WILLIAM M

Classification societies have always occupied a unique position in maritime: technical arbiters, rule makers, certifiers, and, increasingly, strategic advisors helping shipowners navigate some of the most consequential decisions in shipping’s and shipbuilding’s history. As maritime grapples with decarbonization mandates, digital transformation, automation, and the growing influence of artificial intelligence, that role is becoming both broader and more complex.For ClassNK, one of the world’s largest and leading classification societies, the challenge is not simply keeping pace with industry change, but helping define how that change unfolds.

MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) has confirmed that its container vessel MSC Sariska V was struck by two projectiles while departing the port of Umm Qasr in Iraq on June 1, though no crew members were injured.According to the company, the first projectile hit the vessel while a pilot was onboard during departure from the port, while a second struck the crew accommodation area shortly afterwards.MSC said all crew members were safe and unharmed and that the vessel and its cargo were secured following the incident.The local media reports indicated that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had claimed responsibility for the attack, describing it as a response to U.S.

SBM Offshore and Solstad Offshore have formed a joint venture that has entered into a letter of intent with a shipyard for the construction of a multi-purpose deepwater installation and construction vessel, with delivery targeted in the first half of 2029.The vessel will be owned by a joint venture in which Solstad Offshore will hold a 50.1% stake and SBM Offshore 49.9%. Solstad Shipping will act as ship manager, while SBM Offshore will charter the vessel for its own projects. When not required for SBM Offshore projects, the vessel may be chartered to third parties.

Despite the current ceasefire between the United States and Iran, it remains too risky to move the thousands of sailors stuck in the Gulf, the head of the IMO said."We will not be able to activate anything until the root causes are addressed and there is more of a final agreement, a ceasefire, or complete agreement, between the parties involved in the conflict," Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general, told Reuters on Sunday ahead of the start of the Posidonia shipping industry week in Athens.There are an estimated 20,000 seafarers aboard vessels stuck in the Gulf as Iran imposes restrictions on movements through the Strait of Hormuz.

The United States, Britain and Australia are working together to develop unmanned undersea vehicles as part of their trilateral AUKUS defence pact, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters on Saturday.AUKUS said in a joint statement that delivery of the vehicles will start in 2027.The program will improve the three nations' reconnaissance and strike capabilities, "and bolster superiority in anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare, and contested littoral manoeuvre," the statement added.