The privately-held research vessel Nautilus has discovered the wreck of the WWII Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki, which was torpedoed and sunk by a PT boat off Guadalcanal.

Teruzuki was a 2,700-tonne destroyer, the second of a class designed and built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the opening years of the war. She was delivered on August 31, 1942, and survived for two and a half months. 

Teruzuki first saw action during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands that October, then joined a Japanese task force to attack U.S. forces at Henderson Field on Guadalcanal. The first attempt at this mission began on November 12; it was thwarted by U.S. forces in a fierce and costly nighttime battle. In the exchange of fire, Teruzuki managed to cripple the destroyer USS Sterett and may have contributed to the sinkings of the destroyers USS Monssen and USS Laffey. Teruzuki was assigned to a second attempt on November 14-15, but did not play a major role during the engagement. Neither attempt at striking Henderson Field succeeded, but both resulted in heavy losses for the U.S. Navy.

On December 11, Teruzuki returned to Guadalcanal as part of a resupply task force with four other destroyers. Their mission was to drop off floating drums of supplies for the Japanese troops pinned down on the island. After the food drums were dropped off and Teruzuki was headed for home, she was attacked by several U.S. Navy PT boats and took two torpedo hits. The damage left her disabled and ablaze, and after three hours, the fire likely set off a depth charge magazine. The resulting explosion blew off her stern and caused her to rapidly sink. Luckily for her crew, the Teruzuki was close enough to Guadalcanal that 156 of her sailors were able to swim to shore. All but nine personnel survived the sinking. 

This month, the crew of Ocean Exploration Trust's Nautilus discovered the final resting place of Teruzuki in Iron Bottom Sound, an infamous stretch of water off Guadalcanal that saw repeated and deadly fighting during the war. The Nautilus crew first picked up the wreck site using an unmanned surface vessel conducting a sonar survey. "We didn't know what it was. It hadn't been identified before," survey expert Dr. Larry Mayer of the University of New Hampshire told Newsweek. They confirmed the find with an ROV inspection, and Hiroshi Ishii, a specialist from Kyoto University, identified the wreck as Teruzuki. The destroyer's stern was missing, and it was found about 200 meters away. 

Many more finds may be coming. Only a dozen of the WWII wrecks in the sound have been identified, but Mayer's team believes that there could be as many as 100 in total - enough to keep the search going for many years to come. 

Working with German owner Hartmann Group, shipmanager InterMaritime and construction materials giant Heidelberg, the UK-based startup Seabound has launched a unique onboard carbon capture venture that starts with Bunker C and ends up in cement. 

Seabound's carbon capture system captures up to 95% of CO? (variable, depending upon the customer's needs) and 98% of sulfur emissions from ship exhaust. The sulfur-removal capability means that it is compatible with HFO fuel, a cost savings over VLSFO. Its process uses slaked lime - calcium hydroxide, one of the world's most common chemical ingredients - to absorb CO? and convert it into limestone (calcium carbonate). The resulting product is stored on board the ship, then offloaded in port. 

Since limestone is the main feedstock for cement plants, Seabound's technology lines up well with nascent efforts to decarbonize the concrete manufacturing sector. Heidelberg Materials' Brevik plant is one-of-a-kind in this segment: it is the first full-size facility designed to produce carbon-captured cement, the key ingredient in net-zero concrete.

Under the new partnership with Hartmann Group, InterMaritime Group and Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe, Seabound will install its system aboard the cement carrier UBC Cork, which serves the Brevik plant. The captured carbon - in limestone form - will be offloaded when the ship calls at Brevik and will be run through the cement plant. This means that the carbon in UBC Cork's fuel will be captured twice - once on the ship, when it is turned to limestone, and once again when that limestone is turned to cement. Along with the Brevik cement plant's other captured CO2, it will be injected into a subsea reservoir run by the Shell/Equinor/TotalEnergies Northern Lights project, due to start operations later this year. 

"We're proud to partner with industry leaders like Heidelberg Materials and Hartmann to deliver scalable carbon capture solutions," said Alisha Fredriksson, CEO and Co-founder of Seabound. "We're especially excited to be advancing this work in Brevik, a strategic location that's rapidly establishing itself as a global hub for CCS."

