On Tuesday, the Australian government announced that it has awarded Mitsubishi Heavy Industries a $6.5 billion deal to build its next generation of "general purpose" frigates, with first deliveries scheduled for 2029. The timetable is rapid for a naval shipbuilding program, but MHI will be using its existing Mogami-class frigate design as the basis for the new series, reducing up-front engineering hours compared to a clean-sheet design. 

The Mogami-class is a modern multi-mission warship capable of air defense and surface warfare. It was designed to perform its tasks with a smaller crew - a common goal for modern navies facing cost and manpower limitations. With a high degree of automation, the vessels are designed to operate with about 90 people, about the same as the reported deployable crew size of the Littoral Combat Ship series. Australia's version of the Mogami-class will be an enlarged variant, and will have 32 full-size VLS cells for anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.  

The new warships will replace Australia's existing Anzac-class frigates, which were delivered in 1993-2003 and are beginning to decommission due to advancing age. Compared to the Anzacs, the Mogami-class has much greater range, much more firepower and about half as many people aboard. Its combat management system is interoperable with U.S. Navy-standard systems, a valuable advantage for the RAN, according to ASPI analyst Malcolm Davis.  

The contract calls for building the first three hulls in Japan, then constructing the remaining eight in the series at the Austal yard in Western Australia. The shipyard site for the Australian-built hulls, BAE's Henderson complex, has recently downsized its workforce by 150 people due to a slowdown on other projects.  

The price of the Mogami-class program has not yet been fully determined, and contract talks are under way. The outcome will be a disappointment for German defense shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (now TKMS), the other bidder in the process. TKMS had proposed a much smaller design, the Mako A-200; parent company ThyssenKrupp has announced plans to spin off the division.

Top image: Mogami-class frigate (Hiroshi Miyaji / CC BY SA 4.0) 

[By: American Association of Port Authorities]

Today, the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA) and a broad coalition of every donor and energy transfer port sent the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and the Energy and Water Development Subcommittees leaders a letter, urging them to reverse a harmful funding diversion and restore critical support for ports through the FY2026 appropriations process.

The ports’ message is clear: without restoration of Section 102 and 2106 funding from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), the U.S. port system will lose over $1 billion in direct investment during the remainder of the Trump administration – undermining national security, supply chain resilience, and energy exports.

The letter’s 23 signatories state that, “it is our strongest hope that we can work together to correct this misstep and ensure these funds are available and utilized for their Congressionally intended purpose to carry out the WRDA 2020, Section 102 program at donor and energy transfer ports.”

Background and Urgency
Congress enacted Section 102 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020 with bipartisan support. The measure ensured fair allocation of Harbor Maintenance Tax (HMT) revenues, particularly to donor and energy transfer ports that historically contributed about 50% of total HMT collections but received less than 2% back for projects at their ports. In FY2024, this provision finally delivered, resulting in $332 million for expanded-use projects at these ports, funding seismic resilience upgrades, dock rehabilitation, slope stabilization, and critical berth dredging. This compromise in WRDA 2020 was a historic achievement that resolved years of debate over fair allocation of the HMTF. That compromise is now in danger and must be restored.

The FY2025 Army Corps Work Plan eliminated this funding entirely, despite explicit congressional direction in the FY24 Energy & Water conference report. Even more troubling, the Administration’s FY2026 budget request once again excludes funding for Section 102 and 2106, placing critical port projects and economic development at risk.

The Request
The letter calls on Appropriations Committee leadership to include bill language in the FY2026 Energy & Water Appropriations Act that:

• Directs the Army Corps of Engineers to allocate $417.6 million in HMTF funding for donor and energy transfer ports, consistent with Section 102 of WRDA 2020;
• Provides $62 million from the general fund for additional eligible projects under Section 2106 of the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014; and
• Reaffirms Congressional intent to implement WRDA 2020 as written, ensuring consistent and predictable investment in U.S. port infrastructure.

AAPA’s Commitment
AAPA is fully committed to aggressively advocating for the restoration of this critical port funding. We thank the donor and energy transfer ports for leading on this vital issue and will continue working with our partners in Congress to ensure U.S. ports receive the fair and full investment they are owed.

Read the full letter to Congressional appropriators here.

 

Shipbuilding efficiency is vital if the U.S. is to rejuvenate its maritime capabilities, says Mikko Forss, Executive Vice President of NAPA, a maritime software company.

SHIPS for America

The U.S. has set out clear ambitions for a shipbuilding and shipping renaissance. Targets were outlined in the Shipbuilding and Harbor Infrastructure for Prosperity and Security (SHIPS) for America Act introduced to congress in 2024, and while it remains to be seen if it will be passed into law, it does have bipartisan support.

As well as highlighting the need for a new National Maritime Strategy, the SHIPS for America Act establishes a Strategic Commercial Fleet Program, which aims to increase the U.S.- flagged international fleet by 250 ships in 10 years and facilitate the development of a fleet of domestically built vessels that are commercially and competitively operated. 

The SHIPS for America Act?also introduces financial incentives for U.S. shipyard modernization and domestic shipbuilding by creating a tax credit of up to 40.5% for investments to construct, repower, or reconstruct eligible oceangoing vessels in the U.S., and a 25% tax credit for the modernization of qualified domestic shipyards.

In a similar vein, US President Donald Trump said in March 2025: “To boost our defense industrial base, we are also going to resurrect the American shipbuilding industry, including commercial shipbuilding and military shipbuilding. And for that purpose, I am announcing tonight that we will create a new office of shipbuilding in the White House and offer special tax incentives to bring this industry home.”

Shipbuilding efficiency

The U.S. has a proud history of world-leading shipbuilding, from the Liberty ships of World War II to today’s naval powerhouses. There’s now a renewed opportunity to channel that same industrial spirit into the digital age and be a global leader in shipbuilding innovation. To ramp up production, the focus must be on modernizing and scaling shipbuilding capabilities with a resolute focus on efficiency in concept development, design maturation and production.

The clearest path to accelerating domestic capabilities once again is by adopting proven best practices from shipbuilders around the world. Digitalization has played a pivotal role in ensuring efficiency, scalability and modernization of shipbuilding across both Europe and Asia, however, adopting digital shipbuilding tools comes with important caveats.

