Philippine News

November 3 ------ The Seafarers Hospital Society (SHS) has developed a dedicated set of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help shipping companies assess and improve preparedness, response and recovery during medical emergencies onboard vessels. Announced on 2 November 2026, the new indicators build on SHS’s wider Best Practice KPI initiative, extending its approach to measuring seafarer health and wellbeing into the specific challenges of responding to serious illness and

November 3 ------ Maritime investigators in New Zealand have revealed how a crew of a bulk carrier that was performing what was supposed to be a familiar task ended up with serious burns following an explosion in a boiler. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released its investigation report on the explosion that occurred in the engine room of bulker Olivia at South Port, Bluff, in May last year, citing the crew’s familiarity with the task, fatigue, and a l

November 3 ------ Cypriot authorities launched a coordinated search and rescue operation after the vessel reported water ingress approximately 90 nautical miles west of Paphos. The general cargo vessel AS Dream suffered water ingress and began sinking approximately 90 nautical miles west of Paphos, Cyprus, on 30 October, prompting a search and rescue operation that resulted in the safe recovery of all 10 crew members. According to Cypriot media reports, the incident occurred

November 3 ------ Two weeks after the fire began in the South Atlantic aboard the containership Espirito Santos Express, carriers are now advising customers that they expect “the vast majority of the cargo to be either severely damaged by the fire or a total loss.” This news comes as salvage teams are reported to be making progress with the fire as well as with another containership, HMM Platinum, which reported a fire around the same time. Built in 2018 and owned by Seaspan

November 2 ------ Containerships are returning to the Red Sea, with 63% of Far East–Europe capacity deployed on services using the route, according to Alphaliner. As explain in Alphaliner’s latest analysis, major container carriers are gradually restoring services through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, following the widespread diversions around the Cape of Good Hope prompted by Houthi attacks on commercial shipping. The analysis examined the routing patterns of the world’s ten l

November 2 ------ Japan’s shipbuilding industry is planning major capital investments and closer cooperation among domestic shipyards to double annual shipbuilding capacity to 18 million gross tons by 2035, supported by government funding. Speaking at a press conference on December 18, 2025, Yukito Higaki, chairman of the Japan Shipbuilders’ Association (JSA) and president of Imabari Shipbuilding, emphasized that expanding shipbuilding facilities and strengthening collaborati

November 1 ------ IUMI’s new Crew Wellbeing Checklist signals a shift in how maritime insurers consider the human element in hull risk assessment. However, important questions remain about how the industry measures crew welfare, verifies actual conditions onboard and connects wellbeing with operational risk. For decades, maritime risk assessment has focused primarily on vessel condition, machinery reliability, claims history and management standards. Yet even the most technic

November 1 ------ More than any other sector, ocean freight has driven the surge in shipyard activity over the past year, according to BIMCO, and it has boosted the fortunes of Chinese shipbuilding in particular. “Container ships dominate both the order book and its growth over the past 12 months. They account for 30% of CGT on order and 68% of the increase during the past year,” says Niels Rasmussen, the chief shipping analyst at BIMCO. The vast majority of those orders are

October 31 ------ The Port of Singapore has been at the forefront of harbor drone services since at least 2018, when it welcomed the first trials of a cargo-drone commercial delivery system for ships at anchor. While a friendly environment for R&D and commerce, it is also a leader in drone security regulation - a prudent step given the real-world risk of UAV-based sabotage or espionage. Seafarers who decide to launch a personal drone in Singapore's harbor - especially if they

October 31 ------ According to Hartland Shipping Services, the global very large crude carrier (VLCC) fleet is approaching a major delivery wave, with more than 100 new vessels expected to enter service annually in both 2028 and 2029, raising concerns about future tanker oversupply. In its Weekly Commentary dated 23 October 2026, Hartland reports that 319 VLCCs, representing approximately 98.5 million dwt, are currently on order, equivalent to 34.2% of the existing fleet. Whe

