REG MCNEE TIDE

A large buildup of U.S. naval forces in and around the Southern Caribbean has officials in Caracas and experts in the United States asking: is the move aimed at combating drug cartels, as the Trump administration has suggested, or is it for something else entirely?Seven U.S. warships, along with one nuclear-powered fast attack submarine, are either in the region or are expected to be there soon, bringing along more than 4,500 sailors and marines.U.S. President Donald Trump has said combating drug cartels is a central goal for his administration and U.S. officials have told Reuters that the military efforts aim to address threats from those cartels.

European defense giant Rheinmetall has signalled interest in taking over German shipbuilder Naval Vessels Luerssen, industry sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as the Duesseldorf-based firm looks to expand into the naval business.According to the Bild newspaper, which first reported Rheinmetall's plans, the supervisory board intends to consider the purchase in the coming weeks.According to Bild, the Luerssen family, who own the shipbuilder, plan to divest its military shipyards in Hamburg, Wilhelmshaven and Wolgast to focus on building megayachts.

Seatrium has secured a contract from Golar Hilli Corporation, a subsidiary of Golar LNG, to perform the upgrading of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit Hilli Episeyo.Scheduled to enter the yard in the third quarter of 2026, the project involves technical modifications for FLNG Hilli Episeyo’s redeployment.The scope of work includes engineering and procurement of long-lead items, repair and life extension and winterization of the vessel, as well as the installation of a new soft-yoke mooring system.

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued classification to the Surveyor, a fully autonomous deepwater unmanned surface vehicle (USV), developed by Saildrone.At 20 meters long and capable of unmanned operations across all of the world’s oceans, the Surveyor is the largest class of USVs from Saildrone, a provider of maritime security, ocean mapping, and meteorological and oceanographic data using unmanned autonomous assets.The USV is capable of long-endurance missions in the open ocean, collecting deep-ocean bathymetry and performing a wide range of maritime domain awareness tasks.

South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipbuilder, said on Wednesday that it plans to merge with its affiliate HD Hyundai Mipo as it targets a bigger slice of the U.S. shipbuilding market.With the merger, the company said it aims to lead U.S.-Korea shipbuilding cooperation projects touted during a recent summit between the leaders of the countries that Seoul has dubbed "Make American Shipbuilding Great Again.""Ahead of the full-scale launch of the MASGA project following the Korea-U.S. summit and as countries around the world are strengthening naval power, demand for K-defence is expected to increase further," the company said in a statement.