Digitalization, if done correctly, can break down silos and facilitate collaboration between shipowners, operators, shipyards, naval architects, engineers, academia and class societies. It can reduce inefficiencies in communication between various entities and enable more design iterations in less time. Done wrong, conversely, fragmentation and delays can result.

The nature of shipbuilding is engineer-to-order, which means considerable engineering efforts are required for every novel design. Unlike other industries where prototyping and series production can enhance the final product and reduce per-unit engineering costs, shipbuilding must meet various conflicting requirements and regulatory standards in a multidisciplinary field, necessitating accurate design on the first attempt. This is especially true in the initial stages of design, where key project management and engineering decisions will impact the overall safety, cost and efficiency of the entire project.

Providing the various stakeholders involved in the ship design process the means to access a consistent digital ecosystem, through a comprehensive set of interoperable digital tools, promotes consistency, efficiency, and optimization from concept to class approval to delivery and life-cycle management.

Digital shipyards

Digitalization provides the means for shipyards to do more with less. For smaller and mid-sized shipyards, where skilled labor can be hard to come by, efficiency isn’t just an advantage – it’s a necessity.

Insights from around the world shows that attracting new talent to the shipbuilding industry can been difficult amid rapid population declines, as seen in Japan and Korea. In Korea, the problem has been particularly acute in the past two years, since newbuilding work resumed after the lifting of COVID restrictions. But the situation has its roots in the layoffs that followed the 2014 market downturn, when the workforce was halved from approximately 203,000 workers to around 92,000.

Digital technology can help alleviate recruitment challenges on two fronts: by removing duplicated tasks to enable engineers and naval architects to maximize their productivity, and by making the sector more attractive to younger generations. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, metaverse, and AR/VR/MR have the potential to increase efficiency and attractiveness even further, as we are witnessing a paradigm shift in our society regarding how we live, work and interact – which also impacts shipbuilding.

Going forwards, the digital technology revolution unlocks a world of opportunities for shipyards to be more efficient with scarce resources, from creating new value from replacing 2D based methods with smart 3D models to digital twins to production simulation. This enables shipyards to prevent expensive errors during the downstream construction process through digital continuity by integrating computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and product data management (PDM) workflows using best-of-breed domain solutions.

Revitalizing U.S. shipbuilding is an opportunity to recapture the industry’s innovative and industrial spirit. Beyond strategic policymaking and investments, it will require a heavy focus on shipbuilding efficiency on a practical level. Effective digital transformation that promotes efficiency, innovation, and collaboration from shipyard to sea is key.

By combining the legacy of American industrial ingenuity with global best practices, the U.S. shipbuilding industry can benefit from proven methods, without the cost of lengthy development processes. Ultimately, by embracing innovative digital solutions and fostering collaboration across the value chain, the U.S. can not only enhance its shipbuilding capabilities but also set the industry on a course towards a sustainable and prosperous future.

Mikko Forss is Executive Vice President of NAPA, a maritime software company.

[By: Austal USA]

Austal USA has received a contract option award from the U.S. Coast Guard for the construction of the second Stage 2 Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) and acquisition of long lead-time material to support construction of a third Stage 2 OPC. The $273 million option is part of a contract that includes options for up to 11 OPCs with a potential value of $3.3 billion.

“The exercise of this option is a strong sign of the successful partnership between the Coast Guard and our shipbuilding team on the OPC program,” commented Austal USA President Michelle Kruger. “This award is an important step in moving into serial production and delivering this critical capability.  It is a testament to the capabilities of our talented shipbuilders at Austal USA.”

Austal USA began building the company’s first OPC, Pickering, last summer.  All of Pickering’s steel modules are under construction in Austal USA’s steel assembly line.  Construction on the second cutter will begin this week. Progress on the OPC program is occurring concurrently with a major facility with $750M in construction underway to increase capacity for both surface vessel and submarine manufacturing.  The OPC joins the U.S. Navy’s Towing Salvage and Rescue (T-ATS) and Landing Craft Utility (LCU) programs in serial production in the company’s Mobile ship manufacturing facility. 

The 360-foot OPC will provide the majority of the Coast Guard’s offshore presence conducting a variety of missions including law enforcement, drug and migrant interdiction, and search and rescue.  With a range of 10,200 nautical miles at 14 knots and a 60-day endurance period, each OPC will be capable of deploying independently or as part of task groups, serving as a mobile command and control platform for surge operations such as hurricane response, mass migration incidents and other events. The cutters will also support Arctic objectives by helping regulate and protect emerging commerce and energy exploration in Alaska.

America's biggest port authorities are calling for Congress to restore funding allocations from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), a frequent battle in the appropriations process. If maintenance funding is not restored to levels approved in a bipartisan agreement back in 2020, the U.S. port system will lose $1 billion in federal investment over the course of the rest of President Donald Trump's current term, according to the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA).

The HMTF is funded by a small 0.125% value-added tax on goods entering U.S. ports. The HMTF's proceeds pay for maintenance dredging, jetties, breakwaters and related projects, all for the purpose of keeping federally-supported harbor navigation open. About half of all HMTF tax proceeds come from big "donor" ports and energy ports, which generate millions per year each in fees - but historically, these ports have received only about two percent of the appropriations back from the fund. 

In 2020, Congress agreed to allocate funds on a percentage basis among different types of ports, sharing the resources more equitably. Emerging harbors would get 20 percent, Great Lakes Ports would get 12 percent, and donor ports would get 10 percent for "expanded uses" like berth dredging, in-water repairs for wharfs, or projects to ensure slope stability at a berth. So far, that formula has only been applied in practice once, according to AAPA: it was used in FY2024 for a $330 million allocation for donor ports. However, the funds were omitted in the FY2025 USACE Work Plan, and the administration left them zeroed out again in its FY2026 budget request Work Plan as well. 

"Donor and energy transfer ports, which were expecting to receive nearly $330 million in Section 102 funding to continue the important work started with FY24 funding, ultimately received no funding for this program in the Work Plan," 23 signatory ports said in an open letter to key House and Senate subcomittee leaders. "Similarly, the FY26 budget request includes no funding to carry out Section 102."