October 30 ------ Geopolitical disruptions continue to cloud the dry bulk market outlook, the BIMCO Dry Bulk Shipping Market Overview & Outlook October 2026 has highlighted. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz remains the largest source of uncertainty, while attacks on ships and port infrastructure in the Black Sea have added another layer of risk, Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO explained. Typically, around 4% of dry bulk demand sails via the Str

October 30 ------ Gulf oil producers are assembling a fleet of nearly 230 tankers to maintain crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz despite heightened security risks and reluctance among independent shipowners to operate in the region, according to a weekly intelligence report from Windward Maritime dated October 29. The report identifies five maritime developments, including changes to Gulf oil transportation, an oil spill threatening infrastructure in the United Arab E

October 30 ------ Dockworkers in 22 countries will strike on Friday, protesting against war and the use of ports for arms exports in action organizers say could disrupt over 40% of Mediterranean cargo and snarl over $2 billion worth of freight. The strike, originally called by dockworkers' unions in Italy, France, Greece, Spain's Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco, is now backed by more than 25 unions in 113 ports. The protest is expected to target major shipping hubs across

October 30 ------ The Bahamas Maritime Authority (BMA) has issued an investigation report into an incident where a seafarer lost his life after falling through an open hatch cover into a cargo hold during washing operations. What happened ABahamas registered bulk carrier was on a two day ballast voyage. The incident occurred on 01 April 2026, at approximately 13:50 local time, while the vessel was underway in the Caribbean Sea between the Dominican Republic and Colombia, at p

October 29 ------ Global commodity prices are set to surge 23% in 2026, the World Bank said, citing rising energy prices and disruptions to cargo shipping during the Middle East war, grain shipment problems in the Black Sea and high demand for safe-haven assets such as gold. Oil, natural gas, food and metals prices all rose sharply this year as global shocks mounted, the World Bank said in its latest Commodity Markets Outlook. It said the situation could worsen if the conflic

October 29 ------ Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler warned Russia and Ukraine against further attacks on commercial vessels in the Black Sea, saying Ankara reserved the right to take legal action against the strikes, in Turkey's most direct intervention to date. NATO member Turkey, which has maintained good ties with both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has repeatedly called on both sides to halt attacks in the Black Sea that have als

October 29 ------ Indian officials are beginning to tally the damage after a severe cyclone came ashore, interrupting most services and leading to multiple rescues. A bulker that was apparently attempting to get away ahead of the storm, however, ran into problems and was driven ashore on the central eastern coast of India along the Bay of Bengal. The Marshall Island-flagged bulker Sigma Pearl (32,688 dwt) reportedly attempted to sail on October 27 before the worst of the stor

October 29 ------ The Port of Aarhus in Denmark marked a milestone as it completed tests on the country’s first shore power for containerships with a trial docking. Officials highlighted the challenges of providing shore power for containerships while highlighting it as a competitive advantage for the port. The new shore power facility for containerships was tested with the ship Dettifoss (25,690 dwt) operated by the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip. Built in China and ente

October 28 ------ The Vehicle Carrier Safety Forum (VCSF) is emphasizing the importance of realistic fire drills and stronger cooperation between shipboard crews and shore-based teams to improve emergency preparedness aboard vehicle-carrying vessels. The VCSF announced its new Fire Drill Guidelines for Vehicle Carrying Vessels, designed to help operators translate established fire response principles into practical exercises involving both shipboard crews and shore-based emer

October 28 ------ Seven Japanese companies have agreed to develop an integrated ammonia fuel supply chain and build four ammonia-fueled car carriers, establishing a commercial bunkering operation in Japan's Chubu region to support the vessels when they enter service in 2030. The agreement brings together shipowners NYK Line and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (“K” LINE), shipbuilders Imabari Shipbuilding, Shin Kurushima Dockyard, Nihon Shipyard and Kyokuyo Shipyard, as well as energy c