At the eastern end of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia on the island of Cape Breton sits the small port of Sydney. By comparison to dozens of other North American ports, it's small potatoes. But what's important, and even vital, to Sydney is the revenue generated by its cruise industry.

In 2024, Sydney had a record year with 117 vessel calls, 13,297 passengers arriving on 20 cruise lines and millions of dollars in economic activity. Again, in comparison to the Miamis of the world, small potatoes. But big impact.

For both large and small ports, figures show the growing economic impact of cruising. Cruise Lines International Association's (CLIA) global economic impact study in 2023 "revealed the highest-ever global economic impact from cruise tourism and reaffirmed that 2023 surpassed 2019 as the benchmark year for cruise industry performance." The report also confirmed the cruise sector's role as a "robust job creator." According to the study, the global cruise industry in 2023 generated $168.6 billion in total economic impact, a nine percent increase over 2019.

And 2024 was even better, although final figures are not yet in.

Cruise lines are riding the wave of popularity with over 25 cruise ships on order in the next two years, according to a Travel Market Report. Capacities will range from 100 to 6,700 passengers. Cruise ports also continue to see the ever-growing importance of cruise and are investing in infrastructure with a continued focus on clean energy.

New Records

In 2025, the Port of Seattle will mark its first full season with all three of its cruise berths having shore power capability. The installation of shore power at the Bell Street Cruise Terminal at Pier 66, a $44 million investment, made Seattle capable of providing shore power simultaneously to three cruise ships, eliminating harmful emissions.

"With the installation of shore power at Pier 66, I'm proud to say Seattle is one of the only ports globally able to simultaneously power three cruise ships with low-carbon electricity," says Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman. Seattle has announced all homeported cruise ships will be required to plug into shore power by 2027, moving the original target date up by three years.

Seattle is also expecting new cruise lines.

"This summer we'll welcome the Queen Elizabeth from Cunard for a series of 10- and 11-day cruises from Pier 91," notes Brad Olsen, Senior Manager of Maritime Marketing. "In addition, existing homeport brands are deploying larger ships in 2025 including Norwegian's Joy and Oceania's Riviera. In 2026 we'll see MSC and Virgin Voyages sailing seven-day cruises from Pier 91."

Seattle posted 275 ship calls and 1.75 million passengers last year. The preliminary schedule for 2025 includes 299 vessel calls and an expected 1.9 million passengers. "We'll continue to set new records for cruise traffic," Olsen says.

Linda Springmann, the port's Director of Cruise & Maritime Marketing, adds, "Cruise passengers are a crucial part of our economy's success and contribute significantly to Seattle's vibrancy. Plus, SEA (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport) has strong international reach, which means cruise lines can attract international visitors who tend to stay longer, go further into our region and spend a little more."

Banner Year

It's expected to be a banner cruise year for the Port of Galveston as the port celebrates its 200th birthday.

"Galveston is the fourth most popular cruise port in North America and eighth busiest in the world because our cruise partners offer a great product and because of our location," exclaims Galveston Wharves' Port Director Rodger Rees. "As the only cruise homeport in Texas, we serve much of the central U.S. and beyond, offering more sailings to more destinations on newer and larger ships. We host Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean."

In 2024, a total of 3.4 million passengers moved through Galveston's three cruise terminals, a new record in the port's 25-year history as a homeport. More than 380 cruise ships called in 2024, another record. In 2025, the port forecasts more than 400 sailings and almost 3.6 million passengers. To meet the growing demand, the port will open a fourth cruise terminal in 2025. The $156 million terminal will be home to MSC and Norwegian cruise lines.

Similar to many ports, Galveston's cruise industry is a major economic engine for local and regional businesses. In 2023, cruise operations generated 4,547 jobs, $733 million in business revenues, $291 million in personal income and $25 million in state and local taxes.

The port's cruise operations are located adjacent to Galveston's historic downtown, filled with restaurants, shops, galleries and attractions. More than a third of cruise passengers stay in local lodging before or after their cruises to enjoy the many attractions.

Powering Up

Florida's Port Everglades, the third busiest cruise port in the world, has jumped on its own clean energy bandwagon and completed a study to add shore power to its eight cruise terminals.

The study by Moffatt & Nichol, a global infrastructure advisory firm working in cooperation with Florida Power & Light (FPL), Carnival Corporation, Disney Cruise Line and the Royal Caribbean Group, recommended a plan to deliver up to 16 megawatts of electricity simultaneously to each of the eight terminals. The projected cost, including estimates for FPL upgrades, is approximately $21.5 million per terminal for a total of $172 million. The project is expected to be financed through federal and state grants, contributions from FPL, the participating cruise lines and Broward County.

"In just the first few months of our fiscal year, we're seeing solid growth in our cruise business," says Joseph Morris, CEO & Port Director at Port Everglades. "There are cruise ships making more visits to our port and we anticipate a record 4.4 million cruise guests this year. We're also making progress on our Master/Vision Plan Update that will improve the experience for cruise lines and their guests, and we're powering forward with plans to renovate Terminal 29 for the Royal Caribbean Group."

Port Everglades, which hosts 10 cruise lines and a ferry, welcomed more than four million guests in FY 2024, a 39 percent increase over FY 2023 and a new record. There were 889 ship calls including 241 calls from Baleària's Caribbean ferry. Disney Cruise Line opened its second homeport at the beginning of FY 2024 and joined Celebrity, Princess and Royal Caribbean with year-round sailing itineraries.

Terminal Upgrades

On the California coast, at the Port of San Diego, shore power will be a sure thing.

The port's Board of Commissioners has approved a contract for an additional shore power outlet to enable vessels with starboard connections to access shore power at the B Street Cruise Terminal's south berth, adding further versatility to the existing system. The shore power addition will be accompanied by other infrastructure work.

Early this year the port is expecting to have the construction and design document completed for the B Street Cruise Terminal's upgrades with construction beginning as soon as late summer and completion sometime in 2026, states Josh Kellems, Principal Marketing & Public Relations Representative: "Terminal upgrades will include expanded security screening, new bathroom facilities, improved lighting and new flooring."

The port anticipates 265,000 passengers in 2024-25 and 324,000 in 2025-26.

In addition, notes Kellems, "We're excited to have a six-call increase with Holland America Line in the 2025-2026 season with the Nieuw Amsterdam being homeported in San Diego." The port will also welcome a new cruise ship in the 2025-2026 season, Virgin Voyages' Brilliant Lady.

We're #1

At PortMiami, the world's leading cruise port with over 8.2 million passengers, up 12 percent in FY 2023-24, it's only fitting it should be home to a massive new cruise facility. MSC Cruises will open the world's largest cruise terminal this year in Miami, able to accommodate two MSC ships simultaneously.

In addition to the new terminal, the port has launched a shore power program. In partnership with Miami-Dade County, Carnival Corporation, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Group, Virgin Voyages and FPL, PortMiami is the first major cruise port on the U.S. eastern seaboard offering shore power capability at five cruise berths. In the coming year, 21 cruise ships will be outfitted for shore power and will connect in Miami. The seaport will have more than 350 vessel calls plugging into its shore power system.

"We're committed to being a sustainable global gateway," says Hydi Webb, PortMiami Director & CEO. "We thank our mayor, county commissioners and port partners for their continued support of our resilience initiatives."

Ports columnist TOM PETERS writes from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

As two carrier strike groups pound Houthi positions in northwestern Yemen, the official Yemeni government and its allies are building a large force to retake the nation's Red Sea coastline and drive the militant group from power, according to multiple sources. If it is attempted, the ground offensive could result in fighting over the port city of Hodeidah, a focal point for back-and-forth struggles for control throughout the country's long civil war.  

Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, head of the Saudi-based Gulf Research Center, told a recent Chatham House panel that the Houthis have been hit hard by recent U.S. strikes, and that the internationally-recognized government of Yemen is making preparations to retake the country. While still hopeful for a political agreement, Dr.  Sager suggested that a military solution may be near at hand. 

"To my best knowledge, there is a preparation of almost 80,000 Yemeni soldiers from the legitimate government in preparation in different locations to move toward taking over. That will be . . . supported by the drone surveillance and by the air coverage by the US side. There has been some serious discussion in that one and I can see that happening," Dr. Sager said. "I think we might be on the stage of counting down to the end of the [Houthis], and they pushed it to this."

There appears to be preparation for renewed ground combat in the north, near Al Jawf and Sada, and in the south near Taiz, suggested Chatham House research fellow Farea al-Muslimi. "That is the front lines that the [Saudi and UAE] coalition is arming, in preparation for possibility of resuming ground troops over the next few weeks, and I think that is most likely what will happen," said al-Muslimi. "The current military discussions are moving unfortunately as if the [ground] war is to actually resume in the next hours, not just in the next weeks."

The Houthis have fought for this coastal strip before, but this time, their ability to defend territory will be limited because of U.S. control over shipping in and out of the port of Hodeidah, al-Muslimi said. The seaport is the main entry point for fuel in western Yemen. 