The Trump administration's budget request for USACE civil works for FY2026 is $2 billion less than the enacted budget in the last two fiscal years. The administration's total request for HMTF funding comes to $1.7 billion, $1 billion less than last year's enacted budget. In an explanatory statement, the administration noted that $1.4 billion from the FY2024 HMTF appropriation remained unobligated in early 2025; since there are unspent funds still on the table, "there is no need to request more funding than necessary, which is why the Budget reduces funding for HMTF" for FY2026, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said in a statement. 

"In this [White House budget] request, spending on projects that are not a Federal responsibility (e.g., dredging of berths) is limited, whereas projects like maintaining commercial navigation on Federal channels are prioritized," OMB said.  

 

The government of India confirmed Monday that it plans to resist pressure from the Trump administration to stop buying Russian oil. 

India ramped up purchasing of Russian oil after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. As Europe shut down its own imports, large volumes of sanctioned Russian crude became available at a discount on the global market. Under the G7 "price cap" measure, Russia has been allowed to keep selling that oil to non-Western buyers. At the time of implementation in 2022-23, G7 economic planners - notably then-U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen - wanted to keep Russian oil exports flowing, keeping net global supplies stable while reducing Russian energy revenue at the margins with the price cap. "The United States at that time actively encouraged [Russian oil] imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability," the Indian foreign ministry noted in a statement Monday. 

India was a willing participant and stepped up its buying of Russian crude, allowing the Middle Eastern crude oil that it used to buy to go to Europe instead. Indian refiners stopped buying American oil in quantity, and using their newfound and heavily-discounted Russian barrels - which now account for up to 30 percent of Indian crude imports - Indian refiners provided the European market with low-cost gasoline and diesel, made partly from EU-sanctioned Russian oil. 

The Trump administration entered negotiations over the future of Ukraine  with a pro-Russian outlook, and initially blamed Kyiv for the war. But as rounds of peace talks have come and gone without results, President Donald Trump's opinion of Russian negotiating strategy has soured. Trump has threatened to impose "secondary tariffs" on India if Moscow does not make moves toward ending the war. As U.S. importers pay the cash amount of each tariff to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for each shipment, the policy would raise transaction costs for Indian products like textiles and pharmaceuticals, making those products less competitive. 

Trump doubled down on his threats in a social media post Monday, warning that he would raise tariffs "substantially" on Indian goods if India did not relent. India has so far signaled that it will continue buying, and tanker deliveries of Russian crude continued over the weekend. 

"The targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable. Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security," asserted the Indian foreign ministry, noting that the EU and U.S. both still trade with Russia for other commodities. 

China is the leading buyer of Russian oil, thanks to steady demand from its independent "teapot" refiners for discounted barrels. It also faces U.S. pressure to stop importing from Russia, and Beijing's leaders have made clear that China will not be swayed from its support for Moscow. 

"China will always ensure its energy supply in ways that serve our national interests," China’s Foreign Ministry stated in a social media post last week. "Coercion and pressuring will not achieve anything."

Top Image: Nayara / CC BY SA 4.0

 

Facing an existential crisis in manning, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is highlighting its successes in recruiting and training the next generation of seafarers. The door for new entrants is open, and RFA accepts promising cadets of working age; no "only-under-40" rules apply, and indeed two of its latest recruits are in their mid-40s and 50s - and just now starting out in maritime. 

New RFA recruits begin their service with a brief course at Dartmouth, the Royal Navy's officer training base, in order to learn some of the basics of seafaring. After a completion ceremony, they progress onward to learn more about their chosen specialty.

"I was looking for a career which is exciting and challenging," said 45-year-old Ben Pitts, a Liverpool resident and a graduate of the most recent RFA training class. "My time at Dartmouth has been a real eye-opener, challenging, rewarding, and a great experience to learn and grow."

Pitts is pursuing certification as a deck officer, but there are other choices too. Classmate Toni Cupit, 53, joined up to become a logistics officer. 

During their time as cadets, they will serve sea tours aboard vessels in the RFA's fleet. The opportunities may be somewhat more limited than in years past: only three of the RFA's ships are operational (surveillance ship RFA Proteus, plus oilers RFA Tidespring and RFA Tidesurge), and they are reportedly crewed below strength. Based on UK defense media reporting, RFA Tiderace has been inactive since 2023 due to manning shortages, RFA Cardigan Bay and Fort Victoria are in long-term layup for similar reasons, RFA Stirling Castle has been transferred to the Royal Navy because of insufficient RFA manpower, and RFA Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay are in drydock for maintenance. The aging RFA Argus has reportedly had class withdrawn because of its poor material condition, and is said to be prohibited from shifting docks because of concerns about the state of her hull. 

The root cause of the crisis is a crew shortage, driven in part by low pay (relative to civilian seagoing employment). The RFA's headcount has fallen by a third in the last 15 years, though a newly-negotiated pay deal with the branch's officers' union may go some distance to stemming the decline. 

After the discovery of RFA Argus' serious corrosion issues, former officer Cmdre. Tom Sharpe (RN) issued a public call for a top-to-bottom review of the RFA. In an opinion piece, he warned that Argus could have sunk with potentially fatal consequences, and warned that the auxiliary fleet could be "getting close" to a serious accident.

"It's going to be very uncomfortable; there will be senior officers and civil servants probably still serving - although I think some of these things have such a long lead time it goes back decades - who need to be held to account," he wrote. "And they need to be held to account because lack of accountability is one of the real problems defense has across the board."

In this landscape, new officer recruits will be most welcome in the unique career offered by the RFA.

"The work that we do is like nothing else out there. We are amongst the very select group that go out and do this kind of work for any navy," said Commodore Sam Shattock, Commodore RFA, in a statement Sunday. 

 

Hanwha Philly Shipyard and Matson marked a key milestone in the construction of the first of three new "Aloha Class" containerships as assembly began. The first grand block of the Matson vessel, which is being named Makua, was lowered into the construction dry dock on August 4.

During the event, the first engine room section of the vessel — weighing 420 metric tons — was lowered into the dry dock, marking the official start of hull assembly. Matson placed the order for the ships in November 2022, with steel cutting commencing last September.

