WEST OBERON

An unprecedented level of investment in multi-deck vehicle carriers is being driven by tonnage replacement and scale economy strategies, but emphatically also by explosive growth in China’s automotive exports.Global deep-sea automotive shipments, excluding the Russian trade, were estimated at some 15.6 million units in 2025, up 5 percent on 2024, maintaining recent years’ trajectory. China’s inexorable rise as a producer and exporter is the conspicuous influence on traffic development.Notwithstanding the impacts of sometimes fraught political relations between the USA and China, and between Europe and China, and the prevailing Middle East conflict

Spanish shipyard GONDAN Shipbuilders has launched a 120-metre Ocean Energy Support Vessel (OESV) for Østensjø Rederi, the largest vessel built by the shipyard to date.The C513 OESV was launched at GONDAN's Figueras facility and will now undergo final outfitting and sea trials ahead of scheduled delivery in late 2027.Designed by Salt Ship Design, the vessel has a beam of 23 meters and is intended for operations including walk-to-work personnel transfers, commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV) support for offshore wind, offshore construction, subsea installation, ROV inspection and cable laying and repair.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Friday reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world's vital shipping routes and further increasing the threat to energy markets in the widening Middle East war.Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.

Prices for Russia's flagship Urals crude at its western ports jumped above $110 per barrel on Tuesday, the highest level since April 2026, according to Reuters calculations based on data from two traders.Higher oil prices boost Russia's budget revenues, which rely heavily on oil and gas income, although elevated freight rates are limiting gains for sellers.Urals crude loaded at Russia's ports of Primorsk URL-PRMSK and Novorossiysk URL-NVRSK was assessed at around $110 per barrel on a free on board (FOB) basis on Tuesday, supported by strong Brent prices and a rally in spot markets amid Middle East supply concerns.

Global energy markets face a lengthening period of tight supply and price volatility as the industry's ability to offset disruptions from the Middle East is dwindling, senior executives from Shell and Equinor said on Wednesday.Attacks on oil tankers in the Middle East helped push crude prices towards $110 a barrel this week for the first time since May. Refined products have risen even more sharply, with fuels such as diesel reaching record highs.Still, the market's ability to adapt and absorb supply disruptions since the start of the U.S.-Isreali war with Iran in late February has been impressive, Adam Ritchie, chief economist at Shell Trading, told an industry conference in Oslo.