 

When the Jones Act shipbuilder General Dynamics NASSCO ordered a new floating drydock from a shipbuilder in Turkey, it needed a way to move it across an ocean and around a continent. Luckily, there was an even larger floating drydock available to carry it: Boskalis' BOKA Vanguard, the largest semisubmersible heavy lift ship in the world.

General Dynamics brought in logistics giant Kuehne+Nagel to arrange the oversize shipment, including the technically demanding loadout process. The 17,000-tonne drydock would fit snugly on the Vanguard's 900-foot-long deck, but there would not be an abundance of room to spare. 

“We had checklists. Then we had checklists for the checklists: every smallest detail accounted for, nothing left to chance,” said Aliye Erkan B?y?k, a logistics manager at Kuehne+Nagel's Istanbul office.

To position the drydock aboard the heavy lift ship, BOKA Vanguard needed to ballast down far enough that her main deck level was lower than the draft of the floating drydock, meaning deep water was a requirement. Once the drydock was clear of the pier at the shipyard, four tugs towed it out into open water to meet up with the heavy lift ship for loading. After positioning, BOKA Vanguard deballasted and the engineering team began carefully lashing the drydock to the deck. 

The cargo, the largest floating drydock ever built in Turkey (Kuehne+Nagel)

BOKA Vanguard semi-submerged for loading (Boskalis / Kuehne+Nagel) 

"The process of securing the drydock was not rushed and took several days: every centimeter, every millimeter had to be double-checked. We also had additional support boats on standby to shuttle crew and engineers between the port, the drydock, and the carrier ship," said Aliye. 

When all was secured, BOKA Vanguard got under way from Turkey and headed for Cape Horn, bound for California. As of Thursday she was just outside of Punta Arenas.

BOKA Vanguard has been used as a simple floating drydock herself. In 2019, the cruise ship Carnival Vista had azipod issues that required out-of-water repairs, but the nearest shipyard (in the Bahamas) did not have an available dock. BOKA Vanguard took Carnival Vista aboard, lifted the cruise ship out of the water and transited to the shipyard, where yard staff made the repairs while the Vista was out of the water.

2013-built BOKA Vanguard is the world's biggest semisub heavy lift ship, by a wide margin. At 115,000 dwt and 900 feet in length, she is large enough to move some of the largest offshore rigs and floating production platforms. When submerged to the maximum depth possible for loading, BOKA Vanguard's keel sits more than 100 feet beneath the surface, making her (for brief periods) the deepest-draft merchant ship ever built.

 

The ammonia-fueled vessel sector took another major step forward with the news that Navigator Holdings and Amon Maritime have formed a new joint venture and ordered two ammonia-fueled liquefied ammonia carriers. The news came a day after WinGD reported the installation of the first ammonia-fueled marine engine into a newbuild, and the new joint venture builds on Amon Maritime’s mission to lead the green shift in shipping.

Navigator will own 80 percent of the new company to be known as Navigator Amon Shipping, with Amon owning 20 percent. The company will place the vessels under long-term charters to blue-chip industry leaders. It anticipates the vessels will be on five-year charters. Navigator is already the owner/operator of the world’s largest fleet of handysize liquified gas carriers.

The construction order was placed with Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering in China. Navigator reports an average price for each vessel of $84 million. Deliveries are scheduled for June and October 2028. Operating on ammonia as their primary fuel, the vessels will transport ammonia and be capable of also transporting liquefied petroleum gas with a capacity of 51,530 cubic meters. The project is receiving a NOK 90 million ($9 million) investment grant from Norway’s Enova.

“Expanding our fleet with two modern ammonia carriers capable of using clean ammonia as a fuel, operating in a long-term time charter, is a strategic enabler in meeting the growing demand for a sustainable fuel source in a net-zero economy,” said Mads Peter Zacho, Chief Executive Officer of Navigator. “These modern vessels will be equipped with newly developed technologies that comply with present and future environmental regulations and will thereby deliver great value to both our customers and our shareholders.”

Amon had highlighted the opportunities in ammonia in June when it received its grants from Enova. It said that ammonia is currently primarily transported on a Medium Gas Carrier (MGC). Because the ship is already designed for transporting ammonia, it said that the relative additional cost to convert to ammonia-fueled propulsion in this segment compared to conventional ships will be less than in most other segments.

