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Maritime Tech coverage — English edition
Selected developments, sourced news briefs and engineering-led analysis for the people who run ships. Türkçe sürüm →
EU ETS for shipping: what the scheme actually obliges you to do
The EU Emissions Trading System applies to shipping since 2024. What falls in scope, how the 50/100% voyage split works, who the 'shipping company' is when owner and charterer disagree, and where the surrender deadline actually bites.
France Backs Five Ports with $300M for Floating Wind
France picks Cherbourg, Brest, Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, Port-la-Nouvelle and Marseille-Fos for floating wind port upgrades.
ABS: Floating Offshore Wind to Strain Support Vessel Supply
ABS report warns floating offshore wind growth could tighten supply of AHTS and MPSV vessels by 2029.
Damen Launches Second CSOV 9020 for TSSM Fleet
Damen launches the second CSOV 9020 for TSSM, a Taiwan-Japan JV supporting offshore wind operations in Taiwanese waters.
Bureau Veritas Approves Seatrium's 30MW Floating Data Center
Bureau Veritas grants Approval in Principle to Seatrium's 30MW floating data centre concept for offshore AI and cloud computing infrastructure.
SIRE 2.0 CBT: what computer-based training can and cannot do before a vetting inspection
OCIMF does not require crew to hold a SIRE 2.0 computer-based training certificate, and no inspector will ask for one. What the inspection actually measures, what OCIMF already gives you at no cost, and the questions to ask before buying a CBT package.
Nuclear Ship Concepts Clear Reviews, Yet Decades From Service
Three commercial nuclear ship design concepts won approvals in principle in 2026, but outdated codes and licensing gaps leave real-world trading decades away.
Bunker survey guide: how a chief engineer verifies the fuel actually delivered
A working guide to the bunker quantity survey, from a chief engineer who has stood on the barge: initial gauging, the cappuccino effect, trim and temperature corrections, MARPOL sampling and what to do when the figures do not agree.
Spreadsheets vs evidence-based oversight: why the fleet's paper habits keep failing it
A side-by-side look at how fleet condition is actually tracked — paper forms, spreadsheets, PDF reports and inboxes — against what evidence-based oversight changes, task by task, and what it costs to stay with the old way.
Iraq to Sign Syria Deal on Mediterranean Oil Pipelines
Iraq's cabinet has approved a pipeline agreement with Syria to route oil exports to the Mediterranean, diversifying export options.
Supertanker U-Turns Near Houthi-Threatened Red Sea Chokepoint
An empty VLCC bound for Saudi Arabia's Yanbu reversed course near Bab el-Mandeb amid a Houthi blockade targeting Saudi-linked shipping.
Houthis May Use Satellite Data to Target Saudi Tankers
Improved precision in Houthi tanker attacks suggests access to real-time satellite intelligence, possibly with Iranian help.
The engine room detains the ship: what 52,000 port state control inspections in 2025 reveal
We read the 2025 annual reports of the Tokyo and Paris MoUs — 52,020 inspections, 141,965 deficiencies, 1,943 detentions. The pattern in the detainable-deficiency data points below deck: most of the failures that stop a ship live in the engine room or come straight out of the maintenance book.
The IMO Net-Zero Framework, explained: targets, the two-tier carbon price and what to do before March 2028
The first global framework to combine emission limits with sector-wide carbon pricing goes to its adoption vote on 4 December 2026. How the GFI mechanism works, what the $100/$380 remedial units mean per vessel, and the preparation that pays off under every scenario.
Saronic, Samsung Heavy Team Up on US Autonomous Shipbuilding
Saronic and Samsung Heavy Industries partner to advance autonomous vessels and shipyard automation as part of a US-Korea shipbuilding initiative.
More Vessels Reverse Course Amid Houthi Red Sea Threat
More merchant ships diverted course on July 22 to avoid potential Houthi action as EU Aspides advises caution in the Red Sea.
Paris MoU detention rate reaches 4.18% — but the longer view complicates the story
The Paris MoU's 2025 annual report puts the detention rate at 4.18%, above 2024's 4.03%. It also records 4.25% for 2022, which makes the recent climb a return to an earlier level rather than a new peak.
RightShip's age threshold drops to 11 years — and its own PSC data explains why
From 1 July 2026 a RightShip inspection is expected on dry bulk and general cargo ships aged 11 and over. The final step is the one to watch: RightShip's own publications state it two different ways, and its 2025 PSC analysis shows where the risk it is chasing actually sits.
