Iraq Resumes Commercial Shipping After 50 Years as Ship Departs UAE

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

Published Oct 21, 2026 6:39 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Port of Coos Bay, Oregon has received a federal Department of Transportation grant for $205 million to upgrade the Coos Bay Rail Line, the short-line railway that links the small port to Class I rail services on the other side of Oregon's Coast Range. The grant was funded through DOT's Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, and had support from Oregon's congressional delegation. Once completed, it will support the port's plans to build out a $2.3 billion...

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Published Oct 21, 2026 5:57 PM by The Maritime Executive

Despite the challenges the Panama Canal has faced due to the drought and effects of El Niño, it completed a strong fiscal year, emphasizing its role in global trade. The canal authority cited a sustained recovery in demand, supported in part by shifts in international trade flows, while also reporting, with a recovery in water levels, it is now restoring the Last-Minute Reservation service to further support shipping. Speaking with the French news outlet AFP (Agence France-Presse) on Tuesday, officials...

Australian Fund Manager Buys Majority Stake in UK’s Largest Port Operator

Published Oct 21, 2026 5:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

IFM Investors, an Australia-based global fund manager with a focus on UK infrastructure, emerged as the winning bidder in the sale of Associated British Ports (ABP). The company, which was formed through a government privatization effort in the early 1980s, reportedly handles approximately a quarter of the UK’s seaborne trade. The Financial Times had first reported in February that the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and OMERS (Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System) were planning to sell their stakes, which collectively...

A sea cucumber, dubbed the “gummy squirrel” (Psychropotes longicauda), encountered at a depth of 5,100 meters (about 16,700 feet) on abyssal sediments in the western Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Image courtesy of NOAA/DeepCCZ expedition.

US Deep-Sea Mining Claim Areas Rival ISA Licenses in Size

Published Oct 21, 2026 4:51 PM by Mongabay

[By Elizabeth Claire Alberts and Andrés Alegría] U.S. ambitions to mine the deep sea are rapidly expanding across the ocean, not only in the country’s own waters, but also on the high seas — the vast expanse of ocean outside any one country’s jurisdiction. In the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a hotspot of mining interest in international waters, a Mongabay analysis shows that companies have either applied to the U.S. or already been granted rights to areas of...

Shipping

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Tugs & Salvage

Passengers abandoned ship by all available means and were evacuated by small fishing boats from the harbor (Indonesian social media)

Thanks to Swift Response, All Passengers Survive Indonesian Ferry Fire

On Tuesday, a fire broke out on another Southeast Asian ferry, this time at the port of Merak, Indonesia. Yesterday afternoon at about 1600 hours, the ferry KMP Batumandi was arriving from Bakauheni, Lampung and entering the channel at Merak with 420 people on board. Smoke began to come from the stern, and passengers reported a small explosion a few minutes later, followed by a fire. Some passengers escaped the flames by lowering themselves away on ropes, clambering over rails...

Government

The bulker Gloris, seen here under a previous name in 2023, allegedly moved Iranian goods after her owning company was registered by Karnakis and Karnakis (VesselFinder / Tony Roberts file image)

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Shipping Law Firm for Alleged Shadow Fleet Services

On Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury announced new sanctions on a Panama-based law firm and five of its staff for allegedly helping Iranian shipping interests. The action is intended to send a message to maritime service providers and further tighten the American net around Iranian international commerce. According to the Treasury, Karnakis and Karnakis was particularly active in its work on behalf of the Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh shipping network, which specialized in Iranian LPG exports. Emamjomeh's network was sanctioned last year;...

Corporate News

environmental performance and economic implications of the complete MARPOWER system. Building on MARPOWER's first two years The results generated during the first half of MARPOWER are also beginning to reach the wider scientific and engineering community. Technical advances from the project have already been presented at relevant international events, including ASME Turbo Expo and IFToMM Rotordynamics 2026. As experimental, modelling and validation activities progress, further results are expected to lead to scientific publications and new conference contributions. For Professor Jussi Sopanen, MARPOWER Project Coordinator at LUT University, the halfway point marks a transition towards a more integrated phase of the project: “During the first half of MARPOWER, we have advanced the system design, developed key technologies and started generating experimental results. The challenge now is to bring these developments progressively together, extend testing under more representative conditions and generate the evidence needed to assess the complete system and its integration on board ships”. The MARPOWER project brings together eleven partners from six European countries, combining complementary expertise across the technologies and disciplines required to develop and assess the proposed energy conversion system. Coordinated by LUT University, the consortium includes Aurelia Technologies, Alfa Laval, Politecnico di Milano, RINA Consulting, RINA Services, University of Vigo, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Chantiers de l'Atlantique and Zabala Innovation. The project will continue until August 2028.

