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From a Dutch maritime family to America's Cup yacht design and the president of Martin & Ottaway, a 150-year-old engineering firm, Rik van Hemmen has walked a unique path through the maritime industry. van Hemmen recently visited with Maritime Matters: The MarineLink Podcast, to share his views on everything from maritime engineering, technology, fuel, education and the future of shipping.In 1988, a 28-year-old Rik van Hemmen attended a cocktail party at the Four Seasons in New York City, surrounded by senior shipping executives and shipowners.

The U.S. Coast Guard is concluding its scheduled 2026 seasonal evaluation of six Saildrone Voyager Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs) on the Great Lakes this week ahead of forecasted winter icing conditions. Following the completion of this seasonal evaluation, the Coast Guard intends to conduct an additional test and evaluation period in the spring of 2027 as part of a service-wide effort to evaluate how autonomous technologies enhance Coast Guard missions and assist operators.Deployed between April and November 2026 across the Great Lakes…

Gulf bourses closed mostly higher on Monday as US President Donald Trump's signal that fresh Iran strikes are unlikely, provided talks continue, lifted sentiment across the region after an eight-month conflict.Trump's remarks came despite reports from the US military and Iranian state media that shipping had been attacked in or near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that carried nearly a fifth of the world's crude before the war.Trump had earlier hinted at renewed attacks after last week's midterm elections…

The UAE city of Khor Fakkan shut a beach on Monday after detecting an oil spill along its coastline, according to a notice posted by the municipal authorities on social media.It did not provide further details about the closure of the Al Luluyah beach and did not say what caused the spill.The UAE has shut down a number of beaches in recent weeks as part of efforts to contain oil leaking from tanker vessels offshore.Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran, attacks on commercial vessels in Gulf shipping lanes have driven up security risks for maritime traffic and heightened fears over th

The Los Angeles and Long Beach seaports employer group and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 26 extended their contract to November 20 and plan to continue negotiating a new labor agreement covering about 2% of workers at the busiest US container port complex.The Pacific Maritime Association and the union representing about 250 maritime watchmen at the ports are negotiating with assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.Union watchmen control and inspect truck and employee entries at terminal gates…

Today, the Energy Workforce & Technology Council released its October 2026 jobs report. Energy services employment totaled 627,538 jobs in October, a decrease of 487 positions from September, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Energy Workforce analysis.The slight decline, representing less than one-tenth of one percent of the sector’s workforce, reflects relatively stable employment levels despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding commodity prices, customer spending and activity levels.While the broader U.S.

Every year, the President’s budget proposes investments in infrastructure projects across the country. For navigation projects on America’s inland waterways, one of the most important factors influencing whether a lock and dam modernization project advances in the annual budget process is its benefit-to-cost ratio (BCR).On its surface, the concept sounds simple and sensible. A project’s benefits should exceed its costs. The higher the ratio, the stronger the justification for federal investment.But when it comes to inland waterways infrastructure, the formula used by the U.S.

Accelerating demand for subsea power and telecoms cable network construction is fuelling major expansion of the world fleet of purpose-designed cable laying, maintenance and repair vessels.Driven by the growth of the offshore renewables sector and its advance into deeper waters, as well as by widening investment in cables connecting electrical grids in different countries, emergent generations of cable ship are distinguished by scale, productivity, and technological intensity.

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) has finalized its acquisition of Birmingham, UK-based Truflo Marine, formerly a part of IMI plc. The acquisition is a step toward FMD’s expansion of valve and actuator design and manufacturing capabilities for mission-critical naval systems serving a global customer base. Truflo Marine valves are currently operational in more than 37 allied navies worldwide. The acquisition strengthens global support for the integrated systems that power, regulate and protect modern naval vessels.

A vessel is approaching a berth. The bridge team has a passage plan, functioning equipment and experienced officers. Then one officer notices that the vessel is setting closer to the edge of the planned track than expected. The master is engaged with the pilot. The officer has the information, but pauses before speaking.This is an illustrative situation, not a report of an incident. Its significance lies in a question that applies far beyond one bridge: how quickly does an observation…

Snowbird Technologies, a U.S. manufacturer of mission-critical equipment and deployable manufacturing systems, announced successful operational results from the company's participation in NPS CAMRE's Littoral and Expeditionary Advanced Manufacturing and Repair Experiment at RIMPAC 2026, where its SAMM Tech deployable hybrid manufacturing platform demonstrated on-demand metal additive manufacturing both aboard the USS Essex and ashore at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.Operating as…

Fairbanks Morse Defense (FMD) reached a milestone for the submarine fleet, announcing the shipment of the first-ever additively manufactured SUBSAFE Level I component. The part is a copper-nickel (CuNi) 2" angled tailpiece, produced in collaboration with our partners at Lincoln Electric Additive Solutions. SUBSAFE and Level I requirements are the most demanding engineering and quality assurance standards in the U.S. Navy. Producing an additively manufactured part of this caliber marks a significant step toward the normalization of 3D-printed submarine parts…