Continued operations in the Red Sea

On Sunday, Houthi sources reported six dead and 30 wounded from U.S. bombing attacks in Yemen. The group calculates the total death toll of the campaign to date at 120 people, including both combatants and civilians. 

The group also claimed the downing of another American MQ-9 Reaper drone, which U.S. Central Command declined to confirm or deny. The Houthis possess short range surface-to-air missiles that have proven capable of shooting down Reaper drones before. 

Central Command says that its assets are striking Houthi positions around the clock, but has released limited information about specific targets or individuals hit by the campaign. 

USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) living up to its motto: "Vis Per Mare," which means “Strength from the Sea” in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility… pic.twitter.com/4t964ihhbg

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 12, 2025

 

Last year, oil overtook soy as Brazil’s main export for the first time since 2012. According to trade data published by the government, foreign oil sales totalled almost USD 45 billion in 2024, passing soy’s USD 43 billion. The value of Brazil’s crude oil exports has more than doubled in the past five years, and has close to quadrupled in the past decade.

China is driving this demand. According to Brazilian government data, China received 44% of Brazil’s crude oil exports in 2024, followed by the US (13%) and Spain (11%). In the past decade, the value exported to the Chinese market has also grown by almost five times.

In tonnes, China’s relevance remains significant, though less pronounced. In 2024, it purchased 44% of the oil exported by Brazil. But although China tripled its demand for Brazilian oil over the past decade, its consumption is similar to that of five years ago.

According to experts, this trend could become more pronounced in the short term, due to US President Donald Trump’s initiation of a trade war with China. The Asian country retaliated in February by imposing a 10% tariff on oil from the US – the source of 2% of its oil imports in 2024 – and may likely increasingly turn to providers such as Brazil.

Brazil’s growing oil exports are casting a shadow on national climate ambitions, as well as several environmental and clean energy cooperation agreements it has penned with China. Furthermore, Brazil is preparing to host November’s COP30 climate summit in the Amazonian city of Belém; in March, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the country “is at the forefront of a global ethical assessment to raise climate ambition”. But in recent weeks, the government has also been increasingly pushing for oil exploration in Brazil’s ecologically sensitive Foz do Amazonas, the mouth of the Amazon river.

This insistence on fossil fuels is raising scepticism around Brazil’s green promises.

‘Brazil is reliable for China’

China imports more crude oil than any other country. According to the International Energy Agency, this demand has grown over recent decades mainly due to China’s massive investments in industry and infrastructure, as well as its population growth and economic development. Russia and Saudi Arabia provided the bulk of China’s crude oil imports in 2023; Brazil ranked sixth.

“Brazil is a reliable country for China,” says Tulio Cariello, director of content and research at the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC). “It’s a major producer, and has a lot of research, development and stability. The country enjoys a privileged geopolitical situation, as it is far from disputed regions.”

According to Brazilian government trade data, China has also exponentially increased its imports of refined fuel from Brazil: the amount spent climbed from USD 88 million to USD 609 million between 2023 and 2024. Dialogue Earth consulted Igor Celeste, a market intelligence manager at the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil): “Although it’s a more incipient product on the Chinese import list, we believe – given the dynamics of growth – that there may be more opportunities or demand in the future.”

André Leão, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies on Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Ineep) in Rio de Janeiro, says the intensification of the rivalry between the US and China after Donald Trump’s victory could prompt Brazil to further expand its exports to China.

“From a political point of view, Brazil is also likely to exhibit a tendency to distance itself from the US, although [Brazilian] diplomacy is adopting a cautious stance. This creates an opportunity to strengthen relations with China,” explains Leão.

China is a major consumer of oil and coal and maintains a predominantly fossil fuel-based energy mix. However, China is also rapidly advancing in its transition to cleaner energy sources: national CO2 emissions are expected to peak later this year. Sinopec, the largest Chinese oil refiner, estimates that refining will peak in 2027 as domestic consumption of diesel and petrol falls.

Despite these circumstances, analysts expect Brazil’s oil exports to the Chinese market to continue growing. Cariello says Brazil’s supply will remain crucial to China, and while reducing their dependence on this market is something that “companies in the sector are aware of”, it will only occur “in the distant future”.

Financing the energy transition

Brazil finds itself holding contradictory roles as both an exporter of growing volumes of oil and a leader on climate action. According to analysts, Brazil can reconcile these positions by maintaining its defence of “common but differentiated capacities and responsibilities”. This principle, enshrined under the United Nations’ climate convention, holds that developing countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but without assuming the same targets as developed countries.

“One of the ways to reconcile this is to argue that the resources needed to make the transition come from oil exploration itself,” adds Leão.

In 2024, the Energy Research Company (EPE), which supports Brazil’s energy planning, published a study highlighting the oil industry’s strategic role in energy security and investment. The institution argues that oil sustains Brazil’s economic development and its citizens’ quality-of-life standards. It also argues that oil will continue to meet demand amid global uncertainties around the pace of fossil fuels’ decline, and preserve jobs while the workforce adapts.

“Even in the most ambitious energy-transition scenarios, we haven’t reached zero oil consumption,” says Heloísa Borges Esteves, EPE’s director of oil, gas and biofuels studies. “The oil and gas industry needs to collaborate with the transition, financing the technologies we need.”

Researchers consulted by Dialogue Earth say they recognise the country’s dependence on oil, especially in the transport sector. But they criticise the government’s lack of mechanisms linking oil revenues to investments in clean sources, or to monitor such allocations.

Dialogue Earth spoke to Shigueo Watanabe Jr, a researcher and physicist specialising in climate change at Climainfo, a São Paulo-based non-profit dedicated to climate change news and research. “It’s impossible to say, ‘This item here is from royalties that the federal government earns from selling oil, and this money is being used for wind energy or public transport,’” he points out. “Without designating where the money is going, and without metrics that allow us to check whether this plan is being implemented, this story of financing the energy transition is a fantasy.”

Oil until when?

Tensions over oil exploration in Brazil have intensified in recent weeks, especially in relation to Foz do Amazonas. The project is causing divisions even within the government itself.

The oil firm Petrobras is seeking to move forward with studies to assess the viability of exploring the area. The state-owned company argues that Foz do Amazonas is crucial to keeping the country’s oil reserves stable. However, the government’s environmental agency, Ibama, recommends rejecting the project’s environmental licence. It cites potential harm to mangroves and sensitive Amazonian reefs, as well as to coastal populations.

President Lula has come out emphatically in favour of this exploration. Faced with the possibility of Ibama’s third rejection of the project, Lula says the agency “seems to be against the government”. Brasília is now reportedly considering replacing Ibama’s management.

Amid this impasse, some observers are highlighting the lack of concrete proposals to reduce Brazil’s fossil fuel dependence. Watanabe Jr says the country will continue to exploit oil unless there is “a revolution – which is unlikely”. But he adds that the government “needs to have a plan to stop burning oil at some point, as soon as possible”.

Currently, the EPE has an energy expansion plan up to 2050 that does not include clear carbon-neutrality scenarios. The government’s Climate Plan, conceived as a pathway for climate change mitigation through to 2035, has been in preparation since 2023. Its first part is due for publication this year. Until then, says Watanabe Jr, Brazil still does not have a clear plan to reduce its dependence on oil, whether for domestic consumption or export.

“Brazil today extracts more or less three million barrels of oil a day. We consume between one million and two million, and that million that’s left over, we export,” explains Watanabe Jr. “They export to make money; they get some royalties. But do you need to export all that oil? Probably not. It’s a hyper-contradiction to say, ‘let’s take care of the climate’, and at the same time increase emissions in order to have money.”

André Duchiade is a Brazilian journalist and translator based in Rio de Janeiro. He has worked for O Globo and Época and his work has been published in several national and international media, including The Scientific American, Sumaúma, The Intercept Brasil and Agência Pública.

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here. 

 

The NTSB has determined that the tanker Hafnia Amessi struck a pier on the Cooper River last year because the pilot let the vessel get too close to the riverbank. The combination of bank effect and current overwhelmed the force of the tanker's rudder and propulsion, sending it into the end of the pier - much like the tanker Bow Triumph, which hit the same pier under similar circumstances in 2022. 

"Bank effect can have an undesired effect on vessels, even for the most experienced ship handlers. Pilots, masters, and other vessel operators should consider the risks in areas known for shoaling when planning transits," cautioned NTSB. "Where appropriate, employ additional measures to mitigate the risk, including use of tugboats, reducing or increasing speed, and/or delaying the transit until more favorable conditions exist."

On the morning of January 14, 2024, Hafnia Amessi finished offloading at a terminal on the Cooper River in Wando, South Carolina. The vessel prepared to get under way on a ballast voyage to Texas City, Texas. A local marine pilot with 25 years' experience and 5,000 transits - including more than 20 on this stretch of river - boarded to guide the outbound transit. Because the pilot was aware of the Bow Triumph's allision with Naval Weapons Station Pier B two years before, he instructed the escort tug to take a position on the starboard side and accompany Hafnia Amessi down the river as a precaution. "This order was a direct result of what I had learned from the Bow Triumph incident in 2022," he told NTSB. 