What a CIC actually costs: 30 detentions traced to one ballast water question
The Tokyo MoU's preliminary results for the 2025 ballast water campaign put numbers on a concentrated inspection campaign — 9,244 inspections, 184 detentions, and a single deficiency code behind most of the campaign-related findings.
Satellite internet at sea: how to choose between LEO, VSAT and L-band
Starlink is fast, cheap and everywhere in the conversation — but it does not count as safety communications, and its coverage changes country by country. A practical guide to the questions to ask, in order, when putting connectivity on a ship: primary link, failover, safety layer.
Ship cyber security: which rules actually apply to your vessel?
Maritime cyber security is not one rule but two regimes that keep getting conflated: the IMO safety-management side and the IACS class side. A practical guide to which one reaches which ship, from which date, and what it actually asks for.
Houthi Blockade Threat Starts Reshaping Saudi Tanker Routes
Tankers and a car carrier reroute after Houthi threats against Saudi shipping, though no attacks have occurred yet.
J-Ocean, Ucast Sign MoU for Smart Shipyard in South Korea
J-Ocean Heavy Industries and Ucast will deploy 5G, AI, IoT and robotics at Gunsan Shipyard under a new MoU.
ABS Grants AiP for 15,000 TEU Nuclear Container Ship
ABS approved a conceptual design by KAERI and KRISO for a molten salt reactor-powered 15,000 TEU container ship.
Carnival Signs 8-Year Wärtsilä Deal for LNG Cruise Ships
Carnival Corporation extends its Wärtsilä partnership with an eight-year lifecycle agreement covering four LNG-powered cruise ships.
Norway's SEAMLESS Project Advances Autonomous Ship Regulation
Norwegian researchers demonstrate remote fleet management in the Oslofjord, moving crews ashore under new IMO guidance.
HD Hyundai, Kiewit Offshore Sign US Shipbuilding Partnership
HD Hyundai and Kiewit Offshore Services signed a strategic agreement to expand US shipbuilding capacity and fabrication capability.
JPMorgan Chase Puts $24M Into Philadelphia Shipbuilding
JPMorgan Chase is investing $24 million to bolster Philadelphia's shipbuilding and submarine supply chain, CEO Jamie Dimon says.
Kawasaki, NVIDIA Partner on Digital Shipyard Project
Kawasaki Heavy Industries teams with NVIDIA to build an AI-driven digital shipyard using physical AI and digital twins.
Repsol Delivers First Bioethanol Bunkering to Maersk Ship
Repsol supplied 2,800 tons of bioethanol to Maersk's Antonia Maersk in Barcelona, marking a Mediterranean first for alcohol-based marine fuel.
Saronic to Build $3bn Autonomous Vessel Shipyard in Texas
Saronic is investing $3bn in a new Texas shipyard, Port Alpha, to build autonomous maritime systems and software-defined vessels.
US Escalates Iran Port Strikes as Hormuz Transits Halve
US forces hit Iranian ports for a sixth night as Strait of Hormuz transits fall by more than half amid escalating regional attacks.
Dassault Systèmes, AITAC Partner on Digital Shipbuilding
Dassault Systèmes and AITAC will develop OCX eXchanger to link 3D ship design directly with class approval.
ABS reviews bound4blue's Pwind method, easing the compliance case for wind propulsion
A class-society review of how bound4blue calculates the thrust of its eSAIL suction sails gives owners a regulation-ready way to count wind propulsion toward EEDI, EEXI and FuelEU Maritime.
Confident but wrong: shipping wakes up to the AI hallucination risk
As generative AI spreads into voyage planning, maintenance, compliance and chartering, surveys show a third of maritime professionals have already seen AI produce false results — and only a minority have any AI policy.
Hanwha Ocean adopts Rakuten Maritime's cybersecurity-by-design across the vessel lifecycle
In what is billed as the platform's first commercial deployment, Hanwha Ocean will embed Rakuten Maritime's cyber tools from design and construction through to operation, aligning with IACS E26 and E27.
NYK signs Microsoft Japan framework to scale AI, cloud and cybersecurity across operations
Nippon Yusen has concluded a strategic framework agreement with Microsoft Japan, organised around four priorities — cloud and generative-AI foundations, workforce digital skills, AI-agent operations and new business models.
Ballast water management: where compliance actually fails
Installing an approved ballast water treatment system is the easy part. The failures accumulate afterwards — inoperable systems, record-book errors, sediment and sampling problems, and the operational discipline the regime quietly assumes. A technical analysis of the recurring BWM deficiencies and how to prevent them.
