Philippine News

January 27 ------ As the U.S. military builds up its presence in the Mideast in response to events in Iran, Yemen's Houthi rebel group has issued a new reminder of its ability to conduct strikes on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. The Houthis conducted more than 100 attempted attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman in protest of the Israeli operation in Gaza, sinking four and killing at least 18 seafarers. (The group itself puts the number in excess of 20

January 27 ------ Spain's National Police have taken down a major maritime smuggling ring in a year-long operation, netting more than 100 arrests and more than 10 tons of cocaine. The Central Drug and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO) believes that the blow is enough to "destabilize" the criminal group, though the mastermind remains at large. Law enforcement officials laid out a map of a sweeping transatlantic crime syndicate involving speedboats, burner phones, payoffs, multiple

January 27 ------ Finland's Border Guard hopes to prevent damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Gulf of Finland with a maritime surveillance center it plans to set up in cooperation with other Baltic Sea states and the EU Commission, it said on Monday. The Baltic Sea region has been on high alert after a string of power cable, telecom link and gas pipeline outages since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The most recent incident occurred on New Year's Eve when Finnis

January 27 ------ Spanish automated wind-assisted propulsion system specialist bound4blue has installed the first eSAIL units on the first of five tankers owned by Danish Maersk Tankers. Four 24-meter ‘plug and play’ suction sails were fitted on Maersk Trieste, completing the first stage of an agreement that will see a total of 20 units installed across five advanced medium-range (MR) tankers. “For the tanker industry, progress on emissions reduction requires concrete investm

January 26 ------ Fifteen survivors and the remains of two deceased crew members of the ill-fated M/V Devon Bay were brought to Manila on Monday morning. They were on board the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua which docked at Pier 13 in the Port Area. PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Galvan and representatives of the Department of Migrant Workers, Bureau of Quarantine, and the agent of M/V Devon Bay were at the site upon their arrival. Personnel from a funer

MANILA, Philippines, January 26 ------ A ferry with more than 350 people onboard sank Monday morning off Basilan in southern Philippines, leaving at least 15 dead and 28 still missing, the coast guard said. The MV Trisha Kerstin 3 issued a distress signal around 1:50 am (1750 GMT Sunday), a bit over four hours after it departed the Port of Zamboanga City on the southwestern tip of Mindanao, the coast guard said in a statement. At least 316 people had so far been rescued, Rome

January 26 ------ The busiest port in the U.S., Los Angeles, is feeling the pressures of a redrawn global trade map due to shifting policies. While recording flat growth in container throughput in 2025, a year the port contends was characterized by uncertainty and volatility, it still achieved its third-best year in history in its 118-year history. Despite maintaining its position as the top U.S. port for the 26th consecutive year and the only North American port to exceed 10

January 26 ------ Frontline plc (NYSE and OSE: FRO) entered into one-year time charter-out agreements for seven of its VLCCs. The charters will commence during the period from late-January to April 2026 at a rate of $76,900 per day per vessel. “We are in unprecedented times, and these are charter-out-levels not seen for decades," said Lars H. Barstad, CEO, Frontline Management AS. "Frontline remains largely spot exposed after these contracts become effective, retaining upsid

January 25 ------ After agreeing to limit and then relocate cruise ships out of the center of the Dutch city, members of Amsterdam’s coalition government, including the mayor and some aldermen, are now saying it would be more cost-effective to simply eliminate cruise ships. On Wednesday, January 21, they floated a plan to phase out all port calls by ocean-going cruise ships by 2035, while maintaining a smaller number of river cruise ship calls. Concerns about pollution and ov

January 25 ------ Global ship recycling no longer suffers from a lack of rules. It suffers from a failure to connect them. What is often described as a compliance gap is, in reality, a governance failure created by fragmented legal regimes that refuse to engage with where and how ship recycling actually takes place. The result is a system that is legally dense, institutionally complex, and operationally incoherent. Bangladesh and India are today the world’s two largest ship-r