"Today's keel laying marks more than the beginning of another great ship — it symbolizes the strength of our ongoing partnership with Matson and our shared commitment to American shipbuilding," remarked David Kim, Hanwha Philly Shipyard CEO. 

It is also an important milestone for the yard, which was acquired at the end of 2024 by South Korea’s Hanwha Systems and Hanwha Ocean. The company looks to leverage its expertise in shipbuilding to realize new opportunities in the American market, with this being the first commercial project to start since the change in ownership.

 

Matson has two previously built containerships of the same class from Philly Shipyard (Matson)

 

"These new ships are just the latest Jones Act vessels Matson has built with Philly Shipyard over the past 22 years, supporting 1,500 jobs for skilled American workers and providing additional opportunities for American mariners," said Matt Cox, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Matson. "Our existing Aloha Class ships are among the fastest, most efficient vessels in the Matson fleet."

The yard previously built Matson's first two Aloha Class ships, delivered in 2018 and 2019. The Daniel K. Inouye and her sister ship Kaimana Hila were the largest containerships ever built in the U.S. and in 2023 and 2024 were converted to LNG fueled operations. The yard also delivered four new Jones Act containerships for Matson between 2003 and 2006.

The new 854-foot Aloha Class ships will each have a carrying capacity of 3,600 TEU and are designed to operate at speeds exceeding 23 knots, supporting Matson's reputation for fast, reliable delivery across its Hawaii, Guam, and China-Long Beach Express (CLX) trade lanes. The new vessels also feature a more fuel-efficient hull design and dual-fuel engines that will allow operation on liquefied natural gas (LNG) from delivery.

The three new Aloha Class ships will replace three vessels currently deployed in Matson's Hawaii, Guam, and CLX services. The new ships are due to be delivered to Matson in 2027 and 2028.
 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued an executive order that authorizes the expanded use of the carbon capture barge service of STAX Engineering to service tankers. The order is timely as CARB’s Ocean-Going Vessels at Berth regulation took effect for tankers at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as of January 1 and extends to all California ports as of 2027.

Crude oil, product, and gas tankers make up a significant part of California’s maritime trade, but due to safety concerns, they are unable to use shore power. California, however, is extending its requirements to tankers as well as containerships, car carriers, and other large vessels to reduce their emissions while at dock. It would require a costly retrofit to older ships to use shore power, or they had to find other means to meet the new emissions regulations.

“Tankers are the backbone of global energy infrastructure—with over 1.3 million barrels of crude oil alone arriving just in California ports daily—yet they’ve lacked a safe, practical solution for meeting rising emissions standards,” notes Mike Walker, CEO of STAX Engineering. “Our technology fills that gap. It helps operators comply with regulations while improving air quality for surrounding communities.”

STAX uses a mobile, barge-based emissions capture and control system. It connects directly to the vessel’s smoke stack or exhaust system without any modification and with no requirements for power. The system captures exhaust from auxiliary engines and removes up to 99 percent of particulate matter and 95 percent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.

The company has already been making its services available at California’s five main ports, and since early 2024, reports it has treated 1,192 vessels for a cumulative 25,000 hours. It reports this has captured 190 tons of pollutants, with nearly 1,000 hours already dedicated to tankers.

Under the inaugural executive order, STAX received approval for four barges. The company points out that it already has contracts with the tanker berth F209 at Olympus Terminal in Los Beach, as well as Shell’s Mormon Island Terminal in the Port of Los Angeles, and will be working with MIL Chemical among others.

Currently, its services are dedicated to California. The company reports that by 2027, it will have a fleet of 27 operational barges and presence in all California ports when tanker emissions regulations expand to Northern California. The company also recently secured £1.1 million in UK government funding through the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition for the PortZero project, a collaboration with Seabound, Associated British Ports, and Lomar Shipping, for its international expansion project.
 

At least 76 people have died and dozens more remain missing after a migrant boat sank off Yemen's Gulf of Aden coastline, according to the International Organization for Migration. The vessel was attempting a crossing to Yemen, the starting point for established overland routes that migrants use to enter wealthier Gulf countries to look for employment. 

Officials in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan reported that the migrant vessel had been overloaded with passengers and had gone down in the Gulf of Aden in rough weather. 76 bodies have been recovered so far, including at least 54 that washed up on shore, and the number continued to rise through the day on Monday.

The fatalities exceed the capacity of the local morgue, so the bodies will be buried promptly, a local official told the New York Times. Dozens remain missing, and local search efforts are under way. 

12 survivors have been recovered, IOM Yemen official Abdusattor Esoev told media. Two Yemeni smugglers are reportedly among the living. 

The sea route in question is a northbound highway for citizens of Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea and other impoverished African states. Yemen is itself destitute and dangerous, and is not the destination: it serves as a waystation en route to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, where under-the-radar jobs for undocumented immigrants are available. Esoev told UPI that there should be normalized pathways for economic migrants to transit from distressed nations in the Horn of Africa to the stronger employment markets in the GCC states. A regularized process for labor migration would cut the dominant smuggling gangs out of the market, and remove the incentives for high-risk transport methods. 

"This route is predominantly controlled by smugglers and human-trafficking networks," Mixed Migration Centre researcher Ayla Bonfiglio told AFP. "Refugees and migrants have no other alternative but to hire their services."

The so-called Eastern Route is known for occasional disasters. In March, two migrant vessels went down off Dhubab, Yemen, killing all passengers - about 180 people. About 60-100,000 people attempt the crossing every year, including an increasing number of unaccompanied women and children, a change from a route typically used by working-age men. IOM puts the average number of disappearances and fatalities on the Yemen crossing about 200-300 annually.
 

An activist group based in Malta has identified a bulker laden with coal bound from Colombia to Israel and is demanding action from the government as the flag state of the ship. At the same time, Colombia’s government is demanding action and threatening to use its navy to stop future shipments.

The Greek-owned bulker Fortune (182,620 dwt) registered in Malta departed from Colombia’s Puerto Drummond. The vessel, built in 2016, is now mid-Atlantic with a declared destination of Israel. It is 10 days from Israel, but groups on both sides of the Atlantic are protesting its support of the Israelis.

