SHIPBUILDING · SEAFARING
News from the waterline.
Shipbuilding and seafaring headlines, updated daily
SHIPBUILDING · 05.10.2026
SFL orders two very large ammonia carriers for $216 million
SFL Corporation has ordered two 93,000-cubic-metre very large ammonia carriers for about US$216 million, marking the Bermuda shipowner’s entry into the gas carrier sector. The vessels will be able to carry a wide range of petrochemical gases, run on dual-fuel propulsion, and incorporate technology aimed at improving fuel efficiency and cargo intake. Delivery is scheduled from the second quarter of 2028.
Both newbuildings have been fixed on long-term time charters to an unnamed European-based, investment-grade oil major. The contracts will add a minimum of about US$162 million to SFL’s fixed-rate charter backlog. The initial charter period will be set within the next six months, which could raise that contribution, and the charterer will have options to extend by up to four years.
Chief executive Ole B. Hjertaker said acquisitions and charter extensions announced so far in 2026 have already added more than US$1.3 billion to the company’s fixed-rate backlog. The order follows SFL’s earlier commitment this year to four 7,000-CEU LNG dual-fuel car carriers worth about US$363 million.
Sources: GlobeNewswire / SFL, World Ports Organization, Marine Link
SHIPBUILDING · 05.10.2026
Advantage Tankers adds LR2 and MR newbuildings in China
Geneva-based Advantage Tankers has ordered two 114,000-dwt LR2 product tankers at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation and expanded its MR programme at Guangzhou Shipyard International from four ships to six. Chief executive Tuğrul Tokgöz confirmed the LR2 pair, to be named Advantage Lucky and Advantage Loft, with deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2029 and first quarter of 2030. Both ships have already secured long-term employment with an unnamed oil major.
Newbuilding records also show two additional 49,900-dwt MR2s at GSI for 2030 delivery, taking Advantage’s series at the CSSC yard to six vessels. Comparable MR tonnage at the yard has recently been priced around US$45 million per ship. The latest package is being built with LNG dual-fuel capability, continuing the owner’s preference for future-ready propulsion.
The six MR2s and two LR2s form part of a wider drive that has pushed Advantage’s reported orderbook to 22 ships against 28 tankers in operation. Tokgöz has set a target of a 50-vessel fleet by 2030, with the company also holding VLCC and Suezmax newbuildings at Chinese and Korean yards.
Sources: Splash247, World Ports Organization, Baird Maritime
SEAFARING · 05.10.2026
11 crew rescued, two dead after Black Sea grain ship sinks
Romanian authorities rescued 11 seafarers and recovered two bodies on 5 October after the Turkish-owned grain cargo ship Royad Mammadov caught fire and sank in the Black Sea. The 2006-built, 6,933-dwt vessel, registered in St Kitts and Nevis, issued a distress call at 10:37 a.m. Romanian time while roughly 20 nautical miles offshore in Romania’s exclusive economic zone, near offshore oil platforms. The 13 crew were reported to be Turkish and Azerbaijani citizens.
ARSVOM rescue vessels, military helicopters and border police took part in the operation. Several injured crewmembers were hoisted to a helicopter for transfer ashore; three were injured and eight were reported in good condition. Ukrainian reports said the ship had loaded corn in Izmail and was bound for Italy when it was struck by two drones. Romanian officials have not confirmed the cause, though ARSVOM images showed scorch marks on the deckhouse and the vessel listing at the stern.
Romania’s foreign ministry called for an immediate moratorium on attacks against merchant ships and port infrastructure, noting that 20 to 30 percent of globally traded wheat and grain transits the Black Sea corridor.
Sources: The Maritime Executive, RFI / AFP, Reuters
SEAFARING · 05.10.2026
IMO mourns five seafarers killed in Honour 25 pirate rescue
IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has expressed condolences after five seafarers were killed during the 29 September operation to free the hijacked tanker Honour 25 in Somali waters. In a statement reported on 5 October, Dominguez said several other crew members were seriously injured and urged those responsible for their care to ensure they receive treatment and support. The Palau-flagged tanker had been held by pirates since April.
Honour 25 was one of three vessels freed in recent operations, alongside Seamull (also known as Sibu 1) and Eureka. In total, 44 seafarers were released from the three ships. Dominguez welcomed their freedom but stressed that 22 seafarers remain in captivity aboard the Asana, seized earlier in 2026, and that every effort must continue to secure their safe release.