Hafnia Amessi got under way. At 1000, nearing a river bend at buoy 80, the pilot noted an extreme flood current rushing past the buoy - strong enough to reduce the tanker's speed to just five knots. 

The pilot lined up to take the next bend, a hard 90-degree turn to port that would take the tanker past Pier B. The pilot aimed for the east side of the channel, expecting that the strong current would set Hafnia Amessi further out towards the center. That did not occur, and the tanker ended up passing tight against the eastern bank, a maneuver that the pilot had not intended. The eastern bank had a ledge that tended to shoal rapidly with silt, and it had to be dredged every few years. 

At 1016:27, the pilot ordered hard to port, but the rudder order had no effect on the rate of turn. At 1017:23, the ship's echo sounder read zero feet, indicating shallow water. Pier B was dead ahead, and the pilot ordered full ahead to push more water over the rudder. He also directed the escort tug to push on the starboard bow with "all she's got."

Courtesy NTSB

The last-minute maneuvers were not enough to avert an allision, and Hafnia Amessi hit the end of the pier at six knots. The impact dented in the tanker's hull plating up to three inches and buckled three transverse bulkheads inward by about 1-2 inches, causing about $30,000 in damage. The end of the pier sustained about $8 million in damage to dolphins, pilings and concrete, in addition to the previous damage caused by Bow Triumph. (There was no disruption to cargo operations at the pier, as it was already out of service because of the earlier accident.) 

According to NTSB, bank effect from a known shoal on the eastern channel edge likely pulled Hafnia Amessi's stern to port. Meanwhile, the strong flood current pushed her bow to starboard. The effects were strong enough to neutralize the force of Hafnia Amessi's rudder, even hard over to port with engine full ahead. 

NTSB noted that Bow Triumph's allision with the same pier happened under very similar circumstances: the Triumph passed too close to the east side of the channel, suffered bank suction, lost effective control of her heading and destroyed a 300-foot section of the pier. 

The shoal was a known hazard, and the Coast Guard had previously scheduled the installation of a buoy to mark the danger zone at the bend. The buoy was installed on the planned date, three days after Hafnia Amessi hit the pier. "If this Buoy 72A had been there [during the transit] . . . that would have given me the tools to come more to the right and the information that I needed to avoid that spot," the pilot told NTSB after the casualty. 

After two allisions in two years, the Coast Guard Captain of the Port issued a standing order requiring all vessels over 10,000 GT or drawing more than 25 feet to use a tethered, two-tug escort when transiting through this challenging section of the river. 

 

 

[By: MAN Energy Solutions]

At a recent ceremony in China, MAN Energy Solutions signed a framework agreement with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (CHI) regarding their future cooperation on decarbonisation retrofit projects.

Michael Petersen – Senior Vice President, Head of PrimeServ Denmark – signed the agreement on behalf of MAN Energy Solutions, with Guo Zhiqiang – Deputy General Manager, CHI Commercial Headquarters – doing so for CHI.

Guo Zhiqiang said: “I am pleased to announce that CHI and MAN Energy Solutions, having served shared clients in their respective domains, are now forging a closer collaboration in vessel decarbonisation. Starting today, our integrated one-stop solutions will inject fresh impetus into the green transition of the global maritime industry.”

Petersen said: “This frame agreement facilitates MAN Energy Solutions’ partnership with CHI, one of the largest repair-yard groups in the world. The agreement means that we can join forces on many future projects to ensure the decarbonisation of the existing commercial fleet worldwide. Today, there are some 4,500 vessels globally with the potential to benefit from changing their current bunker fuel to more environmentally-friendly options. We look forward to working with CHI to deliver new decarbonisation solutions to the maritime industry.”

The new framework agreement provides for the retrofitting of existing ships to operation on new alternative fuels like methane, methanol and ammonia – all fuels that can be produced in a sustainable way through power-to-X processes. MAN Energy Solutions will provide advanced engine-retrofit technology and digital energy-efficiency solutions, while CHI will leverage its rich EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) experience in large-scale ship modification projects.

With five ship-repair yards, CHI has the capacity to repair and modify approximately 1,500 ships annually. This collaboration will integrate MAN PrimeServ’s cutting-edge, dual-fuel engine technology with CHI's repair and modification capabilities to decarbonise the merchant fleet globally.

MAN Energy Solutions views the new agreement as a natural development stemming from the companies’ strong relationship. In this respect, MAN Energy Solutions and CHI are already working together on two major projects for two world-leading container-ship owners.

 

Reduced water depths occur along navigable inland waterways, disrupting the economics of waterway transportation. While technology capable of maintaining viable transportation along economically essential navigable waterways exists, the installation of such technology involves considerable political controversy. Authorities responsible for waterways may need to consider implementing drastic measures, for economic reasons.

Introduction

Periods of reduced water levels have occurred along several navigable inland waterways and adversely impacted domestic and international waterway transportation. During past such occasions, ships sailed the St. Lawrence Seaway at part load. Recent drought conditions reduced water levels through the Panama Canal and impacted international shipping. Reduced water levels have occurred along the European canal system, along sections of the Mississippi River and along the McKenzie River in northwestern Canada. During some past periods of low water levels, vessels carried reduced payload or had to cease navigation along shallow sections of waterway.

The European inland canal system and the New Panama Canal have been built with water saving side tanks at navigation locks. The tanks reduce water usage when vessels transit across changes of elevations. Despite such measures, weather conditions still reduced water depths and adversely impacted navigation. However, there are still alternative methods by which to respond when water depths decline along some navigable channels. Methods that involve changes to the infrastructure would be subject to environmental evaluation, with economic cost comparisons between environmental impact and revenue earned from ongoing ship transportation.

Infrastructure Modifications

The power generation industry uses pumped hydraulic storage as a means by which to store energy. There is scope to adapt some hydraulic pumping technology from the power industry to some navigable waterways. However, operators of inland waterway systems that seek to utilize such technology, would require access to massive amounts of electrical energy. One method by which to increase navigable water depths would be to pump seawater inland along the navigable waterway, to higher elevation. The combination of wind power and ocean water energy conversion could at some locations, pump seawater to higher elevation.

A nuclear generation ship moored near the entrance/exit of an inland would also have the capacity to generate large amounts of electric power to continually operate water pumps that transfer massive volumes of water to higher elevation. The Panama Canal Authority would need to evaluate the environmental impact of pumping seawater inland from the Pacific Ocean to sustain navigable water depths along the western section of the canal. The combination of two power utilities and the St. Lawrence Seaway would need to explore pumping water from the Ottawa River upstream from Montreal to sustain water depth to Lake Ontario.

Navigation Lock Water Pumps

When vessels need to transit to lower elevation, water pumps might transfer water upstream from navigation locks where water saving side tanks are absent. Such pumping of water would sustain water depths along the highest elevations along the navigation canal. The might be need to pump seawater into channels to sustain water levels at lower elevations. The canal operator and national government would need to compare the environmental impact cost of seawater on vegetation growing along the navigation channel, to the amount of revenue the canal earns and contributes to the national economy.

The installation of high – volume water pumps at some navigation locks along the Panama Canal might actually be viable in terms of ship transit revenue, despite the environmental impact on vegetation growing next to lower elevations of the canal. One possible option might be to plant mangrove along lower elevations of the canal that would receive pumped seawater. While the frequency and duration of future occurrences of drought over the watershed areas of Panama is unknown, the option of pumping water to higher elevation at navigation locks increases the duration of navigation during future periods of drought.

Additional Navigation Locks

Installing both navigation locks and water pumps at strategic locations along some navigable waterways offers the promise of sustaining water levels during periods of extended drought. In Eastern Canada, a navigation lock installed along the St. Lawrence River near Quebec City would sustain navigable water levels upstream to Montreal, with water levels downstream of such lock dropping to ocean levels while maintaining sufficient navigation depth for ships to sail between Montreal and the Atlantic Ocean. Potable water flowing from four rivers into the St. Lawrence River east of Quebec City would reduce salinity to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The St. Lawrence receives most of its water from the Great Lakes where water depth fluctuates by a few feet over an extended time duration. There have been periods when ships have sailed at reduced payload and reduced draft along the St. Lawrence Seaway due to reduced navigable water depth. On an almost cyclical pattern, such periods have been followed by successive multi-year periods of excess water height, which have on occasion restricted ship traffic or required ships to sail at reduced speed so as to minimize flooding and erosion along the shoreline.

Conclusions

The feasibility of national economies and of international trade depends on vessels sailing through navigable inland waterways. While changing weather patterns can reduce water depths along such waterways, proven technology and proven methods can maintain navigable depths over extended time duration. Implementing such methods and technology requires some governments to make drastic decisions, for economic reasons.