The situation came to be known because Colombia’s mining union filed a complaint. A year ago, Colombian President Gustavo Petro issued a decree barring ships of coal and trade with Israel due to the war in Gaza. Colombia’s Minister of Labor, Antonio Sanguino, received the complaint and called for an investigation, and working with other organizations.

Petro wrote online that the shipment was a “challenge to my government,” and called for the unions and government to convene. He threatened, “The Navy will receive a written order to detain ships bound for Israel.”

 

Volvieron a sacar un buque hoy lleno de carbón con destino a Israel. Un desafío a mi gobierno. Le pido al ministro de trabajo reunión urgente con los sindicatos del carbón.

E informe de cunplimientos de sentencias de la corte constitucional sobre la ezplotación del carbon y el… https://t.co/IGPZpvBhKm

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) July 24, 2025

 

The Times of Malta now reports that an activist group issued a demand to the government, saying it must intervene as the ship’s flag state. They are calling for the ship to be turned around and take the coal back to Colombia. Failing to do that, they are saying Malta must remove its flag from the ship.

The group claims Malta should emulate Antigua and Barbuda, reports the Times of Malta. They claim the Caribbean flag set a standard for preventing ships trading with Israel in its registry.

It is not the first time that activists have targeted commercial vessels carrying cargoes to Israel. Dockworkers in various ports have reportedly sought not to handle ships bound for Israel. Maersk Line Ltd. ships under contract to the U.S. government were targeted for boycotts, and recently, an Israeli cruise ship operating in the Mediterranean has been met by protestors at various ports.
 

 

Based on the dedicated efforts of open source information gatherers, particularly @KaptainLOMA, @italmilradar and @key2med observing from atop the Rock of Gibraltar, it can be assessed that the visible Russian naval presence in the Mediterranean will sink this week to just a single submarine, supplemented by its lonely tugboat escort and the intelligence-collection Project 864 vessel Viktor Leonov.

The Russian Kilo Class submarine RFS Novorossiksk (B261), which used to be a frequent presence in the Mediterranean, came back though the English Channel from the Baltic on June 25. The boat then slipped through the Straits of Gibraltar to duties unknown, but supported from afar by the Goryn Class tug Yakov Grebelskiy. The submarine appears to have operated through most of July off Libya and the Levant, based on the position of its escorting tug and the tracks of NATO submarine-hunting P-8 aircraft.

Having spent much of June loitering off the coast of Syria providing cover for the stragglers of the Russian presence, Steregushchy Class corvette RFS Soobrazitelny (F531) left the Mediterranean on July 3, following the familiar track back to the Baltic. As she left, her sister ship RFS Boiky (F532) entered the Mediterranean a few days later on July 9, escorting the well-known arms carriers Sparta and tanker General Skobelev en route to Tartus.

RFS Boiky (F532), Sparta and the tanker General Skobelev were last spotted on their return journey between Malta and Sicily on August 3. If this group of ships conforms to pattern, they may refuel at sea off Al Hoceima on the Moroccan coast, replenishing from the Russian civilian oiler Vyazma, before passing westwards through the Straits of Gibraltar.

This will then leave the Kilo Class submarine RFS Novorossiksk as the only Russian naval vessel in the Mediterranean, at a time when the US carrier strike group led by USS George Washington (CVN-73) is operating at full tempo in the Timor Sea with a large NATO escort complement.

RMNS Rabhi shadowing Russian oiler Vyazma on June 22 (Royal Moroccan Navy)

The anchorage used by the Russians is closely monitored by the Royal Moroccan Navy vessels operating out of Al Hoceima, most notably by PR-72P Class patrol boat RMNS Rabhi (P310). The Russians are also likely to have used up their credit of port visits elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The final Russian foothold on Tartus as a support base appears to have fallen away with the takeover on July 13 by DP World of full management rights for the port, held since 2019 by the Russian company OAO Stroytransgaz.

Among its many purposes, the Russian Navy had used Tartus as a way station on its supply route to West Africa; to compensate, Russia last month signed a visiting forces agreement with Benin, to better support its Africa Corps operations. The Russian Navy has also sought to move forward with its plans for a presence in in the Red Sea. But this latter intent appears to be fading after the proposed locations in Port Sudan were hit by a rebel drone strike on May 6.

If this was not enough bad news for the Russian fleet, the Udaloy Class destroyer RFS Vice Admiral Kulakov (D626) had to fend off a drone threat on July 14 in the Baltic Sea. The mysterious limpet mine explosions on dark fleet tankers shipping sanctioned Russian oil have continued, with an attack on July 16 against the formerly Djibouti-flagged Aframax Pushpa (IMO: 9332810). Finally but significantly, the annual Navy Day Parade at St. Petersburg scheduled for July 27 - always a proud day for the Russian Fleet - was cancelled, presumably because of the plausible risk of Ukrainian drone strikes.

Five months after the famed ocean liner ss United States arrived in Mobile, Alabama, to prepare for her conversion into a man-made reef, the signature forward funnel was removed from the vessel on August 3. Work is proceeding with this key milestone, marking progress toward the end of the ship.

The massive forward funnel, which was the equivalent height of a six-story building (approximately 65 feet tall off the deck), was removed with a giant crane positioned alongside and lowered onto a barge. The SS United States Conservancy reports it is working with the buyer of the ship, Florida’s Okaloosa County, to protect, transport, and store the funnel.

The remediation team had earlier cleared out all the connections and equipment on the interior of the funnel. They also surgically placed cuts along the base of the funnel for its removal. 

The funnels were a distinctive element of the design of the ship, which continues to hold the title from 1952 of the fastest liner to cross the North Atlantic. Her renowned designer, William Francis Gibbs, developed what was called the “sampan” capped funnel design in the 1930s for earlier passenger ship designs as a means of keeping soot away from the decks. Subsequent designs grew larger in proportion to the ship, with the ss United States boasting she was fitted with the largest funnels on a liner.