Calling for renewed international action against piracy in the Western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden, the IMO urged vessels in the region to conduct thorough security risk assessments and follow industry Best Management Practices.
Sources: Ship & Bunker, American Journal of Transportation
SHIPBUILDING · 23.09.2026
Global shipbuilding orders on course for a record year
Global newbuilding orders are on course for their strongest year since the 2007 peak. According to Clarksons Research, 2,128 vessels totalling 59.7 million compensated gross tonnes (CGT) were contracted worldwide between January and August 2026, roughly double the ten-year average. Investment in new tonnage is estimated at about US$177.2 billion, up 31% year on year, driven by both strong volumes and rising newbuild prices.
Tankers have led the surge. Reuters, citing Signal Group data, reports 217 very large crude carriers ordered so far this year against 93 in all of 2025, as the US–Iran conflict and the Hormuz bottleneck push crude onto longer Atlantic-to-Asia routes. Bulk carrier ordering is running 44% above its ten-year average.
Chinese yards have taken about 76% of global orders by CGT, with South Korea on around 15.7%. Several leading Chinese builders are now selling delivery slots in 2030, a sign that yard capacity, not demand, has become the industry's main constraint.
Sources: World Ports Organization, Reuters, Xinde Maritime News
SHIPBUILDING · 23.09.2026
Maersk confirms order for 26 LNG dual-fuel container ships
A.P. Moller-Maersk has confirmed an order for 26 large container ships, one of its biggest newbuilding commitments in more than a decade. The carrier said on 18 September that each vessel will carry 18,600 TEU, run on dual-fuel engines capable of burning liquefied natural gas, and deliver in 2029 and 2030.
Maersk has not named the builders or the price, but market sources report that China's Hengli Heavy Industries will build 20 ships, its first work for Maersk, while New Times Shipbuilding takes six by exercising options on an eight-ship order signed in February. Estimates put the programme at around US$5 billion, adding roughly 483,600 TEU, or about a tenth of Maersk's operated capacity.
More may follow. Alphaliner reports that Maersk has invited Chinese and Korean yards to bid for around 20 megamax ships of 24,000 TEU or more, a size the company has never ordered, with Hanwha Ocean said to be competing against Chinese builders.
Sources: The Maritime Executive, World Ports Organization, Kuehne+Nagel / Alphaliner
SEAFARING · 23.09.2026
25 crew rescued after abandoning MSC Hermes III off Vietnam
All 25 crew of the Liberia-flagged containership MSC Hermes III were rescued without injury on 22 September after abandoning ship roughly 160 nautical miles east of Vietnam. Singapore's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre received the distress alert at about 08:45 local time and asked nearby vessels to assist. Three ships responded, and the 13,000 TEU MSC Ruby recovered the crew from their lifeboat. Arrangements are being made with Vietnamese authorities to bring them ashore.
The 2006-built, 2,490 TEU vessel has since remained afloat and unmanned in a busy South China Sea shipping lane, and a navigational warning describing it as derelict is in force until 25 September. Neither MSC nor Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority has explained why the crew left the ship. Some reports suggest a fire, but that has not been confirmed, and no salvage arrangement has been announced.
The incident follows the MSC Baltic III and MSC Elsa 3 casualties in 2025.
Sources: The Maritime Executive, Xinde Maritime News
SEAFARING · 23.09.2026
Five years on, seafarer welfare gains are not reaching most crews
Five years after the Delivering on Seafarers' Rights Code of Conduct was launched, a new progress report finds that crew welfare is improving at leading shipping companies but is still far from the industry norm. The report, published on 22 September by the Sustainable Shipping Initiative, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, the Mission to Seafarers, the Rafto Foundation, RightShip and TURTLE, draws on three previously unpublished datasets.
More than 1,000 companies, covering over 13,000 vessels and around 300,000 seafarers, have now completed RightShip's Crew Welfare Self-Assessment. Surveys of seafarers themselves paint a harsher picture: only 49% said there were enough crew on board to work safely without excessive fatigue, and just 59% would feel safe raising a serious concern. Some 27% had no access to mental-health support at all.
The authors urge charterers, insurers, financiers and flag states to make crew welfare count in the decisions that determine which operators win business.
Source: The Mission to Seafarers