MARPOWER Advances Key Technologies for Maritime Decarbonisation

[By: Maritime transport remains one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonise due to its high energy requirements, reliance on fossil fuels and the long operational lifetime of vessels. Against this backdrop, the EU-funded MARPOWER project (Efficient zero-emissions gas turbine POWER system for MARitime transport) is developing an advanced gas turbine-based energy conversion system for power generation and cogeneration on board ships, designed to operate with different sustainable fuels while improving overall efficiency. Two years into the project, the overall...

Cruise Ships

Carnival Deals Blow to Australia Ending Deployment of Two Cruise Ships

In the latest blow to Australia’s already struggling cruise industry, Carnival Cruise Line announced it will redeploy permanently to North America two of the four cruise ships it has had in the market. While Australia is the fourth largest overall cruise market, a coalition formed earlier this year highlighted that the market is sagging under rising costs and a lack of regulatory certainty. Carnival Cruise Line announced the Carnival Adventure (108,865 gross tons with accommodations for up to 3,150 passengers)...

Ports

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

Shipping

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Tugs & Salvage

Thanks to Swift Response, All Passengers Survive Indonesian Ferry Fire

Government

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Shipping Law Firm for Alleged Shadow Fleet Services

Corporate News

MARPOWER Advances Key Technologies for Maritime Decarbonisation

Cruise Ships

Carnival Deals Blow to Australia Ending Deployment of Two Cruise Ships

Ports

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

Offshore

Trump Administration Targets Fourth Offshore Wind Project for Remand

In what is clearly emerging as a new tactic to derail the offshore wind energy sector, the Department of Justice filed for the fourth time in just a matter of days, asking a District Court to remand the prior approval of the Construction and Operations Plan of a proposed offshore wind farm. The latest target is New England Wind and is drawing angry criticism from environmentalists and elected officials. The Department of Justice filed a memorandum in support of the...

Shipbuilding

A team of Gecko engineers inspects the hull of a frigate with a robotic ultrasonic scanning device (file image courtesy Gecko)

U.S. Navy Awards $300M Contract to Robotic-Inspection Startup Gecko

Pittsburgh-based automated inspection company Gecko Robotics has won a $300 million IDIQ contract with the U.S. Navy to help fight the age-old enemy of corrosion with new high-tech tools. Gecko's robotic inspectors can crawl on steel structures of all kinds and detect flaws in minute detail, helping customers to plan maintenance in advance and build a digital record of asset health. For the Navy, the most valuable metric in sustainment is yard time: an understanding of the vessel's needs means...

Environment

Investigating the Hidden Costs of World’s Farmed Seafood

For nearly a decade, the Outlaw Ocean Project, the non-profit journalistic organization that I founded, has produced high-impact investigative stories about lawlessness at sea and the variety of threats posed to the people and biodiversity of a space that covers two thirds of our planet. The oceans bear a heavy and largely invisible burden. The public usually takes it for granted, a forever self-replenishing resource that we use to fill our stomachs or line our wallets. Our journalism intends to...

Business

Australian Fund Manager Buys Majority Stake in UK’s Largest Port Operator

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Iraq Resumes Commercial Shipping After 50 Years as Ship Departs UAE

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Australian Fund Manager Buys Majority Stake in UK’s Largest Port Operator

US Deep-Sea Mining Claim Areas Rival ISA Licenses in Size

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Thanks to Swift Response, All Passengers Survive Indonesian Ferry Fire

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Shipping Law Firm for Alleged Shadow Fleet Services

MARPOWER Advances Key Technologies for Maritime Decarbonisation

Carnival Deals Blow to Australia Ending Deployment of Two Cruise Ships

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

How the Maritime Industry Will Unlock the Value of AI

Crew Welfare and Content: Morale, Wellbeing, and Retention

Global Industry Leaders to Take the Stage at IBIA Annual Convention 2026

Panama Canal Sets Record for Annual Tonnage Driven by Shifts in Trade

Thanks to Swift Response, All Passengers Survive Indonesian Ferry Fire

U.S. Treasury Sanctions Shipping Law Firm for Alleged Shadow Fleet Services

MARPOWER Advances Key Technologies for Maritime Decarbonisation

Carnival Deals Blow to Australia Ending Deployment of Two Cruise Ships

DOT Awards $200M Rail Grant to Support Port of Coos Bay's Terminal Project

Trump Administration Targets Fourth Offshore Wind Project for Remand

U.S. Navy Awards $300M Contract to Robotic-Inspection Startup Gecko

Investigating the Hidden Costs of World’s Farmed Seafood

Australian Fund Manager Buys Majority Stake in UK’s Largest Port Operator

Maritime Industry Conferences and Events

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Maritime Industry Conferences and Events