The plan to sink the vessel off the coast of Florida’s Destin-Fort Walton Beach area calls for the removal of both funnels as well as the radar mast over the bridge, all of which the Conservancy plans to save. The cargo booms will also be removed from fore and aft. The Conservancy also plans to remove the last remaining propeller stored on the vessel’s aft deck and the stem anchor. Later today the radar mast over the bridge was also removed. The second funnel is expected to be removed in the coming days.

 

Fox News 10 TV Mobile broadcast the funnel removal 

 

Images from Mobile show that the windows of the promenade deck, portholes, and other fittings on the interior and exterior have already been stripped from the ship. Lose paint from the superstructure, and the deck covering has also been removed. Reports are that the team will begin working on the hull to remove the loose paint.

No final timeline has been released for when they expect to sink the hull of the vessel. Indications are that they hope to complete the reefing by the end of 2025.

At the same time, the Conservancy reports it is moving forward with the plan to create the future SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience. They have retained the museum and exhibit design firm Thinc Design to develop the concepts. Today, they released a new rendering of the potential museum space.

Several groups have continued legal challenges attempting to block the reefing of the hull. They were trying to prevent the removal of the key structural elements, arguing the ship is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. 

 

Museum concept incorporating the funnels and mast (SS United States Conservancy)

 

 

 

Exercise Talisman Sabre, the Australian-US led exercise with 17 other participating nations, has concluded in Northern Australia and the Timor Sea.

The highlights of the training, which involved 40,000 troops, included live firings of two newly introduced long-range missile systems. Australia live-fired its M142 high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) with precision strike missiles for the first time. In another first, the United States’ Indo-Pacific Long Range Fires Battalion conducted the first field firing of the new Typhon (Strategic Mid-Range Fires system, or SMRF) land-based SM-6 missile launcher, engaging a moving maritime target.

Large-scale beach amphibious opposed landings with air and naval support were conducted at two locations along the Queensland coast, with US marines and Australian forces, with troops from Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea and the United Kingdom. A battalion-sized force from the Alaska-based 11th Airborne Division, with additional French and German paratroopers, conducted a long-range seizure of an airfield after a 15-hour flight with mid-air refueling. US Marines from the Marine Rotational Force Darwin conducted a simulated island-hopping operation across Northern Australia, covering similar distances as would be encountered in the First Island Chain.

Troops of the 11th Airborne Division and international partners conduct a long-range jump exercise, Talisman Sabre 2025 (U.S. Army)

The Exercise Talisman Sabre directors did not specify against whom the simulated combat operations were conducted. But key features which might give a clue about the potential adversary were operations exercised at long range, opposed amphibious landings, and the integration of allies into a joint force operational structure.

The UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG) led by HMS Prince of Wales (R09) is now headed northwards and is exercising with the Indonesian Navy in the Banda Sea, with onboard Royal Air Force F-35s flying ahead to conduct air exercises in South Korea. The CSG has been joined by the Australian Hobart Class air defense destroyer HMAS Brisbane (DDG-41), replacing the Canadian Halifax Class frigate HMCS Ville de Quebec (F332).

The Philippines Coast Guard is currently tracking the latest incursion by a Chinese research vessel into its waters, while reporting that the number of these events is increasing. The vessels are being tracked and challenged by air and sea, but unlike at the shoals, there have been no direct confrontations between the two countries.

The latest incident is ongoing with the Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 05, which China reports is conducting marine scientific research.  The Philippines Coast Guard says that the Xiang Yang Hong 05 is a relatively new addition to China’s fleet of research vessels, having been converted from a cargo ship. Historically, the PCG says the Xiang Yang Hong series has been associated with supporting the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) operations, dating back to the original vessels that participated in distant-water research and ballistic missile trials during the 1970s and 1980s.

The vessel briefly entered a region the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea on June 7 and was in the area for two days. Based on tracking data, the Philippines says the ship spent 22 days operating on a parallel track in the Pacific that took it to a point about 42 nautical miles from Guam.

The ship re-entered the Philippines EEZ on July 31, and Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard, ordered an aircraft to undertake a patrol mission over the weekend. They spotted the Xiang Yang Hong 05 at a distance of just under 15 nautical miles offshore from Babuyan Island. The plane sent messages to the Chinese vessel saying it was without authorization in the Philippines' waters, and there was no response. The Chinese vessel’s last reported position is 86 miles from Calayan Island at the northern end of the Philippines.

 

PCG Conducts MDA Patrol to Monitor and Challenge Chinese Research Vessel

In a recent initiative to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests, Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, Commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), has ordered the deployment of a PCG aircraft to conduct a… pic.twitter.com/abzXwMr5bR

— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) August 3, 2025

 

A spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard said during a television interview that they were seeing a “significant increase” of Chinese research ships within the Philippine EEZ. He noted three other instances in July and said that with three or four reports a month, the Philippines could be seeing almost 20 to 22 incursions by Chinese vessels in total this year. He called the significant increase “alarming.”

In July, they reported that the Bei Diao 996, a civilian research vessel with dual-use capabilities, specializing in testing underwater acoustic sensors and sonar equipment, was spotted. The Philippines reports that it is China's largest test ship for deep-sea operations, and it was followed by the Xiang Yang Hong 10, a multi-purpose research vessel capable of deep-sea surveys for sea floor mapping. Also, the Zhuhai Yun, used for oceanographic research, was spotted in the Philippine EEZ.

Separately today, the Philippine Coast Guard reported two Chinese coast guard vessels were spotted in the area of Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island to the Philippines), about 39 miles from the Philippine coast. They sent their most sophisticated patrol vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua, and it challenged the CCG-503 via radio communications. The Chinese responded, saying that the Philippines was in a Chinese jurisdiction zone. A second vessel, CCG-4203, was also spotted, but there was no confrontation between the Chinese and Philippine vessels.
 

 

The Panamanian Ship Registry announced effectively immediately it is closing its registry to older vessels. It comes after pressure from governments, sanctions, and public interest groups who have all been critical of Panama for the large number of shadow fleet tankers involved in the Russian and Iranian oil trades in its registry.

The new restriction says the Panama flag will no longer accept oil tankers or bulkers older than 15 years. It is a further expansion of a new precheck process launched in late 2024 to increase the scrutiny on registration applications.