Oil prices were set for a sharp weekly fall after the election losses of US President Donald Trump's Republican Party raised hopes of a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran and a stock market sell-off, though attacks on vessels in the Middle East continue to provide a floor to crude.In a whiplash see-saw session on Friday, Brent crude futures for January were up 26 cents, or 0.3%, at $98.55 a barrel by 1346 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures edged up by 57 cents, or 0.6%…

General Dynamics Mission Systems announced it was awarded a $15 million contract modification to exercise options under a previously awarded contract for the Mining Expendable Delivery Unmanned Submarine Asset (MEDUSA).Building on the prototype, software and engineering work advanced under the July contract modification, this follow-on award continues MEDUSA's maturation and expands the program’s support infrastructure.MEDUSA is a submarine-launched delivery system that uses an expendable unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) to deploy diverse payloads with precision.

Arc, a marine technology company, has begun engineering the battery-electric conversion of Harbor Sentinel, a 50-foot harbor tug owned and operated by Pacific Maritime Group (PMG). Supported by funding from the Port of Long Beach through its Technology Advancement Program (TAP) and SWIFT Program, along with a Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust grant administered by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the project will replace the tug’s twin diesel engines with an Arc electric powertrain.Naval architecture firm Glosten is leading vessel engineering.

Ukraine's renewed attacks on Russian oil refineries add to Moscow's difficulty in addressing domestic fuel shortages while it ships diesel to international markets under an export deal with US President Donald Trump.The Ryazan oil refinery, one of Russia's largest, appeared to have come under attack as part of a large drone strike overnight on industrial sites in the city, southeast of Moscow, according to a Reuters video analysis.If confirmed, it would be the second refinery to be hit this week following an attack on the Yaroslavl plant…

Iran reported three more tankers had been damaged in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, making clear that shipping would remain in peril as long as the war in the Gulf is unresolved, now that US voters have punished President Donald Trump for waging it.The electoral rout that cost Trump's Republicans control of Congress has prompted a stark reassessment of the conflict's political cost in Washington, led by Vice President JD Vance, who said in a long social media post on Wednesday that the war was to blame for his party's defeat.In a mocking reply on Thursday…

Often overshadowed by the towering jackup and ultra-deepwater floating rig fleets that dominate offshore headlines, tender-assist rigs are enjoying a resurgence in Southeast Asia. While they represent a relatively small niche of the global offshore drilling market, these versatile units have become indispensable to operators across Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei, where their efficiency and cost competitiveness continue to drive demand.Tender-assist rigs are designed for fast, efficient platform drilling.

With plans to celebrate his family’s 100 years in shipping in 2027, Leif O. Høegh, Chair, Höegh Autoliners, takes a moment to reflect on the company’s bold, ‘first mover’ legacy.In 1927, a young Norwegian entrepreneur named Leif Høegh ordered his first vessel, a tanker named Varg. Backed by the legendary Danish shipowner A.P Møller, the fledgling company survived the Great Depression (and later, World War II) to operate a small fleet of oil tankers. But by the 1960s, the company began to diversify, entering new shipping segments.“Not all these investments paid off,” said Leif O. Høegh, Chair.

Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. (ESG) has been selected by HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division to construct key structural modular units for the U.S. Navy’s future USS Philadelphia (LPD 32), a San Antonio-class Amphibious Transport Dock.Under the contract, ESG will leverage its Gulf Coast facilities to manufacture six structural units. Production is currently underway, with final deliveries to Ingalls’ Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard scheduled for the third and fourth quarters of 2027.The agreement supports Ingalls’ expanded distributed shipbuilding strategy.

Only one of the three reported tankers that were sailing to the U.S. with Russian diesel appears to be still heading for the Atlantic coast.The issuing of General License 135 on October 9, which temporarily allows Russian diesel to be imported to the U.S., has yet to result in any cargo being delivered to the U.S.Three tankers were flagged last month as sailing for the U.S. with diesel cargoes, including Russia-flagged TALISMAN (IMO 9292060), Sierra Leone-flagged LERUO (IMO 9385831) and Malta-flagged AGIOI FANENDES (IMO 9798375).The first two were sanctioned by the EU…

Oil prices fell 9% on Wednesday in volatile trading as investors awaited Washington's next move in the US-Israeli war with Iran after President Donald Trump's Republican Party lost control of Congress in midterm elections.Brent futures dropped $9.27, or 8.9%, to $94.29 a barrel, touching the lowest level since September 4, at 11:58 a.m. ET (1658 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $7.44, or 7.8%, to $88.54.Brent settled in the previous session at its lowest…

U.S.-based Naval Systems, Inc. (in partnership with Dragonfish Technical Solutions, LLC) (NSI/DF) and U.K.-based SubSea Craft successfully demonstrated an integrated suite of advanced unmanned maritime systems during a multinational maritime exercise conducted October 5–8 off the coast of California. At the request of the Office of the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering (OUSW(R&E)) exercise personnel, SubSea Craft and NSI/DF combined their autonomous systems to deliver an integrated demonstration capability…