel's main deck, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Monday.The UKMTO said all crew were safe and accounted for with no reported environmental impact.Yanbu is Saudi Arabia's main Red Sea oil port, where millions of barrels a day are loaded, and has become the main route out for Saudi oil skirting the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blockaded by Iran.Shipping from Yanbu has itself faced disruption since Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi-linked vessels in the Red Sea last month.