Maritime Vessels Directory

HD Hyundai Heavy Industries and five other HD Hyundai affiliates are embarking on the development of a robot and data-based integrated hull management solution that automates the entire process—from hull diagnosis to cleaning and performance verification—for the first time in the shipbuilding industry.HD Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint development and commercialization of the "Total Hull Care Solution" with affiliates HD Korea Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotics, HD Hyundai Marine Solution, and Avicus, as well as with KCC, a specialist in marine paints, and TAS Global, a specialist in underwater robots.

ABS and Partners to Develop Conditional Unmanned Bridge

yesterday

ABS, Polaris Shipping, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and autonomous navigation solutions provider AVIKUS have signed a four-party Concept Study Agreement for the implementation of a Conditional Unmanned Bridge.Under the agreement, the parties will jointly develop an autonomous navigation concept enabling unmanned bridge operation during deep-sea voyages, when defined conditions are met, on one of Polaris Shipping's 325K Very Large Ore Carriers (VLOCs).The concept is not a fully unmanned operation across the entire voyage. Rather, it is a phased autonomous navigation concept under which the bridge is left unmanned only under specific low-risk conditions, such as open-ocean passage.

Video: British Commandos Intercept Russian Tanker

3 days ago

British commandos boarded and intercepted a sanctioned Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel on Sunday, leading for the first time an operation to disrupt the oil revenue that helps fund Russia's war in Ukraine.The vessel Smyrtos, sailing under a Cameroonian flag, was boarded by Royal Marine Commandos and National Crime Agency (NCA) officials in the early hours on Sunday, with support from Chinook helicopters and other aircraft, a frigate and a minehunter."This successful operation delivers yet another blow to Russia and reminds those fuelling Putin's war in Ukraine that we will not let them hide," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a post on X.

Venture Global, EnBW Ink New LNG Supply Deals

3 hours ago

U.S. liquefied natural gas producer (LNG) Venture Global and German utility EnBW have signed new binding agreements for the supply of approximately 0.82 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG over a period of about five years beginning in 2026.The LNG will be supplied from Venture Global's portfolio and adds to the companies' existing long-term sales and purchase agreements covering 2 mtpa over 20 years.The new agreements strengthen Venture Global's position as a supplier of LNG to Germany and Europe, where utilities have sought to diversify gas supplies and bolster energy security through increased LNG imports.

Post-War Gulf Faces Push for Alternative Export Routes

3 hours ago

Middle East oil producers face a reckoning. The Iran war exposed the dangers of relying on a single chokepoint for vital oil and gas exports, leaving Gulf governments with a clear strategic imperative: diversify – at all costs.An Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz had long been viewed as a “Doomsday” event that would never happen. Experts assumed it would require a massive military effort and that Tehran would be reluctant to choke off its own exports.Those assumptions were proven painfully wrong. Iran imposed a near-airtight blockade using cheap drones, small vessels and mines, while continuing to export its own oil, at least until the U.S.

Maritime Reporter and Engineering News (June 2026)