The Panamanian authorities said the new limitation is to “optimize the operational performance of its fleet, minimize the risk of detentions, and prevent the entry of vessels from the so-called ‘ghost fleet’.”’ They report the regulation was adopted after it identified that “71 percent of fleet detentions between 2023 and the first half of 2025 correspond to bulk carriers, general cargo vessels, and oil tankers older than 15 years.”

As the world’s largest registry (by the number of ships), the Panama Ship Registry has over 8,500 ships. They highlight that under the new administration, over 650 ships have been removed from the registry since 2019. By improving enforcement mechanisms, they say 214 vessels were removed last year under its program of faster sanction enforcement measures. Today, August 3, they reported another 17 vessels listed in the recent U.S. sanctions package targeted Iranian trade were removed from the registry on an expedited basis.

Despite this, the NGO United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has continued to be highly critical of Panama’s ship registry. The group says that of the 542 vessels it tracks in the Iranian oil trade, 17 percent are currently flagged by the Panama Maritime Authority (AMP). After that, the largest numbers are ships flying false flags, and then Palau, which has just over six percent of the vessels’ UANI has identified.

Panama says it continues to enhance its efforts, adding a quarterly review of documents and additional requirements for Ship’s Safety Management System certificates. 

“By prioritizing quality over quantity and implementing more rigorous oversight mechanisms,” Panama says it “ensures that the Panamanian fleet complies with the most demanding international regulations, thus contributing to a safer and more sustainable industry.”

In the past, working with other leading registries, Panama has also developed a system to identify vessels attempting “flag hopping.” It is one of the common practices among the shadow fleet vessels in attempts to avoid sanctions.

Top photo by Pete Unseth (CC BY-SA 4.0)

[By: Marella Cruises]

V.Ships Leisure, part of V.Group (“V.”), has been awarded a ship management contract by Marella Cruises, TUI UK&I’s ocean cruise line.

The five-year agreement will cover the full technical, crewing, digital and ESG management of all of Marella’s five cruise ships, with operations commencing towards the end of 2025. The first two vessels will come into management by the end of the year, with the other three joining in the first half of 2026.

As part of the new partnership, V.Ships Leisure will build upon its already strong UK presence by establishing a dedicated Marella Cruises fleet cell in the UK, operating from its Southampton office and supported by the wider V. network. The decision reflects V.’s commitment to providing Marella Cruises with local expertise backed by global scale, reach and experience.

V. will leverage its ShipSure platform to enable data-driven decision-making across fleet maintenance and operations, supporting more efficient and proactive management and giving Marella Cruises enhanced transparency to the operations.

Marella Cruises will benefit both from V.’s end-to-end management services and from V.ERDE, our dedicated decarbonisation and environmental compliance programme.

Adrian Hibbert, Cruise Operations Director at Marella Cruises, commented: “Throughout the tender process, we were hugely impressed by the calibre of the team at V.Ships Leisure and the depth of their industry expertise. We look forward to working together to deliver safe, reliable and sustainable operations across our fleet.”

Per Bjørnsen, CEO of V.Ships Leisure, said: “This contract is a clear endorsement of our talented team, commitment to ESG and our digital first approach. Above all, it’s testament to our track record and further reinforces our leadership in the cruise sector. We are extremely proud to be working with Marella Cruises and are looking forward to collaborating to achieve operational excellence.”

[By: NAL Research]

Multi-party collaboration addresses serious threat to safety of navigation and visibility of high-value assets in degraded and compromised Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) environments
 
Threats to GPS and GNSS signals such as spoofing, jamming and other interference are reaching unprecedented levels worldwide. In some regions, maritime authorities have reported a 350% increase in affected vessels over the past six months, according to P&I club NorthStandard. These disruptions are having serious consequences, including collisions, delays, financial impacts on global trade and heightened security risks for crews at sea.

IRIDIUM BACKBONE
To address the urgent need for reliable asset tracking and assured navigation in high-risk GPS/GNSS-compromised environments, Tschudi Shipping Company has joined forces with US-based Assured Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) specialist NAL Research and shipping/fisheries technology provider SGM Technology AS to deliver a resilient navigation and tracking solution enabled by Iridium’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network ensuring global coverage. 

Trials of the state-of-the-art tool, which immediately detects if a vessel is being spoofed, are currently in progress with a selection of top-tier shipowners.

DELIVERING GLOBAL SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
“Protection against GPS vulnerabilities is no longer a nice-to-have, but a necessity to ensure operational success and asset safety,” said NAL Research President, Robert Bills. 

“Through this collaborative effort, we are aiming to achieve complete global situational awareness and increase safety at sea for our commercial maritime customers, even in the most remote and challenging situations.”

"In today’s maritime landscape, the threat of GPS jamming and spoofing is no longer theoretical – it’s a growing reality. Ensuring navigational safety is critical, not just for protecting cargo and vessels, but for safeguarding the lives of seafarers who rely on precise and trustworthy systems every day,” said Steffen Grefsgård, CEO of SGM Technology. 

“At SGM Technology, we are committed to developing robust solutions that help mitigate these risks and maintain the integrity of maritime operations.”

TIME FOR COLLECTIVE ACTION
Tschudi Group Chairman Felix Tschudi added: "As a fifth-generation shipping company, we’ve witnessed the evolution of maritime navigation, but never before have we faced technological threats like GPS jamming and spoofing. These disruptions pose a serious risk to vessel safety, crew welfare, and the reliability of global trade routes. The industry must act collectively to address these vulnerabilities to protect maritime personnel and assets.”

“We’re proud to support our valued partners to enable this vital service in the critically important maritime markets,” said Iridium Vice President of PNT, Rohit Braggs. 

“Iridium PNT-enabled technologies are available today and provide trusted location services for high-value assets—and more importantly, help to keep mariners safe.”

UNIQUE COMBINED EXPERIENCE
Under the partnership, the companies are leveraging NAL Research’s 25+ years of expertise in APNT, tracking and connectivity to develop solutions built on the Iridium® PNT service, a powerful and fully authenticated L-band signal resilient to spoofing and jamming. The partnership will also benefit from SGM’s 15+ years of experience delivering technology to the commercial maritime sector and Tschudi’s global presence and 140+ years in commercial shipping and logistics. 