As it seeks to expand ammonia into more segments of shipping, Amon Maritime also reported it would launch Amon Bulk after securing a NOK 253 million ($24.6 million) grant from Enova to support the construction of two ammonia-powered bulk carriers. The plan for the bulkers calls for one Capesize (180,000 dwt) vessel designed for long-haul transport of heavy bulk commodities. The second vessel will be a Kamsarmax bulk carrier (80,000 to 85,000 dwt). The smaller vessel, it said, would offer greater port flexibility while maintaining high cargo capacity and energy efficiency. 

Amon Bulk reported it is entering the next phase of shipyard evaluation and the tendering process for these vessels. The aim is to order these vessels for delivery by 2029.

It said the developments in ammonia are another key step toward decarbonizing deep-sea shipping.
 

 

For the past decade, the maritime industry has made increasing efforts to improve diversity at the top, most visibly through a focus on gender balance in boardrooms. But while headlines around the number of women appointed to shipping boards suggest progress, the reality is more complex. True transformation does not come from merely increasing representation. It comes from challenging and redefining the deeply embedded assumptions about what leadership looks like.

The majority of shipping companies still recruit board members based on traditional markers of leadership such as long tenure at sea, technical expertise or financial control. These criteria often reward legacy thinking and reinforce a narrow leadership profile. That profile is usually male, often uniform, and almost always aligned with past performance rather than future potential.

This is not just a gender issue. It is a governance issue. When boardrooms lack diversity of experience, thought and style, they are less likely to identify new risks, question groupthink or explore unconventional paths to growth. This matters now more than ever, as the industry faces significant transformation. Climate transition, digital disruption, geopolitical volatility and heightened social accountability are not theoretical challenges. They require board-level leadership that is far more adaptive and forward-looking than in the past.

Through my work leading The Blue MBA at Copenhagen Business School, I have seen the impact that broader and more inclusive leadership can make. Our participants come from across the global maritime value chain, bringing different cultural perspectives, disciplines and leadership styles. They are pushed to question what they think they know, to challenge outdated mindsets and to broaden their strategic understanding of the industry.

That same ethos underpins our Blue Board Leadership Programme. It was launched in response to a clear industry need: better prepared board members who understand the full complexity of maritime leadership today. The program does not train people to slot into outdated governance models. It encourages them to rethink the boardroom itself. That includes preparing women not just to join boards, but to shape them from within.

The push for board diversity must move beyond simply placing more women in existing structures. We must instead evolve the structures themselves. That means reshaping how we define credibility, influence and leadership potential. It means understanding that command-and-control leadership, while useful in operational settings, is not always appropriate in strategic boardroom discussions. Collaborative thinking, emotional intelligence, ethical reasoning and openness to ambiguity are increasingly critical boardroom competencies.

We must also look closely at the dynamics that unfold once women are appointed. Too often, women are brought in to fulfil quotas or tick ESG boxes, without being given the same opportunity to shape direction or contribute to meaningful debate. This kind of tokenism undermines both the individual and the board. True inclusion means creating environments where different voices are heard, respected and allowed to influence decisions.

Leadership reform must be part of maritime’s transformation story. Boards need to become spaces where leadership is understood not as a title or CV, but as a mindset and a capability. We must prepare the next generation of board members to think differently, act ethically and lead collaboratively.

Adding more women to maritime boards is essential. But it is not enough. We must also change the conditions in which leadership is exercised. That includes how we select leaders, how we share influence, and which behaviors we choose to value. If we want resilient and relevant maritime organizations, we must stop replicating yesterday’s boardroom in today’s world.

Irene Rosberg is Program Director at The Blue MBA and the Blue Board Leadership Program, Copenhagen Business School.

 

Vinici, which provides energy solutions, reports it has reached an agreement with Wartsila to acquire its Marine Electric Systems business unit, which will be used to enhance the company’s position in the defense market and other industrial sectors. The sale is part of Wartsila’s strategy announced in 2024 to divest of non-core businesses to unlock value in the company.