The most common engine-room inspection risks — and why they recur
Port state control and vetting inspectors keep finding the same engine-room deficiencies: oily-water separators, quick-closing valves, emergency systems, hot-surface lagging and bilge alarms. A technical analysis of the recurring findings and the maintenance discipline that prevents them.
The fleet that already exists: maritime tech's real frontier isn't the newbuild
New ships arrive digital by default. But the fleet in the water is old — over 22 years on average by vessel count — and will keep trading for years. The hard, valuable problem is bringing newbuild-grade capability to ships already at sea, without a shipyard period.
How AI is changing maritime operations — the practical version
Beneath the autonomous-ship headlines, AI is already reshaping four ordinary operations: voyage routing, predictive maintenance, fuel and emissions analytics, and inspection. A guide to what works today, what doesn't yet, and where the human stays in the loop.
Maritime cybersecurity on paper vs the USB in the bridge PC
Ships now carry layers of cyber policy — but much of it lives on paper while, under pressure, a USB stick still ends up in an onboard PC. The real problem isn't writing the framework; it's whether it can be enforced in daily operation.
The regulations that will affect shipowners in 2026 — a compliance calendar
2026 is the year several regulations stop being future dates and start generating invoices and deadlines: FuelEU Maritime's first verification, full-scope EU ETS, CII ratings, the IMO's net-zero framework, and a raft of technical rules already in force. A plain map of what applies, when, and to whom.
Kongsberg Maritime to Acquire Berg Propulsion
Kongsberg Maritime agrees to buy Swedish propulsion maker Berg Propulsion, adding a 4,000-vessel installed base to its service network.
Russia-Ukraine Strikes Disrupt Black Sea, Azov Grain Ports
Overnight drone and missile strikes on Russian and Ukrainian grain export hubs disrupted shipping and pushed wheat prices higher.
Maritime Tech Radar — July 2026: five developments that matter
Our monthly radar: the five maritime technology and regulation developments worth your attention this month — autonomous shipping's first code, carbon pricing's decisive vote, LEO connectivity, cyber class rules and AI maintenance.
FuelEU Maritime: the shipowner's compliance strategy playbook
FuelEU is not a reporting exercise — it is a trading position. The penalty math, banking, borrowing and pooling mechanics, and the 2026–2030 decisions that separate price-makers from price-takers.
LEO connectivity is quietly rewiring ship operations
The bandwidth jump from VSAT to low Earth orbit is two orders of magnitude — and it is changing crew welfare, remote support and the cyber surface faster than most operators' policies. What the always-connected ship actually demands.
SIRE 2.0: what the transition actually changes for tanker operators
Beyond the headlines: how the compiled questionnaire, the nine performance influencing factors and the six-monthly photo set turn tanker vetting from an event into a permanent operating condition — and a preparation sequence that works.
What is maritime technology? A field guide for shipowners and operators
Maritime tech is no longer a niche label for gadgets on the bridge. It is the set of technologies now deciding fuel bills, charter eligibility and compliance risk. A plain-language map of the field — and why it stopped being optional.
Aging tonnage and the shadow fleet: the scrutiny gap widens
A shadow tanker fleet of well over 1,000 aging vessels — many past commercial retirement age and sailing without recognised insurance — is drawing seizures, Baltic insurance checks and port-state pressure as the regulated fleet is measured against it.
AI-driven predictive maintenance reaches the engine room — and starts talking to class
Condition-based and AI predictive maintenance is moving from pilot to practice in the engine room, with class societies formalising survey arrangements that accept condition data instead of fixed intervals.
AI weather routing moves from promise to numbers: 5.3% average fuel cut in 2024 trials
AI-enhanced voyage optimisation is producing measurable fuel and emissions savings. Trials across eight vessels in 2024 showed an average 5.3% fuel reduction, with vendors now guaranteeing a minimum of 3% — real money against every 1,000 tonnes of fuel burned.
The tightening triangle for bulkers: CII, biofouling and ballast water
For dry bulk carriers, carbon-intensity ratings, new biofouling regimes and a revised ballast water record book are converging into one continuous compliance burden — one that idle time and tramp trading make harder to manage.
The dual-fuel newbuild wave: ammonia finds its natural home on gas carriers
After a record 2024 for alternative-fuelled orders, 2025 cooled overall while LNG held its lead — and ammonia dual-fuel designs advanced fastest where the fuel is already the cargo: the gas-carrier segment.
The EU AI Act takes full effect on 2 August: what changes for maritime AI tools?
The EU Artificial Intelligence Act enters full application on 2 August 2026; penalties reach €35M or 7% of turnover for prohibited practices and €15M or 3% for high-risk systems. What it means for maritime companies using routing, compliance and planning AI.
