Philippine News

August 8 ------ The Seafarer Happiness Index continues to slip, reports The Mission to Seafarers, not only due to the shocks from the war in the Persian Gulf but also from persistent issues that are steadily eroding crew morale. After seeing an upward trend, the index has slipped over the past two quarters, with the organizers of the survey highlighting issues ranging from workload and lack of time ashore to the financial pressures coming from perceptions of stagnant real-wag

August 8 ------ Ahead of the 2026 Cargo Securing Concentrated Inspection Campaign (CIC), SQE MARINE provides practical guidance to help shipowners, operators and crews prepare for inspections and demonstrate compliance. The campaign will run from 1 September to 30 November 2026 under the Paris and Tokyo MoUs, with participating vessels assessed through an additional questionnaire during routine Port State Control inspections. The Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and Black Sea MoUs

August 7 ------ A proposed deal between Iran and Oman that would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz is not easily workable due to U.S. sanctions and restrictive insurance clauses on any payments, four industry sources said. Until U.S.-Israeli airstrikes at the end of February unleashed war in Iran, the narrow waterway between the Gulf and the Indian Ocean was the main route for about a fifth of world oil supplies and other vital good

August 7 ------ Iranian-backed Houthi forces launched attacks on the Saudi border city of Najran and the Yemeni government stronghold at Marib, part of a broader pattern of regional escalation. Saudi intelligence suggests that preparations are under way by Iran-backed militias to launch new strikes on Gulf infrastructure and seaports. The new hostilities could complicate delicate plans to negotiate a truce between Iran, its GCC neighbors and the United States. Najran is a sma

August 7 ------ The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) will reduce the maximum authorized draft for vessels transiting its Neopanamax Locks later this month as it continues water management measures to safeguard operations amid persistent hydrological challenges. Despite the onset of the rainy season in Panama, the ACP said current watershed conditions and the lingering effects of the El Niño phenomenon require additional measures to ensure the long-term sustainability of canal ope

August 7 ------ Four crewmembers were rescued after spending at least six hours adrift in a life raft when their tugboat capsized and sank in Indonesian waters. The crew of the tug TB AOM 787 was towing a barge near Indonesia’s Riau Islands on 25 July when the vessel was caught in severe weather. The crewmembers managed to abandon ship and board a life raft moments before the tug sank, but were forced to leave behind all of their belongings, including their passports. The cre

August 6 ------ An international coalition of shipping associations has urged the United Nations (UN) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to oppose the introduction of compulsory transit tolls or service charges in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that such measures would undermine the principle of freedom of navigation. In a joint letter directed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez, the industry bodies reiterated th

August 6 ------ Iran and Oman have reached an understanding on the geographic coordinates for a shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz, and a joint announcement is being finalized, provided certain third parties did not interfere, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said. Baghaei added that any such agreement between Iran and Oman would not, by itself, guarantee security in the strategic waterway. The proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran

August 6 ------ The Royal Navy's UK Maritime Trade Operations unit (UKMTO) has reported an apparent attempted attack on a tanker in the Gulf of Aden, the first in this area since the start of the Houthi blockade of Saudi ports began last month. At about 1430 hours UTC, the master of a tanker reported hearing an explosion close to the vessel while transiting about 95 nautical miles to the southeast of Aden, well south of the normal shipping lane to and from Bab el-Mandeb. No i

August 6 ------ Facing an onslaught of Ukrainian drone attacks, Russian state shipping company Fesco and Turkish regional operator Kalyon have halted all sailings in the Black Sea, putting a stop to a substantial segment of the logistics network for Russian ports in the region. The suspension of Fesco's services is expected to significantly limit Russia's imports of goods from East Asia through Novorossiysk, forcing these cargoes to move overland by rail from the Far East or

August 5 ------ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey issued a statement again calling for both Russia and Ukraine to ensure the safety of navigation in the Black Sea. It came after reports of two more Turkish vessels being attacked in the Black Sea, and repeated warnings from Turkey regarding an “uncontrolled escalation” in the Black Sea. The Turkish-owned RoRo cargo ship Nadezhda was set ablaze and abandoned approximately 20 nautical miles off Novorossiy

August 5 ------ A bulk carrier has been struck by an unidentified projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving one crew member missing in the latest serious security incident in the region. The Liberia-flagged Minoan Pioneer, Greek-owned and under the commercial and technical management of Modion Maritime Management, was hit at approximately 22:00 UTC on 3 August while sailing about 20 nautical miles northeast of Al Khasab, Oman. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) confir

August 5 ------ The Port of Shanghai, which has been the busiest container port for the past 16 years and continues to set records, smashed the record for daily container throughput. The achievement came as the port continues to recover from the impact of a large typhoon in mid-July, but nonetheless handled more boxes in a day than many ports handle in a year. The Shanghai International Port Group highlighted that the port complex handled a staggering 203,881 TEU on August 1,

August 5 ------ Six Saudi-flagged supertankers have diverted around southern Africa after Houthi threats against Saudi shipping, according to ship-tracking data. The vessels, which were empty after completing voyages in Asia, changed course in the Gulf of Aden and avoided the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint. The tankers, each capable of carrying up to two million barrels of crude oil, are rerouting via the Cape route due to security concerns, as reported by Reuters. The diversion co

August 4 ------ Shipping activity through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Strait of Hormuz has slowed following renewed Houthi threats and reported attacks on commercial vessels, with shipping data showing reduced traffic and some tankers altering routes to avoid high-risk areas. According to Reuters, two tankers carrying Saudi crude crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait over the first weekend of August despite a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia announced by Iran-aligned Houthis

August 4 ------ Cargo fires rank at the top of the list of hazards aboard a modern container ship, in part because the operator has limited control over the cargo. A container is a solid steel box, and a productive crane operator can move dozens of them on and off the ship every hour. In general, the ship sails with the cargo it's given - along with any risks hidden therein. In a lawsuit filed last week in New York, number-one ocean carrier MSC is sending a warning to cargo o

August 4 ------ The Ministry of Reconstruction, Infrastructure, and Transport of Ukraine asserts that Russia is now trying to intimidate international shipowners and undermine confidence in the safety of civilian shipping. It emphasized that the intensity of the enemy attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure continues to increase while highlighting that the Russians are now attacking ships multiple times even if they have already been damaged. The border guard reported on Mon

August 4 ------ Six Saudi-flagged supertankers have changed course in the Gulf of Aden in recent days and are heading to southern Africa following threats by Yemen’s Houthi movement to target Saudi shipping, tracking data showed. The tankers, which were empty of cargo after returning from destinations in Asia, were sailing in formation towards southern Africa, rather than opting to transit the southern Red Sea via the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint, according to AIS ship-tracking o

August 3 ------ After three months, Somali pirates continue to hold four smaller vessels with no reports of progress in the efforts to free the 67 crewmembers that are being held aboard the vessels. The EU’s Operation Atalanta provided an update and emphasized that it remains committed to supporting the successful liberation as soon as possible, but with the vessels close to the coast, it is dependent on the local authorities. Piracy surged this year, possibly in part due to

August 3 ------ A drone strike that damaged two gas tankers in Egyptian waters has renewed energy security concerns about the nearby Suez Canal and a related pipeline, a vital export route for Saudi Arabian oil since the beginning of the Iran war. Even as Iran and its Houthi allies have fired on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, Egypt's Suez Canal and Sumed pipeline continued to offer safe, northbound export routes for Saudi Red Sea energy cargoes. Wh