The sale includes Wartsila SAM Electronics, a company based in Hamburg, Germany, which dates back to 1906 and today is focused on technologies for the maritime sector and energy markets. Vinci acquires the German company, which has approximately 350 employees and full-year revenues of approximately €100 million. Included in the transaction are related assets for a project being executed in Brazil.

“This acquisition will enable Vinci Energies to expand its range of services in the industrial sector and to strengthen its position in the German defense market,” said Vinci announcing the agreement.

SAM Electronics provides complete electrical and electronic system packages for vessels, offering turnkey solutions with extensive systems integration competence, and acts as an EPC contractor for complete electrical packages, typically in close partnership with the shipyard. Its services range from design and planning to engineering and cable installation. It offers the capability to integrate with systems from multiple vendors and provides services across most sectors of the shipping industry. 

Vinci emphasizes the opportunities with naval systems. SAM reports it has participated in many national and international projects. It highlights its contribution to the German Navy, demonstrated through its role with the Class 124 and 125 frigates, Class 130 corvettes, and Class 702 combat support ships. It mains offices in Hamburg, Elmenhorst, Wilhelmshaven, and Bremerhaven. Placing it close to many of the leading German shipyards.

“This agreement is yet another proof point of our Portfolio Business divestment strategy coming to life,” said Bernd Bertram, Head of Portfolio Business, Wärtsilä. “VINCI Energies has deep expertise in complex project-based business and therefore is an ideal match for Marine Electrical Systems. I’m confident that VINCI Energies will provide a solid platform for further business success for the benefit of the customers, partners, and the highly skilled professionals of Marine Electrical Systems.”

Wärtsilä notes that the business had been operated independently to facilitate the divestment. The deal is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2025.
 

 

The National Transportation Safety Board is yet again highlighting an example of distracted navigation through the use of a personal cellphone and other non-operational tasks, which it says contributed to the collision of a towboat on the Lower Mississippi, causing more than $800,000 in damages. Also contributing to the incident, the NTSB reports fatigue and a lack of familiarity with the vessel that was being navigated.

A pilot joined the crew of the towboat William B Klunk on April 17, 2024, at a position near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, along the Lower Mississippi River as the vessel was pushing 22 laden barges from Illinois to Louisiana. There was a crew of 10 aboard, and as is typical, the captain and pilot were splitting the watches and navigation duties.

During the pre-departure planning session, the pilot admitted he had driven overnight 150 miles to join the vessel. He denied fatigue and said he had napped in his car, although the NTSB report on the incident notes that individuals are often a poor judge of their own fatigue. The captain also told investigators he was not concerned about the pilot being fatigued. He warned the pilot that the vessel’s steering was slower to respond than he was familiar with before they got underway. They departed with the pilot navigating and the captain off the bridge.

The vessel was underway for about 1.5 hours, traveling at around 9 knots, and had just completed passing a vessel traveling in the opposite direction when it left the channel and collided with moored barges. Thirteen of the barges in the tow broke away, and three of the moored barges also broke away. There was one minor injury and a total of $810,000 in damages.

During the investigation, the pilot told the NTSB that there had been a steering failure on the towboat. The investigation, however, found no issues that would indicate a steering failure. They concluded that the steering system may not have responded as quickly as the pilot expected, leading him to believe that the vessel lost steering.

Interviews with other vessels showed the pilot had not been responding to radio calls, and the vessel was navigating inconsistently. The NTSB’s investigation found the pilot “engaged in nonoperational, secondary tasks, including taking an administrative call from the company’s safety officer, making a personal phone call on his cell phone, and sending text messages.”

In the six minutes leading up to the collision, the NTSB reports the pilot did not make any rudder or throttle adjustments as the tow moved toward the fleeting area where it hit the moored barges. The onboard image recorded system footage showed the pilot using his personal cell phone and not monitoring the tow’s position 40 seconds before the collision.

“Use of cell phones, including company cell phones (particularly for nonoperational conversations), should never interfere with a watchstander’s primary task to safely navigate a vessel and maintain a proper lookout,” the report said. “To reduce the risk of cell phone distraction, operating companies should establish protocols regarding both personal and work-related cell phone use, and vessel personnel should understand the importance in following them.”