January 24 ------ The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) released its new Deck Procedures Guide, a vital addition to ICS’s suite of shipboard operational guidance. ICS says the publication addresses a critical gap in maritime safety guidance by providing the industry's first comprehensive resource dedicated specifically to deck operations. Together with the widely used Bridge Procedures Guide and Engine Room Procedures Guide, this new publication completes a trilogy of c

January 24 ------ Singapore posted record port performance in 2025, supported by resilient global trade and fuel offtake. The nation achieved a record of 3.22 billion gross tonnage (GT) of vessel arrivals and 44.66 million TEUs of container throughput in 2025 – a 3.5% and 8.6% increase from 2024, respectively. Marine fuel sales also hit a new high at 56.77 million tons, a 3.4% increase from 2024, with continued growth in the use of alternative marine fuels, which increased to

January 23 ------ The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released its report into the death of a pilot while attempting to board Finnhawk from the pilot vessel Humber Saturn, in Humber Estuary on 8 January 2023. The Humber pilot fell from a pilot ladder after likely suffering a cardiac event while boarding the roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel Finnhawk from the pilot vessel Humber Saturn. The pilot hit the deck of Humber Saturn before falling into the water and lo

January 23 ------ This week’s maritime security report from Palaemon Maritime starts by saying: “Hello Shipmate, this week saw a sharp escalation in maritime security incidents across Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia.” Key developments include: • Ballistic missile attack on Chornomorsk Port, Ukraine, causing container damage and an oil spill • Greek-managed oil tankers hit by drone strikes near the CPC terminal off Novorossiysk • A Panama-flagged vessel struck by a Rus

January 23 ------ In what is being billed as a new era of luxury expedition cruising, Atlas Ocean Voyages unveiled its designs for a new expedition cruise ship that will include three masts and large sails. The company is presenting the ship, which will be built in China, as a luxury expedition sailing yacht capable of accommodating up to 400 passengers. Named Atlas Adventure, the ship, which will be 26,000 gross tons, will measure 690 feet (210 meters) in length. It will hav

January 23 ------ French shipping and logistics giant CMA CGM Group has welcomed the arrival of the first in a series of six 15,000-TEU methanol container ships, as part of its decarbonization strategy, expanding its arsenal with the 400th owned vessel within a fleet of over 650 vessels worldwide. CMA CGM has taken delivery of the CMA CGM Monte Cristo methanol container ship, which is scheduled to enter commercial service on January 29, 2026, in Ningbo, on the BEX2 – Phoenici

January 22 ------ Cuts in sulfur emissions from oceangoing vessels have been tied to a reduction in lightning stroke density along heavily trafficked shipping routes in the Bay of Bengal and the South China Sea, according to new research from the University of Kansas (KU). Previous studies had found frequent lightning along shipping routes over the Bay of Bengal before a 2020 IMO rule capped sulfur in fuel used by oceangoing ships, leading to a roughly 70% drop in sulfate emi

January 22 ------ CMA CGM has announced its FAL1, FAL3 and MEX services connecting Asia and Europe, which recently began transiting Suez Canal again on backhaul voyages, will return to sailing around the Cape of Good Hope. CMA CGM cited the "the complex and uncertain international context” in reversing its decision to return to the Red Sea. “Shippers crave predictability in supply chains. Carriers taking the decision to return to the Red Sea then reversing that decision - eve

January 22 ------ French authorities reported a record cocaine seizure in the waters of French Polynesia as part of an increased effort to intercept illegal drugs being transported across the Pacific. Australian authorities commended the French efforts highlighting an increased regional partnership working together to stop the transit of drugs. The High Commission of French Polynesia reports a suspicious vessel was identified crossing its waters. The French Navy intercepted t

January 22 ------ Military and security actions can create hardship for seafarers when ships get caught in the middle of a geopolitical confrontation, as seen all too often in the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz in recent years. Interdictions and seizures can cause distress for crewmembers, regardless of the circumstances, and affected seafarers can benefit from care - even aboard shadow fleet tankers, according to Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI). In a recent U.S. seizure of a V