 

[By Blaine Worthington]

The United States has a shipping problem and everybody knows it. From combatant commands to congress and maritime security outlets to the White House, everyone is talking about America’s lack of maritime capacity. America, it seems, is waking up to its maritime problem and is ready to roll up its sleeves and start solving it in the only way it knows how—mostly alone. While there have been some nods to bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding, the United States has not made a concerted effort toward a robust, multilateral counter-China maritime strategy. That needs to change. A coordinated, multinational approach is required to counter Chinese shipping dominance. The US and its allies should form a Multilateral Maritime Alliance to secure maritime trade and create critical sealift capacity to sustain expeditionary combat operations.

The crux of the problem is that the United States cannot compete with Chinese shipping or shipbuilding. The United States flagged merchant fleet currently sits at 185 ships. China (including Hong Kong) has a fleet of 7,838. In 2023, the United States built 0.1% of the world’s ships. In the same year, China built 50.7%. In 2024, 2.16% of the global merchant fleet was owned by US companies. China owned 19%. The scale of China’s shipping and shipbuilding advantage gives it tremendous economic leverage over the United States during peacetime. At the same time, this lack of domestic shipping means the United States does not have a merchant marine robust enough to support sustained expeditionary combat in the event conflict with China. It is understandable that the United States wants to rebuild its maritime sector. It must, and it must do it quickly.

The United States is not alone in this situation, however. Its close friend and ally Australia suffers from a similar ill. As Canberra-based maritime expert Richard Dunley has noted, “99 per cent of Australia’s trade moves by sea, supporting 45 per cent of the country’s national income. And virtually all of this travels in foreign flagged and foreign owned vessels. In 2021, 6,170 individual foreign flagged vessels called at Australian ports. By contrast, there are only four Australian flagged vessels on international trade and these are LNG carriers, exporting Australian hydrocarbons to customers in north-east Asia.”

This situation is not lost on the Australian government either. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party made the development of a “Strategic Fleet” of privately owned and Australia-flagged merchant vessels a plank of the party platform during the 2022 election. In 2023, the Albanese government released a report detailing the scale of the problem and proposing many solutions similar to those now on offer in the United States, including government subsidies, cargo preference measures, and maritime workforce development efforts—largely measures aimed at bolstering domestic capacity.

BAY OF BENGAL (Oct. 17, 2021) Ships and aircraft from the U.S. Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and U.K. Royal Navy transit in formation as part of Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Haydn N. Smith)

These efforts, like their American counterparts, will take many years, if not decades, to take effect, however. There is no switch to flip that will suddenly cause shipyards to spring up, full of trained and qualified workers, with healthy, consistent, reliable demand for ships operated by American or Australian crew while relying solely on domestic solutions. As the Davidson Window – the most likely window in which China might attempt to take military action against Taiwan – closes and the clock ticks down to 2027, there simply is not enough time to wait for the domestic industry to come online.

If a domestic ramp-up cannot provide an immediate solution, the obvious answer is to look abroad. In the United States, this effort has focused on the shipbuilding side of the coin. In recent testimony, Congressional Research Service analyst Ronald O’Rourke typified this perspective by highlighting US allies in Japan and South Korea as obvious partners to address US shipbuilding needs. Australian officials seemed to have reached a similar conclusion in strongly considering the Japanese Mogami-class frigates in their upcoming procurement. These solutions, however, leave two problems remaining. First, all Japanese and South Korean shipyards are within China’s Weapons Engagement Zone (WEZ). This is a concern not just for the US and Australia, but also for Japan and Korea, who would need access to shipyards with some standoff from China in the event of conflict. Second, even if shipbuilding partnerships can be achieved in the medium term, the United States and Australia will still lack sufficient sealift capacity to compete with China in the immediate term.

To solve these problems, the United States and Australia should engage with their regional partners in South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines—who have been partnering with the Koreans to develop their own shipbuilding prowess—to create a counter-China maritime bloc: the Multilateral Maritime Alliance (MMA). The MMA would achieve the following objectives:

1. Establish economic incentives to promote sea trade via vessels owned or flagged within the MMA, protecting market access for domestic shippers and breaking Chinese economic leverage over member states.

2. Formalize cooperation amongst MMA members to develop shipbuilding and shipping capacity in Australia and the United States, establishing robust and redundant allied maritime capacity outside the WEZ.

To achieve the first objective, the MMA should negotiate collective cargo preferences, port privileges, and trade incentives to immediately shift demand away from Chinese carriers. Many countries, the United States included, maintain cargo preference policies, which are designed to ensure demand for domestically flagged shipping. Under the MMA, similar preference policies would be shared amongst MMA countries. Collective preferences could include requiring that a percentage of all imports or exports be carried on MMA shipping, providing front-of-the-line privileges for MMA ships in ports of member states, and the blanket reduction or elimination of import tariffs on all goods shipped via MMA shipping.

If necessary, the MMA could even resort to establishing shipping quotas to be shared by participating countries to ensure all members have an opportunity to develop and sustain their domestic industries. By coordinating cargo preferences and other incentives, the MMA immediately counters China’s maritime dominance—dominance obtained by decades of subsidies, artificially low freight rates, and unfair labor practices. Breaking China’s grip on maritime trade is a necessary condition for future domestic investments in shipping and shipbuilding to be globally competitive.

For the second objective, the MMA can create formal dialogue between countries to allow for the strategic planning and coordination of shipbuilding and repair capacity development. While many of these discussions are already occurring on a bilateral basis, the MMA would ensure that these existing actions are undertaken thoughtfully, do not unwittingly compete against each other, or otherwise compromise the strategic integrity of this shipbuilding or repair capacity. The MMA would effectively serve as an industrial alliance, similar to those found in the European Union. These alliances bring together academia, policymakers, and industry to coordinate policy and investment to achieve strategic ends by finding opportunities for collaboration at all levels of the value chain. This could build on cooperative efforts such as the production of Virginia-class submarines under AUKUS or the potential Mogami-class procurement project between Australia and Japan.

MMA collaboration could generate opportunities to jointly design, procure, and build future ships in ways that allow each member state to strategically contribute to the supply chain. Additionally, the MMA could allow for the development of formal technical and workforce exchange programs that would enable US and Australian workers and management to work alongside their Korean and Japanese counterparts to develop expertise in current best practices and bring these skills back to their home countries. It would also allow for Korean, Japanese, and Philippine workers with shipbuilding experience and expertise to travel to the US or Australia to seed their nascent workforces and provide immediate access to the skilled labor necessary to ramp up shipbuilding and repair capacity beyond the WEZ.

These solutions are not intended as a replacement for efforts currently underway in the United States or Australia. These efforts to develop their respective domestic maritime sectors must continue. However, purely domestic efforts to rebuild the industry will take time that neither country can afford, and bilateral efforts fail to effectively address the scale of Chinese anti-competitive practices and the strategic vulnerability created by further concentrating capacity inside the WEZ. The MMA, however, will set conditions to allow those domestic investments to be competitive in the long term by breaking the Chinese stranglehold on the shipping industry in the short term. It also formalizes strategic cooperation among all parties to ensure that collective risks are mitigated with collective solutions.

Finally, this civil maritime coordination will lay the foundation for further cooperation between member states in the event of conflict with China, when the demand for sealift will be acute, and all parties will have a role to play in meeting that need. The time for unilateral and bilateral action has passed. The United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines should form the Multilateral Maritime Alliance now and break the Chinese stranglehold on maritime industries—before it is too late.

Blaine Worthington is a graduate student at the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and an Associate with Booz Allen Hamilton. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and served as Logistics Officer in the United States Marine Corps and continues to serve as a member of the Marine Corps’ Independent Ready Reserve. 

This article appears courtesy of CIMSEC and may be found in its original form here, including footnotes.

 

After recent reports of Russian vessels planting subsea listening devices in waters near the UK, Russia's ambassador to London told BBC that there was no reason for concern - though he did not deny that the Russian military has been at work on Britain's seabed.

"I am not going to deny it, but I wonder whether we really have an interest in following all the British submarine with very old outdated nuclear warheads," Ambassador Andrei Kelin said in an interview. "All these threats are extremely exaggerated . . . absolutely, there is no threat at all from Russia to the UK."

The devices in question are acoustic monitors, believed to be designed to track the movements of the Royal Navy's Vanguard-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines. The UK is one of the few nations that maintain an at-sea nuclear deterrent patrol, and while a submarine is the most survivable nuclear launch platform, its edge depends upon stealth. At least three nations - the U.S., China and Russia - maintain subsea listening networks in an attempt to track adversaries' submarines; some of these efforts are well-documented and elaborate, like the U.S. Navy's SOSUS listening station system. 

More than a dozen former military officials told The Times that Russia is using its subsea expertise in an attempt to track the Vanguard-class patrols. The report explains the Royal Navy's sudden interest in acquiring two offshore vessels for subsea monitoring and intervention, RFA Proteus and RFA Stirling Castle. 