Investigators also determined that the pilot’s fatigue due to limited sleep the night before contributed to the collision. The pilot received about four hours of continuous sleep in the 36 hours before the collision. The pilot’s fatigue was due to his being up nearly 18 hours at the time of the collision.

It also notes that due to his unfamiliarity with the systems on the bridge, the pilot manipulated the wheelhouse steering control panel. They found he inadvertently turned the steering pumps off before the captain reached the bridge and took the helm after the collision. 

The company’s safety officer is also cited as he made a call to the towboat to discuss a non-navigation issue while the pilot was steering the vessel. The call lasted about 15 minutes, the NTSB reports, during which the pilot was told he was being written up for a policy violation (he was wearing shorts, which was against company policy). The NTSB says the safety officer should not have conducted the call when he determined the pilot was navigating, and the lead deckhand later told the NTSB he was on the bridge and the pilot seemed “flustered” from the phone call.
 

 

The burned-out boxship Wan Hai 503 remains under tow and awaiting a confirmed port of refuge, according to Indian shipping authorities.

When Wan Hai 503 suffered a cargo explosion and fire off Kerala on June 9, few expected that the salvage effort for the small container ship would be so protracted. The fire burned through almost all cargo bays forward of the deckhouse, leaving only smoldering wreckage - and the last hot spots have still not been fully extinguished. 39 days later, small amounts of gray smoke and elevated temperatures in Bays 33-37 suggest that pockets of smoldering material remain, though the situation is contained and under control. Temperature readings in the holds suggest a cooling trend. 

The T&T Salvage team has made significant strides in stabilizing Wan Hai 503's condition over the past few weeks. Extensive dewatering efforts have dried out Hold 2 and Hold 3, and the flooding in the engine room has been reduced to less than a meter of water in the bilge. Working through a long spell of rough weather and high swells, the salvage crew has returned the vessel's trim, list and draft closer to a normal state - though containers sodden with firefighting water appear to be adding more weight than would be expected of a normal cargo load. Six salvors are living aboard the burned ship temporarily because rough surface conditions have made transfers too hazardous. 

No arrangements have yet been finalized for a port of refuge, and the team is still working on satisfying the last few safety checklists in their plan prior to entry into port. This includes addressing an excess amount of hydrogen sulfide gas emanating from Hold 7, which prevents personnel from entering without ventilation. 

Luckily, there are no signs of oil leakage outside or inside the vessel, always a key concern for port authorities when considering a refuge request. The soundings of the bunker tanks are not yet completed, but the responders believe that there is about 2,400 tonnes of fuel oil on board. Once a full evaluation of structural integrity and stability is done - including verification of the ship's post-fire longitudinal strength - the team will finalize its preparations for entering a port. 

 

There are five United States Federal Academies - the United States Military Academy at West Point, The United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, The United States Coast Guard Academy at New London, The United States Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, and The United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point (USMMA). Of the five, four typically have one of their own graduates serving as academy superintendent. Only USMMA sends its midshipmen into war zones - on ships laden with beans, bullets and bunker oil for our military - yet it most often has someone other than one of its own grads as superintendent.

142 of our cadets were lost at sea during World War Two. We are the only one of the academies authorized to have a battle standard replete with pennants from the battles in which we participated. We are the only academy whose graduates are licensed to serve as officers and who graduate with reserve officer commissions in the USNR, USMCR, USAR, USAFR or USCGR.

Unfortunately, we are also the one academy whose superintendent is most often not chosen from among its own graduates. This is unfair to the brave men and women who will serve as cadets or as officers aboard our ships in the next war's battle zone.

We, the undersigned, ask that you please take an active part in promoting a Kings Point graduate to be our next USMMA Superintendent. Our midshipmen deserve a leader who has sailed on his/her license, who knows our traditions and understands the future needs of our nation.

