Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian Navy Under Attack in Operation Epic Fury

Published Mar 1, 2026 7:53 AM by The Maritime Executive

As tensions rose in the Middle East immediately prior to the pre-emptive American and Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, there were indicators of an imminent attack. International airlines abandoned routes through Iranian airspace the previous day, as the USS Gerald Ford (CVN--78) carrier strike group neared the Israeli coast. But the regular Iranian Navy (Nedaja) appears not to have adjusted its deployments and has not conducted a wholesale dispersal to sea from its home ports until hours before...

Iranian Naval Response to "Operation Epic Fury" Unclear

Published Feb 28, 2026 8:40 PM by The Maritime Executive

Donated USCG Cutter Departs for Sri Lanka Starting Record Voyage

Published Feb 27, 2026 9:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

The former USCG Cutter Decisive, at an age well-past retirement for most ships, is headed to a new role in the Sri Lankan Navy. The ship, which served the U.S. Coast Guard for 55 years, departed Baltimore, Maryland, on February 21 under the pennant number P 628, starting what will become the longest distance voyage for the Sri Lankan Navy, and its first transit of the Panama Canal. The trip to her new home in Sri Lanka is expected to...

Maersk Offshore Wind Turbine Installation Vessel

Seatrium Delivers WTIV to Maersk Offshore Wind

Published Feb 27, 2026 8:37 PM by The Maritime Executive

The next-generation wind turbine installation vessel, which became the center of a dispute before it was completed, has been successfully delivered, with both companies now celebrating the possibilities. Seatrium reports it completed the delivery on February 26 after sea trials and final readiness evaluations at the Tuas Boulevard Yard in Singapore, while Maersk Offshore Wind is calling the ship the first in its journey towards growing a future-ready fleet. Maersk Offshore Wind, which is owned by the investment company A.P....

Shipping

World Leaders Call for Restraint After Strikes on Iran

Following multiple Iranian attacks on shipping, resulting in seafarer injuries and at least one shipboard fatality, IMO Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez called for restraint and a cessation of the targeting of merchant vessels. "No attack on innocent seafarers or civilian shipping is ever justified. These crews are simply doing their jobs and must be protected from the effects of wider geopolitical tensions," Dominguez said in a statement. "Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of international maritime law, and it...

Tugs & Salvage

Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

[Updated to note that one seafarer has died following the strike on MKD Vyom.] Iranian authorities are attempting to close the Straits of Hormuz by warning traffic over Channel 16 that the Straits are closed. When these attempts failed, the Iranians resorted to mounting attacks, and three vessels having been struck so far as of March 1. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Centre in Dubai issued a warning at 0700UTC on February 28 that the Iranian authorities were contacting...

Government

A visiting French Air Force Dassault Rafale (left) over the Louvre Abu Dhabi, 2021; the UAE has ordered 80 of the type, and has strategic options for defending its ports and shipping (French Air Force file image)

Op-Ed: Gulf States Face a Strategic Choice After Iranian Attacks

Early on March 1, barely 24 hours after the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the impact of the war on trade in the Gulf region has been immediate. In a very fast moving situation, most air services have been suspended and traffic flows through the Straits of Hormuz have slowed to a trickle. Such a scenario has long been predicted – and feared. Most immediately, the Gulf States are almost entirely dependent on imported foodstuffs and basic necessities, largely carried...

Corporate News

Austal USA Launches Final EPF - Future USNS Lansing (EPF 16)

[By Austal USA] Austal USA launched the company’s second ship in less than a week, the Navy’s final Expeditionary Fast Transport, future USNS Lansing (EPF 16) in Mobile, Ala., February 25, 2026. The U.S. Navy’s 16th Expeditionary Fast Transport (EPF), christened in early January, is now docked pier side for final outfitting and system activation in preparation for sea trials later this year. During this launch process, self-propelled modular transporters (SPMT) lifted the ship almost three feet and moved it...

Cruise Ships

Cruise Lines Skip Calls at Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Violence

During recent cartel violence in Puerto Vallarta, cruise lines paused calls at the port while the Mexican Navy began moving vessel assets in, both in response to a perceived need for improvements in security. On February 22, Mexican special forces killed top organized crime leader Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, "El Mencho," the head of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJGN) and one of Mexico's most-wanted fentanyl traffickers. In response to his death, cartel members launched a campaign of counterattacks...