"We are seeing phenomenal amounts of Russian activity," one senior British official told The Times. "There should be no doubt, there is a war raging in the Atlantic."

The most concerning threat is Russia's singular capability to wage subsea warfare. Russia's military has a dedicated and separate subsea branch, the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI), with its own fleet of ultra-deep-diving minisubmarines. These miniature nuclear-powered vessels are among the most secretive subs in the world, and are purpose-built for tapping communications cables, cutting lines or planting explosives in the ocean's depths. If used for attacks on the UK's subsea power cables, offshore gas pipelines and data cables, these capabilities could in theory be used to cause significant economic disruption - like disabling the UK power grid, or cutting off the data connection between London's banking sector and New York. 

Even more concerning, "there are cables that are not public," one military official told The Times. "The Russians have the capability to cut military cables."
 

 

On Friday, the Estonian Navy boarded and detained a sanctioned tanker in the Baltic for allegedly flying a false flag. The vessel was flying the flag of Djibouti, but the Djiboutian register of shipping said that the tanker - the 18-year-old Kiwala - had already been deregistered. International databases suggest that Kiwala's Djiboutian flag service was canceled on January 1, 2025. 

"During a routine inspection, there was reason to suspect the ship lacked a flag state and valid insurance. The vessel is also subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland," said Cmdr. Ivo Vark, the head of the Estonian Navy. 

Estonian inspectors found 40 deficiencies aboard the aging vessel, and have detained it until repairs and improvements are made. The majority of the issues are related to documentation, including its flag. It is an example of NATO member states' newly-strengthened efforts to police tanker traffic in the Baltic, outside of the 12-mile limit of territorial seas: the interdiction was initiated in international waters and the crew was asked to divert into Estonian jurisdiction. 

Kiwala (IMO 9332810, ex name Pacific Apollo / Virgo Sun / P. Fos / Odysseus / Varuna) is a 115,000 dwt crude tanker built in 2007. Like many "shadow fleet vessels," she has flag-hopped extensively: previous flags in the last three years include St. Kitts, Mongolia and Gabon. She is currently managed by a Chinese company, crewed by Chinese officers, and owned by an anonymous firm in Mauritius. Her ultimate beneficial owner is not known, but she was once part of the well-known Gatik Ship Management fleet. 

Kiwala and gray-market vessels like her may face a new source of competition. Western tanker owners and insurers can now legitimately do business in the Russian oil market, thanks to the falling cost of crude. Due to steep U.S. tariffs on trading partners and investor concerns about the state of the global economy, oil prices have slid, and the Russian Urals grade has begun fetching less than $60 per barrel - the price cap set by the G7 in 2022 for Western shipping services. 

 

The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned a Dubai shipowner with a fleet of nearly 30 tankers for allegedly carrying Iranian oil to market. 

The Trump administration has reinstituted a campaign of "maximum pressure" on Iranian oil exports in an attempt to convince Tehran to halt its nuclear program and cease financing destabilizing activities in the Mideast. The Iranian government is the primary foreign sponsor of a range of anti-American, anti-Israeli groups in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq, and Iranian oil revenue underpins these activities. Sanctions enforcement targeting the Iran-facing fleet is intended to undercut this activity and force Tehran to negotiate (talks are just beginning in Oman). 

Iran's oil is heavily sanctioned, but it is a favorite feedstock among independent Chinese refiners. Using black-market shipping networks, Iranian brokers have had little difficulty in arranging deliveries to China, primarily through STS transfers and low quality "shadow fleet" tonnage.

Jugwinder Singh Brar, an Indian national, owns Prime Tankers LLC and Glory International FZ LLC, both based in the UAE; and Global Tankers Pvt Ltd. and B and P Solutions Pvt Ltd, both based in India. According to the Treasury, Brar's Handysize fleet provides a critical service for Iran's state oil company by helping to conceal the origins of its crude. Treasury alleges that his ships conduct STS transfers off Iraq, Iran, the UAE and Oman to load Iranian petroleum, then deliver it to third-party traders who blend it with other oil supplies from non-sanctioned nations. With fake bills of lading, this oil then trades on the international market as "legitimate" crude. The lightering operations are complex and can take days to complete, according to the Treasury; they are typically conducted using fake AIS transmissions or with AIS turned off in an attempt to conceal the activity.

Some of the vessels in Brar's fleet that are known to carry Iranian petroleum have also made "frequent port calls" at oil terminals in India, according to the Treasury.   

“The Iranian regime relies on its network of unscrupulous shippers and brokers like Brar and his companies to enable its oil sales and finance its destabilizing activities,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent in a statement. “The United States remains focused on disrupting all elements of Iran’s oil exports, particularly those who seek to profit from this trade.”

 

The U.S. Navy has deployed another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to patrol waters around the U.S. southern border, the third announced in a month. The previously-deployed destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) will return to port. 

USS Stockdale, a veteran of the Red Sea maritime security campaign, departed San Diego on Friday to perform duties in support of border security. President Donald Trump has ordered a surge of military and civilian assets to support border enforcement and deportation operations, drawing on personnel and equipment from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army and Navy, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Stockdale and other Navy vessels with law-enforcement missions ship out with embarked Coast Guard boarding teams (LEDETs), with personnel who have the training and legal authority to perform routine arrests. 

Stockdale deployed to 5th Fleet and 7th Fleet last year in support of the campaign to defend shipping from Houthi attacks, and spent seven months away from home port. While she was in 5th Fleet, Stockdale repelled "multiple Iranian-backed Houthi attacks" in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb and escorted U.S.-flagged ships through the Gulf of Aden. She also joined the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group for part of the tour. Her crew engaged the full spectrum of Houthi threats, including drones, antiship ballistic missiles and antiship cruise missiles. 

After transiting a total of 44,000 nautical miles, Stockdale returned to San Diego on February 21, and has now departed on mission again after seven weeks in port. 

"Stockdale’s departure reinforces the Navy’s role in the Department of Defense’s coordinated efforts to comply with the [presidential] order," the Navy said in a statement. 

Indirectly, the destroyer deployments illustrate the cost-effectiveness of Coast Guard vessel platforms for low-end interdiction missions. Whether operating in U.S. coastal waters or deploying to the Persian Gulf, coast guard cutters go to sea without a surface combatant's massive overhead: running an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer requires salaries and training for 300 crewmembers, plus parts and maintenance for an advanced air defense radar, sonar system, Aegis combat system, and the most sophisticated assortment of missiles found on any surface combatant. The U.S. Navy estimates that the total operating costs of one destroyer exceed $220,000 per day. 

 

Defending the US facility on Diego Garcia never used to present much of a challenge.

The base was far out of range of regional actors who might want to threaten it, so there was no need for the surveillance and air defense resources needed to protect US bases within the Middle East region, such as are needed at Ain al-Assad in Iraq, at Al Tanf base on the Syrian-Jordanian border and elsewhere - bases which have been regularly attacked. Nor was there a need to construct hardened aircraft shelters. For US defense planners, this presented a considerable saving in resources.

Small boat intruders were kept away by the sheer distance from the nearest dry land. A small force of British Royal Marines appears from nowhere to intercept boats trying to enter the 250,000 square mile Marine Protected Area within which Diego Garcia sits, sometimes reinforced by the River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels HMS Spey (P234) or HMS Tamar (P233).

Just as negotiations between the United Kingdom and Mauritius over the future of Diego Garcia appear to be coming to a conclusion, this situation appears to be changing - highlighting the geopolitical perils of predicting requirements and the future 99 years ahead when coming to international agreements of this nature.

As tensions between Iran and the United States have ratcheted up in recent months, it has become apparent that Iran has now developed missile and drone systems that can pose a direct threat to the base on Diego Garcia. Previously Iran appears to have observed a moratorium on developing long-range missiles. But with UN Security Council Resolution 2231 due to expire on October 18, Iran could well unveil longer range versions of the Khorramshahr missile developed in secret, which could have Diego Garcia in range if launched from the Chah Bahar area - whose air base was visited by VIPS escorted by Brigadier Hamid Vahedi, commander of the Iranian Air Force, on April 6.

Other long range systems have already been tested. Iran’s Shahed-129 and Fotros attack drones can already manage the 2,500 miles to Diego Garcia. A large fleet of medium range missiles and drones could also be fired at Diego Garcia from the IRGC Navy’s converted oil tankers Shahid Mahdavi (C110-3) and Shahid Bagheri (C110-4). Moreover, as well as having the capability, Iran has also boasted of its intention to threaten Diego Garcia.

Hence it is no surprise that to watch over the B2-Sprint and KC-135 long-range strike capability deployed in recent weeks to Diego Garcia, the US Navy has deployed Arleigh Burke Class destroyer USS Wayne E Meyer (DDG108) to the area to bolster local air defenses. With Diego Garcia now also replenishing the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group, such precautions are necessary, and may become even more so if the current ongoing strikes on the Houthis in Yemen conflagrate into wider conflict.