Respectfully,

Kings Point Class of 1975, co-signatories, family and friends

Kevin Coulson

Mike Morris

Mark G. Baranello

Larry Kelly

Russ Bauer

Neal McCraw

Steve Ackley

Robert C. Baldwin

Larry Cosgriff

Thomas Heffernan

Joseph Dixon

Nick Weltmann  

Peter DeChadenedes

Warren Heidt

Michael Masciale

John ReShore

Don Fogel

Bill Vallaster

Richard Bense

Mark Brannigan

Jeffrey Hakala

Frederick Leo Ebers

Skip Dubrin

Donald Pastor

Eddie G. Maxwell

Robert Baldwin

Keene Little

Clifford Jagoe

Frank Atcheson

Kenneth Nelson

Chris Nelson

Mike Corney

Robert Herman

Jim Knoepffler

Donal L. Staples Jr.

Stuart Pitts

Charlie Cheatom

Thomas A. Fedoration

Frederick C. Berg III

Thomas A. King

James Brodt

Peter Wishart

Eric Schiller

Steve Meyers

Kathleen Tanton

Mark Brannigan

Francis X. (Biff) Broderick

Alan Pelletier

Gregg Runkel

Kennett Backus

Jim Shettig

Dave Petty

William Leigh

Charles Anthony Nunez

Alexander Barry Williams

Ken and Debbie Halsall

Russian port operator FSUE Rosmorport has launched a tender seeking inspectors for vessels arriving at its Baltic seaports. According to the Moscow Times, the inspections will be checking below the waterline and the underside of vessels, looking for unknown objects and possible explosives.

The newspaper highlights that the tender was launched after a series of unexplained incidents in the seaports. The last took place two weeks ago when the LPG carrier Eco Wizard had what the authorities reported as a minor leak of ammonia” while loading. The newspaper reports that the Telegram channel Baza called the incident sabotage and said there had been an explosion. The report said there were two holes found in the hull, and the metal was bent inward, suggesting it came from an external force.

The first vessel reported damaged was in February, also alongside the terminal in Ust-Luga. Official reports sought to downplay the incident, but the local authorities were quick to call it sabotage.

The Moscow Times reports Rosmorport is offering four contracts with a total value of $39.5 million for the underwater inspections. The companies will be using sonar equipment, unmanned vehicles, and other tools, and will be responsible for analyzing the images, looking for possible explosives. They will inspect the propeller and rudder system, thrusters, bow bulb, sea chests, and other underwater areas.

The contracts are split into the different ports, with a total of four available. One covers St. Petersburg, another Ust-Luga and Primorsk, a third for Vysotsk and Vyborg, and finally Kaliningrad.

Companies have till July 24 to enter the auction. Winners will be reported on August 4.
 

A new tweendecker preparing for its maiden voyage caught fire while docked in the Port of Antwerp yesterday, July 16. Ships in the port, as well as nearby residents, were being warned to use caution because of the smoke coming from the fire.

The Antwerp Fire Department said it received a call about the fire at 10:30 am local time and it sent crews to aid a fireboat that was fighting the fire aboard the FWN Adriatic (12,500 dwt). The vessel was loaded with cars and plasterboard.

Operator ForestWave, which recently allied with Spliethoff Group, had posted online that the vessel was “loading in North Europe and heading towards beautiful destinations in the Indian Ocean.” It was set to be the maiden voyage of the new ship, which is registered in the Netherlands.

It is the fourth ship of the company’s new Ecobox XL design. Measuring 144 meters (472 feet), shipbuilder Ferus Smit highlights that the design has its focus on loading extra-long items, such as windmill blades, while at the same time still maintaining its good capabilities as a general cargo ship. The new class is 21 meters (69 feet) longer than the earlier ships, extending her box-shaped hold to more than 100 meters in length on the tanktop, and 112 meters above the movable tweendeck level. The new ships are 18 meters wide, enhancing the cargo deadweight further, and maintaining flexibility of loading while keeping a very low resistance on both flat water and in waves.

The fire department reports that it was able to contain some of the smoke by closing hatch covers. It also decided to use CO2 to stop the fire, as it would further reduce the smoke. Although that method was expected to require several hours to completely extinguish the fire.

[By: Inmarsat Maritime]

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In the Western world, the news cycle has moved on. But in Iran, the country is still in trauma following devastating Israeli and American air raids, which Iranians knew might come but which they relaxed into believing never would. The risks remain of a resumption of fighting, which would cause widespread disruption to trade and shipping across the region (and within some very nervous Gulf states).