Ports

Panama’s Ports Resume Operations as Investigations Continue

Government officials and the Panama Maritime Authority are highlighting the resumption of operations at the ports at each terminus of the Panama Canal as they work to complete the transition to Maersk’s AMP Terminals and MSC’s Terminal Investments Limited (TiL). However, at the same time, additional investigations are reported to be underway on the former operator, the Panama Ports Company, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison. Restoring the operations was critical both to the country and to sending a...

Shipping

World Leaders Call for Restraint After Strikes on Iran

Tugs & Salvage

Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Government

Op-Ed: Gulf States Face a Strategic Choice After Iranian Attacks

Corporate News

Austal USA Launches Final EPF - Future USNS Lansing (EPF 16)

Cruise Ships

Cruise Lines Skip Calls at Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Violence

Ports

Panama’s Ports Resume Operations as Investigations Continue

Offshore

Seatrium Delivers WTIV to Maersk Offshore Wind

Shipbuilding

Hanwha and Greece’s Onex Shipyards Partner to Expand U.S. Shipbuilding

A new trilateral agreement was formalized between Onex Shipyards & Technologies, which is working to revitalize Greek shipbuilding, and South Korea’s Hanwha Power Systems, with American officials looking on during the signing event. According to the reports, the effort will support the efforts in Greece but also looks to leverage the emerging opportunities in the United States under the Trump administration’s U.S. Maritime Action Plan. Onex reports that the agreement focuses on the development of newbuildings with LNG capacity as...

Environment

Study: Ocean Warming Puts "Constant Negative Pressure" on Fish Populations

A new meta-study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution suggests that ocean warming has an outsize impact on the total amount of fish in the water, enough to have major implications for global fisheries. The study, led by researchers at Spain's Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, looked at hundreds of thousands of studies of fish populations in the Northern Hemisphere over a period of nearly 30 years, spanning 1993-2021. The vast data set covered more than 1,500 fish species and...

Business

Algoma Central Buys Mainstay Maritime’s Canadian Great Lakes Shipping

Canada’s Algoma Central, already one of the largest dry and liquid bulk carriers for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region, has agreed to buy three Canadian operating companies and six Canadian-flagged Lakers from Mainstay Maritime (formerly Rand Logistics). The transaction will permit each company to expand its Great Lakes operations under its respective flags. Mainstay Maritime is the newly launched brand name for the former Rand Logistics, and after the acquisition by Oaktree Capital completed in 2023, and the spinout with...

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Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Iranian Navy Under Attack in Operation Epic Fury

Iranian Naval Response to "Operation Epic Fury" Unclear

Donated USCG Cutter Departs for Sri Lanka Starting Record Voyage

Seatrium Delivers WTIV to Maersk Offshore Wind

World Leaders Call for Restraint After Strikes on Iran

Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Op-Ed: Gulf States Face a Strategic Choice After Iranian Attacks

Austal USA Launches Final EPF - Future USNS Lansing (EPF 16)

Cruise Lines Skip Calls at Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Violence

Panama’s Ports Resume Operations as Investigations Continue

The Hybrid Adjustable Tip Propeller: Adaptability and Efficiency

Environmental Remediation at Aging Ports

Beyond Sanctions Lists: Navigating Fragmented Enforcement in Maritime Trade

World Leaders Call for Restraint After Strikes on Iran

Iran Tries to Intimidate Shipping With Attacks in the Strait of Hormuz

Op-Ed: Gulf States Face a Strategic Choice After Iranian Attacks

Austal USA Launches Final EPF - Future USNS Lansing (EPF 16)

Cruise Lines Skip Calls at Puerto Vallarta After Cartel Violence

Panama’s Ports Resume Operations as Investigations Continue

Seatrium Delivers WTIV to Maersk Offshore Wind

Hanwha and Greece’s Onex Shipyards Partner to Expand U.S. Shipbuilding

Study: Ocean Warming Puts "Constant Negative Pressure" on Fish Populations

Algoma Central Buys Mainstay Maritime’s Canadian Great Lakes Shipping

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