For several years, much of shipping’s decarbonisation debate has centred on fuel choice. LNG, methanol, ammonia, biofuels and electrification have each been presented as part of the industry’s future energy mix, and with good reason. Fuel decisions influence vessel design, infrastructure planning, compliance strategy and long-term competitiveness. They will remain central to how owners and operators plan for the years ahead.What they do not do, on their own, is guarantee performance.That distinction matters more now than it did a decade ago. Regulatory pressure is rising, operating margins remain under scrutiny, and many owners are trying to make long-term decisions in […]

Bunkering has long been regarded as a logistical function, the essential act of putting fuel in ships. But that perception poses a dangerous oversight. As the global maritime industry accelerates its digital transformation, and as regulators on multiple continents close the compliance gap between physical and cyber risk, the bunker supply chain is emerging as one of the most consequential, and least scrutinised, attack surfaces in maritime infrastructure.Cyber risk in bunker operations carries consequences that extend far beyond simple billing disputes and costly downtime. A successful cyberattack could directly threaten vessel and crew safety, trigger environmental catastrophe and destabilise the […]

For decades, Arctic shipping occupied a strange place in the maritime imagination: part geopolitical fantasy, part commercial inevitability. Climate change, shrinking ice coverage and shifting trade dynamics have steadily pushed the region from theoretical opportunity to operational reality. Now, that reality is arriving faster than many expected.The renewed focus on the Northern Sea Route (NSR) and wider Arctic corridors is not difficult to understand. At a time when the industry is under relentless pressure to reduce fuel costs, cut emissions, and improve schedule reliability, Arctic routes appear to offer an unusually powerful combination of all three.The numbers are compelling. Arctic […]

For years, the tanker market has operated on a fairly comfortable assumption: published freight rates may occasionally be noisy, overexcited or faintly detached from earthly reality, but they broadly represent something a competent owner could actually go out and earn.But the recent disruption surrounding very large crude carrier (VLCC) benchmark assessments has made that assumption look rather less solid than many perhaps thought.At the centre of the debate sits the Baltic Exchange’s TD3C benchmark, the industry’s flagship Gulf-to-China VLCC route. The argument itself is well known by now. Extraordinary earnings appeared on screens just as a meaningful portion of the […]

The global maritime industry has long proven itself capable of navigating uncertainty and complexity. Across its history, it has adapted to geopolitical disruption, regulatory change, and technological overhaul. Change remains a constant in today’s volatile operating context, and the impact is being felt from the boardroom to the engine room.Risk management isn’t just a safety tool; it’s a strategic necessity. And used oil analysis (UOA) is central to engine and critical machinery risk management. Traditionally, a manual and periodic process, UOA has served the industry well under conditions it was designed to meet. However, those conditions are rapidly changing. As […]