Since the ceasefire on June 24, the Iranian government has permitted Western media visits to the country, and while the carefully-controlled reporting from inside the country has painted a picture of defiance, once the reporters were safely home, a different picture has emerged - complementing what can be deduced from Iran’s own active media scene. There is little doubt that the 12-Day War has had a profound effect on Iran’s future trajectory.

A subtle but powerful indicator of the change was the first post-war appearance on July 5 of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. A man with no clear successor, he emerged from hiding in his bunker to make a surprise appearance at a prayer meeting. He immediately asked a prominent religious singer to adapt a well-known poem, giving a new Iranian nationalist spin to Ashura and the battle of Karbala, key Shi’ite calendar events. Such small gestures mean a lot in Iran. By stoking patriotic sentiment in this way at the expense of religious focus, the war has provided the clerical leadership with further cause to tighten the IRGC’s grip on Iranian society, focused inwards under the pretext of the threat from external enemies.

At the invitation of Supreme Leader Khamenei, Haj Mahmoud Karimi chants a dirge at the July 5 Husseiniyya meeting (https://farsi.khamenei.ir/video-content?id=60621)

Reflecting this symbolic gesture, and using mass arrests and threats of public executions, the spark of a popular revolt against the regime has for the time being been stamped out. Most Iranians for now put flag before faith. However, that does not remove widespread contempt for the leadership, which has failed to defend Iran effectively and jeopardized normal life for most Iranians through their foreign adventurism. So the powder keg is loaded but not yet fused, and while the Israeli attempt to destabilize the regime has failed for the moment, a revised approach could work in the future.

Notwithstanding the new lead from the top, the split between hard-liners and reformists within the political ruling elite has widened. Hardliners have issued death-threat fatwas, urged a rush to complete nuclear weapons manufacture, threatened bigger ballistic missile attacks on Israel and American bases, and called for the closure of the Straits of Hormuz. Reformists, including President Pezeshkian - who was wounded in an Israeli attack on June 16 - have pressed on with attempts to revive negotiations with the United States. Previously, hard-liners and reformists papered over their differences; now some 30 hardliners in Parliament are even suggesting President Pezeshkian is fomenting a coup. The danger is that the two factions will pursue uncoordinated and opposing courses of action, some of which could be highly destabilizing. Examples are already emerging, like the seizure of a huge arsenal of new weaponry newly-shipped by the IRGC Qods Force to the Houthis and intercepted in the Red Sea by the UAE-backed National Resistance Forces. The resumption of Houthi attacks on shipping is no doubt encouraged by the IRGC.

The political chasm between hardliners and reformists has been widened further by continuing bomb attacks mounted from within Iran on key IRGC figures, and the feeling that more Israeli attacks could occur at any time. This is compounded by the difficulties the leadership are having communicating with each other, now that it seems dangerous to live at home, use WhatsApp or even carry a mobile phone.

Save for the hotheads, most Iranians sense the delicacy and dangers of the moment and remain cautious - much like the Iranian Navy still hiding out at sea, keeping a low profile and out of harm’s way. In this environment, small unpredictable events could well ripple across the region into another security crisis - perhaps next time not so well contained as the 12-Day War.

 

Israel’s only southern seaport, Eilat on the Red Sea, is expected to officially suspend commercial operations this weekend due to the financial collapse of the company holding the port concession. A report in the Globes newspaper says the government is meeting to discuss the situation after the bank accounts of the debt-ridden port operator were seized by the local municipality.

The news report says the port’s operator owes between $178,000 and $208,000 in taxes to the Eilat municipality. In addition, since the start of the war in Gaza and the attacks by the Houthis, the operator has not paid its concession fees to the state. Those are said to be more than $890,000. As a result of the unpaid taxes, Globes learned that the municipality had seized the port operator’s bank accounts.

The Port of Eilat has largely been closed for commercial operations for approximately 20 months since the onset of the fighting in Gaza. It was always a smaller commercial port for Israel, but provided an important link as it is south of the Suez Canal. The port was developed by the government in the 1950s but had difficult periods based on the regional instability, including when Egypt closed nearby waterways.