But for the long-term, keeping an Arleigh Burke on station is an expensive way of providing air defense, particularly when such naval air defense resources are now needed for the first time and are being deployed in sea areas adjacent to Mexico. It might be cheaper and more sustainable if a local air defense infrastructure for Diego Garcia were to be put in place.

This could entail positioning and air defense and surveillance assets up range from Diego Garcia on other islands in the Chagos Archipelago, the best candidate being Peros Banhos, which was the last island in the archipelago to remain occupied before the local population was evacuated, and where traces of some infrastructure remain.

Until the draft of the treaty between the United Kingdom and Mauritius is released, it is unclear if such a deployment would be permitted. Nor is it clear what arrangements more generally are to be put in place to ensure that the defense in depth for Diego Garcia currently provided by the British-patrolled Marine Protection Area can be continued.

 

President Trump’s strategy of cajoling Iran into negotiations appears to have gotten off the ground. A successful initial meeting has been held between US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Muscat on April 12, with the prospect nurtured by the Omanis that this will lead to a continuing dialogue.

Iranian leaders are reported to have reluctantly agreed to engage with the mediation effort in Muscat in large part because of fears that the internal security situation within Iran is fast deteriorating, jeopardizing the regime’s grip on power.  This has been prompted by the worsening domestic economic situation and the loss of authority faced by the leadership following the series of reverses that the regime and its allies have suffered on the battlefield, with its Axis of Resistance strategy now thoroughly discredited.

President Trump had intended to add to this mounting domestic pressure by sharply reducing the revenues Iran’s government relies on from oil exports.  To encourage such a development, the Trump administration has accelerated a tightening of the oil sanctions regime on Iran which began in the latter days of the Biden presidency.  In sanctions rounds announced on October 11 and December 3, 2024 and again on February 24 this year, the US Treasury expanded the lists of ships, brokers, tanker operators and shipping companies subject to OFAC sanctions for involvement in selling and transporting Iranian crude.

As yet, however, oil exports appear not to have been curbed, but indeed have accelerated to record levels.  With some variation in figures reported by different agencies, the trend in Kpler data reported by Reuters shows Iranian exports increasing consistently since the presidential election, to reach a new high at the end of March.  Some of this rise can probably be attributed to Chinese refiners buying while they still can, taking advantage of a $6 discount per barrel on sanctioned Iranian crude.  Prior to the re-imposition of sanctions, Iran was exporting about 2.2 million barrels per day.

China is the recipient of about 90% of Iran’s oil exports.  Kpler believes that in March, 16% of China's total imports of crude by sea came from Iran.  While some reports suggested that private ‘teapot’ refiners were beginning to turn away Iranian crude, the evidence suggests that this is rarely yet happening.  For example, Kpler reported that at the beginning of April, Aframax tankers Nereus Sophia (IMO: 9266853) and Turaco (IMO 9247780), both recently sanctioned by OFAC, discharged Iranian crude at the ports of Yangshan (Shanghai) and Dongying (Shandong Province), both of which service teapot refiners.  Moreover, with China and the United States now engaged in a mutual tariff war, Chinese inclination to respect OFAC sanctions has probably reduced rather than tightened.

Agents still appear to be practicing deception by trans-shipping oil between shadow and non-sanctioned tankers in the anchorage east of Singapore, on paper converting Iranian into Malaysian-origin crude.   Vesselfinder.com on April 13 shows a high concentration vessels transiting the Straits of Malacca as one might expect, but also of at least 50 static vessels static in international waters northeast of Bandar Penawar, in this traditional trans-shipment area.           

Bloomberg has estimated, using satellite imagery, that 10 trans-shipments were occurring daily in 2020 and 20 per day in 2024.  It appears from the concentration of the vessels in the box this week that the number of trans-shipments may have doubled again over the last 12 months.

All along the sanctions-busting chain, traders and shippers have developed skills and techniques to circumvent sanctions, and sanctions enforcement seemingly has not kept pace to the same degree.  For US-led sanctions to be effective, a degree of willingness of other sovereign countries to cooperate is needed, and this may have been eroded in recent months as the tariff wars have commenced.  Moreover, there is now competition in the black market from Russia, with it being no surprise that purchasing activity for end-of-life Supermaxes and VLCCs suited for dark fleet operations has increased recently.  As volumes of discounted but sanctioned oil sales have increased, there has in consequence been knock-on downward pressure on market pricing of legitimately-trade crude.

[By: NABU]

The UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO) agreed to establish an Emission Control Are (ECA) the Northeast Atlantic. For millions of people along the Atlantic coastlines - from Portugal, Spain, and France through the British Isles up to Iceland and Greenland - the air they breathe will get much cleaner. Besides human health there is also a big benefit for the environment that suffers from toxic air pollutants. 

“Today marks a historic day in air pollution reduction from ships. The new Emission Control Area will avoid thousands of premature deaths in Europe. Moreover, the Northeast Atlantic ECA will close the gap between existing ECAs in North and Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Sea. Thereby almost all European waters will be Emission Control Areas soon. This harmonized regulation not only benefits people and nature but also facilitate a level playing field for the maritime industry in Europe. Our network of NGOs in 13 European countries has put this on the political agenda. Without civil society engagement this would not have happened - but we also would like to express deep thanks to people working in national administrations especially in Portugal who made this possible.” says Sönke Diesener, shipping expert at NABU.

Besides decreased air pollution there is a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions too. Reduction in fuel use as well as a swich to alternative energies incentivised by the higher prices for higher quality fuels. Moreover, there will be less ground level ozone formation which is another high potential greenhouse gas deriving from air pollution by ships. 

The just released European Maritime Transport Environmental Report 2025 shows Sulphur Oxides going down 70% since 2014 within the already established ECAs. Thus, it is only consequent to move ahead with this regulatory framework. Least European waters not covered so far are the Spanish (Canary Islands) and Portuguese (Azores and Madeira) islands and the Black Sea. “It is not acceptable to leave this people with toxic air pollution. Therefore, we are committed to move on to advocate for an all EU-ECA and beyond – both for sulphur and nitrogen oxides” concludes Sönke Diesener.

Unfortunately, it will be still allowed to burn toxic heavy fuel oil, if the exhaust gases are washed out by so-called scrubbers, whose contaminated wash water is dumped in the ocean. This practice still downgrades the achievements for the environment and creates loopholes that undermine the economic level playing field for shipping. That is why, alongside the expansion of ECAs, NABU believes that a ban on scrubber wash water discharge is necessary, as already implemented by several countries such as Denmark, Finland, and Sweden.

[By: Sea Asia 2025]

Global shipping and maritime leaders met with the wider sector for three days at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for Sea Asia 2025, a leading maritime event that has helped shape the challenges and opportunities, while declaring the importance of engaging with a changing world to deliver leadership and sustainability by serving as a marketplace for the global sector. 

The global maritime industry meets in Singapore
In its 10th edition, Sea Asia saw the international maritime industry hearing from leaders and pioneers, showcasing solutions covering energy efficiency, future fuels and AI applications, and announcing new products, services, collaborations and agreements across the three days. 

During the event, 55 sessions were presented across the main conference, Connexion Stage, Knowledge Sharing Theatre and Country Hotspots – including sessions led by the Panama Maritime Authority, British Chamber of Commerce Singapore, and Rotterdam Maritime Capital of Europe – and Executive Networking sessions - from the UK Hydrographic Office, International Paint and Seatrade Maritime News. The sessions provided valuable learning and networking opportunities, as well as highlighted investment potential across the marine value chain. 

The maritime industry has great opportunities to adopt technologies that reduce emissions, improve efficiency, and enhance safety and security. During the show, Shipnet unveiled an AI-powered decision-making tool, ICE Telecom introduced a new satellite communications product, and Rakuten Maritime celebrated ClassNK’s recognition of its two products Rakuten-TM and Rakuten-SC. Innovative solutions on display at the exhibition will drive the energy and digital transitions. Long-standing exhibitors such as Alfa Laval, Singtel, Coway Marine, CSSC, Korean Registry, Noatum, and Wilhelmsen, came together with first-time exhibitors including Blue Wireless, International Paint, and Siemens Energy to connect, debate, and foster business growth.

Asian leadership
Amid geopolitical uncertainty, the maritime and shipping industry is facing new trade patterns. Delegates at the Sea Asia Global Forum heard about the resilience of the maritime sector from Christopher J Wiernicki, the Chairman and CEO at American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and from Mark Cameron, the Chief Operating Officer at Ardmore Shipping, on the importance of Singapore and wider South-East Asia as strong supporters of decarbonisation in shipping. 

Illustrating the region’s progress, China has more than 1,000 projects already on ships to drive the green transformation, including the adoption of carbon capture and storage and green methanol projects. Discussions also extended to the financing landscape in shipping, which is largely dominated by Asian banks, as commented by Adam Kent, Managing Director at Maritime Strategies International in a shipbuilding focused panel.