The Port Authority in Callao, Peru, confirmed that port operations resumed Friday afternoon, August 1, several hours after they were forced to suspend all operations after an Evergreen ship lost boxes overboard while in the bay. The port was closed as a precaution due to heavy fog, which was limiting the ability to see the containers.

The Taiwan-flagged containership Ever Lunar (103,891 dwt) was inbound from Buenaventura, Colombia, and reportedly was waiting in the bay for its terminal on Friday morning. The ship, which was built in 2015, is reported to have a capacity of 8,500 TEU and was carrying approximately 7,000 containers. It was sitting outside the main shipping channel at anchor.

Evergreen Marine, in a statement, said that the ship “suddenly experienced severe rolling.” Peru had been on alert for a possible impact from the Russian earthquake and predicted tsunami. The company said the motion of the vessel may have been caused by a number of factors, including the recent tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America, and the sudden swelling of waves.

 

 

The incident happened around 9:40 a.m. local time, and according to the port authority, approximately 50 containers fell overboard. There were no injuries to the crew. They said there was no indication that there was any hazardous cargo in the containers, which could be seen floating around the bay. Pictures in the media showed plastics and electronics in the containers.

The port authority suspended all traffic in the port while a patrol boat and tugs began flagging the locations of the containers. The ban included not only all commercial traffic but also fueling, diving, fishing, and recreational activities. The ban was lifted around 4:00 p.m. local time. 

The port authority said that tugs hired by Evergreen’s insurers would begin the task of retrieving the containers. They said they would be looking into the possibility that the lashing system had broken.

 

Debris floating in the harbor (Congresswoman Patty Chirinos on X)

 

It is the second incident in days during the South American winter, with weather also being cited as the cause of a stack collapse on the Ever Feat (12,000 TEU) on July 29. The vessel arrived at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, with the collapse happening during a trip from Brazil.

Last year, the South African winter weather took a similar toll on containers. At least four vessels reported losing boxes or stack collapses while rounding the Cape of Good Hope. However, overall, the World Shipping Council reports that container losses continue to decline and have reached a low in recent years.
 

 

[By Zelim]

The offshore energy industry has started adopting AI-based advanced detection technology to improve safety and operational oversight, with operators now trialling and installing intelligent detection systems to reduce the risk of man overboard (MOB) incidents.

Among the systems gaining attention is ZOE, developed by Edinburgh-based technology firm Zelim. The company’s intelligent detection and tracking system has now been installed on a second jack-up rig, following over a year of successful operation on a North Sea rig operated by a leading offshore drilling contractor.

ZOE combines camera hardware with proprietary AI software that automatically detects when a person falls overboard and tracks their position in real time, enabling faster, more accurate response. Its deployment on another rig signals a broader interest across the offshore energy sector in using machine learning to support both personnel safety and asset security monitoring.

Zelim’s CEO and founder, Sam Mayall, explains that the system was developed specifically to operate in the maritime environment, which presents different technical constraints from traditional object detection systems used on land. “The first challenge in a man overboard incident is knowing when and where it happened. The second challenge is keeping track of the person in the water, particularly in variable sea states. ZOE provides real-time visual tracking and geo-location data to coordinate an effective response.”

The first installation provided a relatively fixed operating environment for ZOE to prove its capabilities. The more recent deployment is on a rig that frequently relocates to new locations, requiring the system to adapt to different weather conditions, sea states, and lighting environments.

ZOE uses machine learning models trained on a bespoke maritime dataset. Zelim began building its own visual library in 2020 during development of its Guardian unmanned rescue vessel. As part of that process, the company used drone-mounted cameras to capture footage of people in the water from different angles and under various conditions. These images were manually annotated and used to train the algorithms behind the intelligent detection system. The resulting dataset now includes more than 7 million labelled images, which is claimed to be the most extensive of its kind in maritime search and rescue.

According to Mayall, the quality and specificity of the dataset is critical. “A person in the water may be wearing dark clothing, face down, partially submerged, or obscured by foam or spray. These aren’t fixed profiles. We had to ensure the system could recognise a human target from a range of angles and distances, under real-world conditions. That meant building a dataset that reflected how people actually appear in the water, not how they’re modelled in ideal circumstances.”

ZOE integrates with a rig or vessel’s existing infrastructure, including surveillance, navigation and emergency response systems. The package includes processing hardware to enable detection and alerting to occur locally, without dependence on remote or cloud connectivity.

The software architecture behind ZOE has also been adapted into other modules. Watchkeeper is an option that supports bridge teams by acting as a visual lookout, identifying navigational hazards or approaching vessels. Another module, Shield, extends the same detection capability to support rig security, alerting crews to suspicious activity or unauthorised vessels within restricted zones around offshore sites. Both modules are built on the same core AI engine, but are designed for different operational roles.

Mayall says that the ability to detect and classify objects consistently and in real time opens up wider use cases. “If you can reliably detect a person in the water, you can also detect other objects or risks. The same system can support navigation, perimeter monitoring, or safety watchkeeping. That’s where we see this technology heading - not just detection, but situational understanding.”

Zelim has collaborated with the US Coast Guard on testing and validation. One of the drivers for this collaboration was the Coast Guard’s own research, which found that visual spotting by trained search crews remains inconsistent, with detection probabilities sometimes below 20 percent depending on conditions. Mayall notes that AI systems bring consistency. “AI doesn’t fatigue, doesn’t blink, and doesn’t overlook what’s in plain sight. That consistency makes it a reliable component in a broader safety system.”

The use of AI for detection and alerting is increasingly viewed not as a replacement for human judgment, but as an augmentation of it. In a setting where rapid recognition and response are critical, the ability to reduce the detection window from minutes to seconds can have a direct impact on outcomes. Operators are beginning to see these systems not only as tools for emergency response, but also as part of their broader approach to safety and operational assurance.

Zelim’s work over the past five years reflects a shift towards intelligent, consistent monitoring that supports human decision-making and improves reaction time. For offshore operators, that capability is now becoming part of the standard toolkit. As deployments continue and new modules are brought online, systems like ZOE may come to define the next generation of offshore safety technology – not as standalone interventions, but as integrated components of modern marine operations.