The current operator won the concession as the only bidder in 2012, receiving a 15-year contract with an option to extend for 10 more years. Eilat reportedly flourished, becoming profitable in recent years. It was handling half of all the auto imports into Israel as well as exports of potash, fertilizers, and minerals. It was also handling oil, while the operator had promoted the potential for container operations as well as live animal imports.

By March 2024, there were reports that the port operator had laid off half of its workers. Income from auto imports, Globes reports, was down 100 percent. As the Houthis gained greater distance with their missiles and drones, attacks have also become more frequent in the area around Eilat. 

Operations will officially stop, according to Globes, on July 20. It reports that tugs and other port vessels will be idled, and all operations will stop in the commercial port. Israel, however, had recently named a new operator for the recreational port, which is a separate operation.

One of the main impacts will be on the Israeli Navy, which is using Eilat as a base of operations. The Navy used Eilat recently to launch and support attacks on the Houthis in Yemen.

“If the situation continues, a decline in the port’s equipment and long-term damage to the continuity of its functioning is expected as a result of the shutdown of cranes, electrical systems, etc.,” warns a letter from the National Emergency Authority obtained by Globes.

The news report says the Israeli government was due to convene a meeting to discuss the situation and possible alternatives to prevent the closure. Globes reports that the Israeli government last month was discussing compensation to the port operator of approximately $4.5 million. However, it says it was being conditioned on payment of the $892,000, the company is in arrears on its concession fees.

The company told Globes it was working on a settlement with the municipality and denied the reports that the operations would be suspended. Israel considers Eilat a strategic asset, further raising the likelihood that the government will intervene to keep the operation going.
 

Chinese officials have reportedly set an ultimatum for the approval of the sale agreement between CK Hutchison, BlackRock, and MSC’s Terminal Investments (TiL) for the Hong Kong company’s global port operations. According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, China has privately told the companies that Cosco must have a role in the deal, or it will move to block the transaction.

Rumors that China was seeking a role for Cosco in the deal have been circulating for months, and it is seen as a face-saving step, especially for the terminal operations at Panama’s two ports. WSJ reports that, “China is pushing for state-owned Cosco to be an equity partner and shareholder of the ports with BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Company.”

“Chinese officials have told BlackRock, MSC, and Hutchison that if Cosco is left out of the deal, Beijing would take steps to block Hutchison’s proposed sale, according to people familiar with the deal talks,” writes The Wall Street Journal.

It is unclear how China could block the deal, but days after the agreement was announced, Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee spoke out against the proposed sale. He said at the time there were “concerns” that deserved “serious attention.” Hutchison is Hong Kong-based, and in addition, China in the past has used its Commerce Ministry, asserting its right to review deals and demand alterations in the terms.

This comes just 10 days before the end of the exclusive lock-up period Hutchison granted to BlackRock and MSC. The company had announced the “in principle” agreements on March 4, saying they expected to complete definitive documentation for the part of the deal for the two terminal operations in Panama by April 2, while due diligence and exclusive negotiation were proceeding.

WSJ speculates that the parties cannot strike a deal on revised terms that include Cosco until the exclusivity period ends on July 27. It is unclear what portion of the deal, valued at nearly $23 billion, Cosco would participate in or at what level.

The wildcard is the Trump administration, which used Hutchison’s terminal operations at each end of the Panama Canal to assert “China runs the Panama Canal,” and to threaten that the U.S. would take back the canal. Panama has repeatedly asserted its sovereignty over the canal and denied Chinese domination.

Hutchison has remained mostly silent in the face of China’s attacks, which ranged from the loyalty of its founder tycoon Li Ka-shing to the legality of the deal, and assertions that it was all driven by the U.S. In early April, Hutchison’s Panama company issued a long list of responses refuting many of the claims that it was in violation of the concession to operate the terminals. Panama, however, has threatened under pressure from the U.S. to review and possibly terminate the concession for the terminals.

Under the terms of the “in principle” agreement, Hutchison would sell its 90 percent interest in the Panama operation (Panama holds 10 percent of the company) to the consortium between BlackRock and TiL. They would also acquire 80 percent of the global operations, which include 43 ports comprising 199 berths in 23 countries. Hutchison would retain its interests in China. Later reports revealed that the investment group would largely be owned by MSC.
 

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