Collaboration to deliver change
The call for collaboration echoed across the exhibition and conference. In talking on the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) upcoming MEPC 83 meeting in April 2025, Takeo Akamatsu, General Manager of Green Innovation Business Unit at ITOCHU Corporation, called on nations worldwide to reach an agreement on fuel standards and a structure for incentivising decarbonisation across the shipping industry.

Dr. Martin Kröger of the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) also highlighted the need for greater collaboration when talking on Europe’s four emissions trading systems in the EU, UK, Gibraltar and Turkey, which make it bureaucratically difficult to handle. The role of the IMO, and all delegates to the organisation in helping to close the gap in these regulations is key, he added. 

Collaboration is not only required for the environmental regulatory landscape, but in data and connectivity too. In a panel discussing cybersecurity in shipping, Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, Co-CEO at Tototheo Global, emphasised that the industry should embrace connectivity as it enables greater efficiency, but stressed the importance of shared responsibility to mitigate risks. In a later session, Ivan Landen, Chief Executive Officer at Blue Wireless and Harshavardhan Bhave, Director, Fleet Management at Pacific Basin  addressed the lack of standardisation in satellite communications, the difficulty of investing in only one solution, and need for multiple LEO connectivity solutions for customers to mix and match. 

Chu Kheng Sin, Managing Director, Regional Head of Transportation Finance at Standard Chartered Bank, noted that events such as Sea Asia are essential for fostering collaboration, sharing insights and working together to address the challenges faced by the shipping industry.

Flexibility for a multi-fuel future
The challenges of the energy transition were a major focus on the second day of the event. Speakers addressed how to scale alternative fuels, create pathways for immediate decarbonisation, and upskill seafarers for a multi-fuel future. Rodrigo Bermelho, Global Head of Shipping and Distribution at Vale, explained how the company is embracing multiple pathways to ensure it keeps its options open for working with owners and charterers. 

Captain Ashutosh Kumar, Deputy General Manager, Decarbonisation Projects at MOL (Asia Oceania), explained that the shipping company was conducting many pilot projects and considering its long-term goals, looking at a range of fuels that included methanol, ammonia and LNG. Information sharing and collaboration will be key as the industry progresses to 2030, and onward to 2050. 

Highlighting this challenge, Claudene Sharp-Patel, Global Technical Director at Lloyd’s Register, commented that new ways of working would require digital integration with fuels and systems, a challenge that would require collaboration across the supply chain to understand the risks and mitigate them. 

Looking ahead
Sea Asia will return to Singapore between March 16-18, 2027, expanding to two levels and increasing exhibition space in Marina Bay Sands. The expanded event will offer exhibitors, speakers and attendees more opportunities to engage with and learn from their industry colleagues at Asia’s largest maritime event. 

 

With the European wind sector facing competitiveness and security challenges, wind developers in the region have issued European governments a new call to action to protect the lifeline of the industry.

With EU targeting wind to contribute 35% of its electricity by 2035, countries across the region are making strides in expanding renewable energy capacity, especially in the offshore wind sector. But developers are concerned that the build-out has slowed in the past few years with the offshore sector facing increased risk and uncertainty. Some of the factors contributing to this include cost inflation, declining commercial viability and lower investor confidence.

To reverse the downward trend, developers at this year’s WindEurope summit want EU governments to auction at least 100GW worth of Contracts for Difference (CfDs) over ten years. Through the auction, the governments should guarantee fixed price and indexed contracts to create bankable projects.

In addition, wind farm developers want governments to plan the commissioning deadlines of the 100GW evenly, with 10GW annually from 2031-2040. This will help create market predictability, while ensuring there is sufficient time for investments. These measures - backed by power purchase agreements - will help the European offshore wind industry achieve 15GW installations annually by the 2030s.

“Wind energy is already driving industrial growth and energy independence across Europe, we just need to scale up. This calls for increasing viable demand for wind energy, and strengthening wind’s market environment,” said Henrik Andersen, WindEurope Chairman.

One of the notable challenges identified for competitiveness is the high electricity price in some European countries. In its report released this week, WindEurope said that the high electricity prices are driven by taxes and levies, slowing renewables-based electrification and undermining use in the industrial sector.

“Electricity is overburdened with taxes and charges compared with gas. In Spain for instance, electricity charges for households are 19 times higher than gas charges,” reveals the report.

 

[By Felipe Paredes]

Hidden beneath the vast expanse of the Southeast Pacific Ocean are underwater mountain chains that are among the most ecologically rich places on Earth.

Stretching almost 3,000km from Rapa Nui in the South Pacific towards the coasts of northern Chile and southern Peru, the seamounts of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges support over 90 species that are considered endangered, near threatened or vulnerable to extinction, including sharks, seabirds, whales, turtles and corals.

These peaks boast the highest ever recorded levels of marine endemism – meaning species found there and nowhere else. They are vital breeding and nursery grounds for marine life, including commercially important jack mackerel and Humboldt giant flying squid, and hold deep cultural significance for island communities in the Pacific.

A rare species nicknamed the Caspar octopus but not yet scientifically described, seen on the Nazca Ridge. The area boasts exceedingly high marine endemism, meaning species found only there (Image: ROV SuBastian / Schmidt Ocean Institute, CC BY NC SA)

Despite their remoteness, these ecosystems are under siege. Industrial fishing, including bottom trawling, threatens to strip these biodiverse waters of life before they can be fully studied or protected. Politicians and campaigners have made strides toward moving the conservation of these underwater sanctuaries higher up the agenda. But without urgent action, they could be lost forever.

A turning point in ocean protection

At a recent meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) in Santiago, governments took a step forward by agreeing a plan to secure protection for this biodiversity hotspot. But the process remains slow. 

The SPRFMO is an intergovernmental body established in 2012 to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks and the responsible use of marine resources. It sets catch limits, monitors fishing, and conducts scientific research.

(Map: Dialogue Earth)

The Chilean government has already pledged to protect the ridges that lie within its national waters, designating large-scale marine protected areas (MPAs) that cover the most critical areas. Now, it is advocating to conserve the majority of the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges. These ridges lie within the shared high seas, beyond any nation’s jurisdiction, and are overseen by the SPRFMO.

This effort, backed by the Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition, whose members include Oceana (where I work), Conservation International, the Center for Ecology and Sustainable Management of Oceanic Islands and other NGOs, sets a precedent for broader high seas protection efforts. The first critical step would be a fisheries closure, which will pave the way for these ridges to become a high seas MPA in the coming years.

A path to protection in the South Pacific

The Chilean government called for the protection of the ridges in 2021. By 2022, it formally proposed a permanent fishing ban at SPRFMO covering both jack mackerel and Humboldt flying squid. The proposal was analysed during a 2024 SPRFMO meeting in Ecuador and, in a significant step forward, a mandate was agreed for the group’s scientific committee to “compile and review all relevant scientific information and data about the area and recommend possible measures”.

A task team is now working to assemble this information, with the support of the Coral Reefs of the High Seas Coalition. Based on the task team’s analysis, the scientific committee will recommend options for conservation measures, including a fisheries closure. The SPRFMO commission itself will need to decide and approve one of the options.

At the 2025 SPRFMO meeting in Santiago, the commission agreed to make a decision by 2026 on the management of the region, including the fisheries closure originally submitted by the government of Chile.

But we need rapid action to safeguard this special environment beneath the ocean’s surface. With each expedition to the region, new species are discovered and we learn more about how critical the ecosystem is to planetary health. It is our mission to ensure that the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges, despite being out of sight, are not forgotten in talks that determine their future.

We are pouring our efforts into helping the work of the task team, with support from our regional research partners, so the scientific committee understands the urgent need for protection.

The 2026 deadline for a management decision cannot be missed, and governments must involve their best scientists in the process.

Bridging policy, conservation and industry

The ocean is so vast, productive and biodiverse that we have enough space to have both healthy fisheries and an important portion designated as MPAs, which, in turn, help fisheries. The safeguarding of ecosystems supports nature, climate regulation, coastal communities and livelihoods.

The SPRFMO is more than just a policy forum. It’s a space to show that conservation and sustainable fishing can go hand in hand on the high seas. These efforts must not be seen as opposing forces.

The High Seas Treaty, agreed in 2023, is a historic milestone that will enable us to designate MPAs in all of the oceans worldwide beyond national jurisdiction. For it to enter into force and become international law, the treaty must be ratified by 60 countries. Currently, 21 nations have done so. A growing and united community of NGOs have joined forces in a campaign, Together for the Ocean, that calls for governments to commit to ratify it by June, coinciding with the landmark UN Ocean Conference in France. 