EU ETS hits 100%: full carbon pricing lands on container trades
From 1 January 2026 the EU Emissions Trading System covers 100% of in-scope shipping emissions and adds methane and nitrous oxide — turning every EU container call into a carbon-cost line item.
FuelEU Maritime's first day of reckoning: a €640/tonne penalty, or pooling?
FuelEU Maritime's first verification period has closed: a €640/tonne CO₂e penalty, banking–borrowing–pooling decisions, and pool prices running below a third of the penalty — here is what it means.
The digital divide in general cargo: why the smallest operators risk being left behind
As LEO connectivity, AI optimisation and compliance software reshape shipping, general cargo and multipurpose operators — often small fleets with thin IT budgets — face the widest gap between the tools available and the tools they use.
Hormuz Southern Route Transits Drop to Single Digits
INTERTANKO says tanker transits via Hormuz's southern route fell to single digits after renewed US-Iran attacks on July 7.
Hormuz Transits Drop as Dark Shipping, AIS Spoofing Rise
Vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz keep falling as ships go dark and AIS spoofing resumes amid renewed attacks.
IACS UR E26 and E27 are in force: cyber resilience is now built into the newbuild contract
Since 1 July 2024, IACS Unified Requirements E26 and E27 apply to ships contracted for construction on or after that date. Cyber resilience moves from a recommendation to a classification requirement for new vessels of 500 GT and above.
IMO Council Rejects Iran's Bid to Control Hormuz Traffic
IMO's governing council urges member states to reject Iran's claim of sovereignty and traffic control over the Strait of Hormuz.
IMO Net-Zero Framework: a global carbon price heads to a December vote
The first framework to combine emission limits with sector-wide carbon pricing in shipping goes to a vote at an extraordinary session on 4 December 2026. Ships above 5,000 GT are in scope; earliest entry into force is March 2028.
The maritime digitization market hits $423 billion by 2031: the focus is compliance and workforce software
The maritime digitization market will reach $423.4 billion by 2031 (10.7% CAGR). A strategic investment area for owners and ship managers: software uniting crew, compliance and certification in a single digital ecosystem.
IMO's autonomous ship code, the MASS Code, is in force: a two-year experience phase begins
IMO's first global autonomous ship safety code (the MASS Code) entered into force on a voluntary basis on 1 July 2026. An 'experience building' phase of at least two years begins; a mandatory version is targeted for 2030.
The SIRE 2.0 reality: vetting is now a digital workflow, not one-off preparation
Algorithm-driven inspections, ~100 vessel-specific questions and a mandatory standard photo set every six months — SIRE 2.0 has turned vetting into a continuous digital workflow for tanker operators.
LEO satellite connectivity reaches the working fleet: how always-on internet is reshaping ship operations and crew welfare
Low Earth orbit services such as Starlink Maritime are moving from novelty to standard fit on tugs, workboats and merchant ships — changing both crew welfare and how vessels are operated from shore.
Digital twins move from design tool to class-assured asset: condition monitoring gains an independent stamp
Class societies are building governance and approval frameworks around ship digital twins — turning virtual models used in design into assured tools for condition monitoring and survey planning.
OceanPass, DNV Link Up on Daily Emissions Data Sharing
OceanPass and Veracity by DNV will feed verified vessel emissions data to banks and charterers daily, closing gaps in Poseidon Principles reporting.
Oman Rejects Hormuz Transit Fees in Firm IMO Statement
Oman told the IMO it opposes transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, rejecting Iranian proposals amid rising attacks on shipping.
Kongsberg, BCIT Launch Marine Simulation Centre in Canada
Kongsberg Maritime and BCIT are building a marine simulation research hub in British Columbia to boost training, R&D and sovereign maritime capability.
Ports Turn Emissions Data Into an Operational Efficiency Tool
Small ports are using digital emissions-tracking platforms to cut reporting burdens and uncover cost-saving operational insights.
US Strikes Iranian Ports After Hormuz Tanker Attacks
US airstrikes hit Iranian ports and IRGC sites after Iran attacked tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, escalating the conflict.
US-Iran Strikes Renew as Hormuz Ceasefire Frays
US and Iran exchange strikes over the Strait of Hormuz, threatening a three-week-old ceasefire and rattling oil markets.
Union Maritime picks Anemoi Rotor Sails for chemical tankers
Union Maritime will fit two new-build chemical tankers with Anemoi Rotor Sails as part of its emissions-reduction strategy.
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