SEA PANTHER

On the release of a new ABS report “Decision Point: Practical Pathways to 2035” John McDonald, ABS Chairman and CEO, explains: “The industry has entered a new phase. For many years, the discussion centered on identifying a future fuel winner. Today, the challenge is broader. Shipping companies are making investment decisions for assets that will operate into the 2040s, while managing regulatory uncertainty, changing market expectations and evolving technology pathways. Success will depend on making practical decisions that create value under a range of future scenarios.”The report concludes that there is no single pathway for the industry.

The American Great Lakes Ports Association has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Great Lakes Alliance of Shipyards to advance shared priorities in domestic shipbuilding and commerce.The MoU marks the first formal partnership between the U.S. Great Lakes port and shipyard communities. By connecting public port authorities with leading American shipyards, the organizations will work more closely to expand the region’s industrial capacity, pursue new cargo and export opportunities, develop the next generation of skilled maritime workers, and advance national priorities to restore American shipbuilding and strengthen the maritime industrial base.

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.

For the first time on record, Iran has gone about seven weeks without shipping meaningful crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz, as a U.S. naval blockade succeeds where years of sanctions failed by cutting off one of Tehran's main sources of foreign-currency earnings.    Unlike previous sanctions campaigns, when Iranian crude continued reaching buyers despite restrictions, the current blockade has stopped fresh crude cargoes reaching China, Tehran's only major remaining oil customer, increasing pressure on government finances and foreign-currency reserves.Since the U.S.