The high seas cover 43% of our planet and their protection, as MPAs or other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), is essential in achieving the globally agreed goal of protecting at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 (also known as 30×30). We’ve witnessed a surge in commitments, yet only 8.3% of the world’s ocean is currently designated as protected. Most of it is either protected in name only or so loosely regulated that substantial harmful activities are often allowed to continue. 

Nations must now follow through on their 30×30 pledges to implement effective ocean protection measures, prioritising the most ecologically and biologically significant areas.

That is exactly what we are working toward now: bridging policy, conservation and industry to protect the Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges. 

We are calling on governments to take bold, science-led steps to secure lasting protection for these irreplaceable underwater havens for biodiversity – starting with a fisheries closure in early 2026, followed by urgent action to deliver MPA designation under the High Seas Treaty. 

Felipe Paredes is director of habitat protection campaigns at Oceana in Chile and a marine biologist with more than 20 years of experience in scientific research, education and marine conservation public policy.

This article appears courtesy of Dialogue Earth and may be found in its original form here. 

 

After 10 years of deliberation, IMO member nations have agreed to implement the first global carbon fee for shipping. It is the first UN-administered carbon revenue system of any kind. 

At the final day of talks for the Marine Environment Protection Committee's 83rd meeting, delegates agreed to a set of binding targets for shipping's greenhouse gas emissions, including intermediate objectives of a 20-30 percent greenhouse emission reduction by 2030, a 70-80 percent reduction by 2040, and net-zero by or around 2050. 

Accompanying the targets, delegates passed a set of long-debated technical and economic measures that are intended to incentivize compliance. Rather than an across-the-board carbon levy on all emissions, it is a tiered system of fees and compliance levels, and not all emissions will be taxed. 

The core of the plan is a penalty of $380 per tonne of CO2 that ships will have to pay if they exceed a maximum level of emissions intensity, which will get stricter every few years on a set schedule. Ships that stay under this intensity standard will still have to pay a fine of $100 per tonne of CO2 for emissions in excess of a second "direct compliance" level. Ships that emit even less than the "direct compliance" standard get carbon credits for outperforming the requirements, which can banked or sold to underperforming ships.

The fee structure means that only emissions above a certain limit are subject to a penalty; emissions under the limit will be untaxed. And all ships under 5,000 GT - coastal vessels and workboats - are exempt. 

The framework also leaves room for operators to use any alternative fuels that meet emissions criteria, including first-generation biofuels made from food crops like palm and soybean oil. These are the cheapest "green" fuels available, but they come with a significant environmental cost, as large-scale increases in production require more land-clearing. 

"The IMO deal creates a momentum for alternative marine fuels, but unfortunately it is the forest-destroying first generation biofuels that will get the biggest push for the next decade," said Faig Abbasov, shipping program director for Transport & Environment (T&E). 

Climate advocates and industry groups agreed that the fee structure falls short of what would be needed to compel an industry-wide transition to high-cost green methanol and green ammonia in the near term. However, based on an analysis by T&E, the IMO's schedule will result in a substantial reduction in emissions from about 2030 onward - a profound cut compared to the increases expected under a no-regulation, business-as-usual scenario. The schedule suggests that the industry will not reach net zero until some years after 2050.

Courtesy T&E

"This adoption is a first step in the right direction, with now a part – although small – of shipping emissions being subject to what is effectively a global levy. However, with an expected fall in emissions of around 10% by 2030 compared to 2008, the level of ambition is largely insufficient to meet the IMO target of emission reduction, let alone to meet a 1.5 C trajectory," said Dr. Marie Fricaudet, a senior research fellow at UCL Energy Institute. 

Advocates of a stricter emissions regime blamed longtime opponents of climate action for the outcome; the Trump administration, which registered its opposition to any carbon fees earlier this week, also attracted criticism. "Let us be clear about who has abandoned 1.5°C. Saudi Arabia, the US and fossil fuel allies pushed down the numbers to an untenable level and blocked progress at every turn," said Minister Ralph Regenvanu of Vanuatu, a proponent of ambitious climate measures at IMO. 

Industry groups praised the MEPC outcome as a step in the right direction, if not a full resolution.

"We recognize that this may not be the agreement which all sections of the industry would have preferred, and we are concerned that this may not yet go far enough in providing the necessary certainty. But it is a framework which we can build upon," the International Chamber of Shipping's Guy Platten said in a statement. 

“This is a major milestone for climate policy and a turning point for shipping. Our industry has long been labelled as ‘hard to abate,’ but record industry investment and a new global measure can turn the tide on that,” said Joe Kramek, WSC President & CEO.

UCL cautioned that without a high-revenue IMO levy powering multibillion-dollar investments in green fuel, national-level capital flows will now determine who wins from shipping's green transition - much as China has done with its investments in solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, EVs and shipbuilding. "A significant risk now exists that the future of shipping will, like renewable energy and battery electric vehicles, be significantly owned and driven by nations with strong industrial policy," warned UCL.

 

On Friday morning, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Boston Police Department rescued three fishermen from a scallop boat that went aground near Green Island, a rocky islet near the entrance to Boston Harbor. Pollution control efforts are under way to reduce the impact of a spill.

At about 0745 on Friday, Coast Guard Sector Boston received a broken-up radio call from a commercial fishing vessel, the scallop boat Eileen Rita. The Rita's crew confirmed that they had gone aground at the entrance to the harbor. 

Coast Guard crews from stations in Point Allerton and Boston responded to the scene near Green Island (North Brewster Island), joined by units from the Boston Police Department and Boston Fire Department. Two Coast Guard boats and a Boston Police boat rescued the three crewmembers from atop the partially capsized vessel's hull, and no injuries were reported. 

Images courtesy USCG

After the grounding, the Eileen Rita took on a list and settled onto her port side. The vessel soon began to discharge diesel fuel and oil into the water, according to the Coast Guard. 

Eileen Rita is carrying as much as 4,000 gallons of fuel and 50 gallons of lubricating oil; the exact amount on board and the quantity of the spill are unknown. Video footage obtained by the Coast Guard shows a substantial quantity of what appears to be red dye diesel spilling from the Eileen Rita's tanks. Multiple state and federal agencies are involved in the pollution-response effort. 

“The Coast Guard is working closely with the responsible party to mitigate fuel discharge. Simultaneously, methods to safely remove the vessel from the island are being evaluated,” said Lt. Cmdr. Alfred Betts, the public affairs officer for Sector Boston. “The contracted oil recovery organization is deploying absorbent boom to mitigate the spread of spilled fuel. Contracted divers are assessing the vessel to plan a path forward.”

 

The re-ordering of global trade, escalated by the astronomical tariffs between the U.S and China, has left some countries with significant export advantages. Brazil is already showing signs as an early winner, with its port sector reporting increased demand. A strong preference for the Brazilian soybean has started to appear in China, historically a large-scale buyer of American soy.

According to Reuters, China is expected to receive about 3 million tons of U.S soybeans in April-May, which its state stockpiler Sinograin purchased earlier this year. However, due to China’s new 125 percent tariffs on American goods, the shipment is likely to attract higher duties and possibly sell at a discount due to cheap competition from beans from Brazil.

“The pressure of the soy crushing margins on Chinese industries will likely change the country’s import dynamics. As these margins come under negative pressure, China tends to slow down the pace of imports and rely on domestic stockpiles- as seen in the previous trade war in 2018,” said the Brazilian National Association of Cereal Exporters (Anec) in its monthly report this week.

Anec predicts a potential export boom for the Brazilian soy this year of up to 110 million tons, representing a historic record for Brazil. In the first quarter of 2025, Brazil has already recorded shipments of about 27 million tons, a four percent increase compared to last year. Currently, China accounts for 77 percent of Brazilian soy exports.

The uptick in export volumes is also visible in the port sector data, with Brazilian ports moving 12.4 million tons of containers in February- the highest volume ever recorded, according to the National Agency for Waterway Transportation (Antaq). This figure represents a 9.26 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024. Of the total, around 70 percent (8.6 million tons) was from long-haul shipping, while the remaining 30 percent (3.7 million tons) was from coastal shipping (cabotage). Some of the major commodities behind the increase include corn, bauxite and fertilizers. Other shipments which rose by a significant measure include poultry products. Brazil’s exports of fresh and processed poultry reached 476,000 tons in March, up 19 percent from a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA).

In anticipating higher export volumes, some ports are already investing in additional capacity as well as diversifying operations. Porto do Acu, located in the state of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil’s top oil export port, has said that the tariff-induced distortions in global trade has given the port an incentive to expand facilities for agricultural and mineral commodities.

“When threats started, demand started to rise. We are in a really good position here,” João Braz, the port’s logistics director told Bloomberg.

Brazil’s agricultural shipments are also a factor in China’s interests in the Panama Canal. Chinese economist Li Xunlei has called for improving government ties in the Central American country in order to ensure strategic access to the waterway for China’s food shipments; 90 percent of the Brazil-to-China soy trade passes through the canal, he said in a recent paper.

Top image: Port of Santos (Agencia CNT / CC BY 2.0)