It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
What had been widening cracks in Western backing for the U.S. war against Iran are starting to look more like a strategic fissure, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivering an extraordinary public warning that Washington risks sinking deeper into another Middle East quagmire as Tehran appears to be gaining leverage and the economic fallout spreads across Europe.
In one of the bluntest criticisms yet from a major U.S. ally, Merz said Iran had proven “clearly stronger than one thought,” while warning the United States was being “humiliated” by Tehran’s leadership and could face the kind of prolonged entanglement that defined Iraq and Afghanistan. Coming from the leader of Europe’s largest economy, the remarks suggest concern that the war is no longer confined to private allied unease.
Coming from the leader of Europe’s largest economy, the significance is not simply the criticism itself. Washington has leaned heavily on allied cohesion as it tries to sustain military and economic pressure on Iran, yet Merz’s intervention points to growing discomfort inside Europe over both the strategic direction of the war and its economic costs.
Germany has already warned that the conflict is weighing on growth, while disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz continue to feed volatility across oil, shipping, and LNG markets.
A broader shift is already underway in Europe. Berlin and Paris have intensified nuclear deterrence coordination as the war sharpens security concerns, while Germany has signaled it could contribute minesweepers to protect navigation through Hormuz once hostilities ease. With roughly a fifth of global oil trade moving through the strait, those discussions intersect directly with energy security.
Merz’s warning comes amid significant economic fallout from the war.
Germany’s GfK consumer-climate index plunged to minus 33.3 for May, the sharpest monthly deterioration since the 2022 energy shock after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as surging energy costs and war uncertainty hit income expectations. Business sentiment has also fallen to its weakest level since 2020.
Berlin this month moved to curb fuel price spikes with emergency measures limiting how often stations can raise gasoline and diesel prices, while tightening antitrust scrutiny of suppliers as pump prices climbed above €2 per liter. At the same time, renewed uncertainty around Druzhba flows and Russia’s halt to Kazakh crude deliveries to Germany have revived concerns over Europe’s supply vulnerability just as the Iran war threatens another external energy shock.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
Structural Gas Demand Destruction Threatens Global LNG Market
The Middle East war is disrupting gas supply and driving demand destruction, with LNG imports—especially in Asia—falling sharply due to high prices and supply shortages.
Short-term shocks risk becoming structural, as prolonged conflict could permanently alter demand patterns and delay or erase the expected global gas oversupply.
Alternative suppliers can’t fully fill the gap, with U.S. LNG stepping in while African and other producers remain underutilized, prolonging market tightness.
The impact of the war in the Middle East could lead to structural demand destruction on the world’s natural gas markets, the head of the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum warned in the latest sign of the far-reaching impacts of the hostilities between the United States and Israel, and Iran.
The war has already disrupted international gas flows because of the Strait of Hormuz closure and the strikes on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf, which were Iran’s retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes that began at the end of February. Resumption of gas exports would take months, according to the GECF’s Philip Mshelbila—if the war ends soon. If it drags on, however, the effects of the supply disruption could become permanent.
“If the conflict ended today, the world would recover in six months to a year. But if it lasts six months, those knee-jerk changes we are seeing could become structural,” Mshelbila said, speaking at an industry event in Paris, as quoted by Reuters.
The executive also recalled that most predictions for the gas market saw it flipping into oversupply this year. The glut was, according to analysts, going to be the result of new capacity coming online in the United States while demand grows more slowly. “Clearly this conflict has done something to that, and it's not yet clear whether it's just a delay, or whether in fact that glut will ever come,” the secretary-general of the Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum said.
Even if a glut comes, it will not be coming anytime soon. The latest data for Asia suggests that imports of liquefied natural gas are on course to record their lowest monthly level in close to six years, Reuters’ Clyde Russell reported this week. The numbers come from Kpler and are evidence of demand destruction resulting from the war. In some cases, this is voluntary demand cuts, such as in the case of China, for instance. In others, such as Pakistan, the destruction is organic, prompted by the higher prices that LNG is fetching amid the supply cuts.
Asia is set to import some 19.03 million tons of liquefied gas this month, which would be down from 20.69 million tons for March and a seasonal high of 26.34 million tons for December 2025, the Kpler data showed. For China, however, the drop is much more marked, with the April total seen at 3.36 million tons. That would be down from 7.66 million tons for December 2025 and the lowest since April 2018, Reuters’ Russell noted.
With Qatari LNG mostly gone, importers are switching to U.S. gas and, to a lesser extent, Russian gas. Volumes from other producers are not changing, even though they have the resources, GECF’s Philip Mshelbila noted.
“Sadly while some African countries have excess capacity in both LNG and pipeline gas, the majority of them if not all are not producing at full capacity,” he said, adding that “If you look at the export pipelines to Europe, from Algeria or from Libya, not one of them is full.” Because of this, it is U.S. liquefied that is replacing most of the lost volumes from the Middle East.
The executive pointed out that this is because African LNG producers are operating below capacity, without elaborating on the reasons for that. However, Nigeria has been exporting more LNG to Asia since the war in the Middle East began, and there are plans in place to boost the capacity of its LNG plant from 22 million tons to 30 million tons.
Algerian gas deliveries to Europe are also on the rise—even before the war began. Last year, Algeria exported a total 39-40 billion cu m of natural gas via pipeline and as LNG. That represented 13 to 14% of Europe’s total gas imports, Euronews reported recently, comparing it to 12 billion cu m in Qatari gas imports, which translates into a share of between 7% and 9% of total gas imports.
The problem comes from the fact that Algeria could not boost its exports to Europe fast enough to plug the hole left by the force majeure at QatarEnergy’s Ras Laffan complex. Yet the North African country is making steps in that direction: earlier this week, Algiers launched an oil and gas tender for seven blocks, with bids due by November. This is part of the government’s plan to increase natural gas production to 200 billion cu m annually by 2030. The investment required to do this is estimated at between $50 and $60 billion.
Yet these are long-term plans, while the supply pain is quite immediate. It is this immediacy of the problem that could transform into chronic demand weakness. “Normally in a situation of crisis this is an opportunity: Fill it up! Seize the market! Unfortunately, we are missing out, because we don't have the upstream molecules to fill the infrastructure,” GECF’s Mshelbila said. “The reserves are there, but they are still in the ground.”
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
Enbridge $2.9B BC natural gas pipeline expansion gets federal approval
Enbridge (TSX, NYSE: ENB) announced Friday that the Canadian Government has approved the Sunrise Expansion Program, a C$4 billion ($2.9 billion) natural gas expansion of Enbridge’s Westcoast pipeline system in British Columbia.
Sunrise Expansion is designed to add approximately 300 million cubic feet per day of natural gas transportation capacity to the southern portion of the Westcoast pipeline system, the company stated.
Once in service, the added natural gas transportation capacity is expected to strengthen energy security and affordability by supporting access to natural gas during periods of peak demand, it added.
Natural gas transported on the Westcoast system is used to heat homes, hospitals, businesses and schools. It also supports electric power generation, industrial activity across BC and global LNG exports.
Expected to contribute more than C$3 billion to Canada’s economy, the project will involve the hiring of approximately 2,500 workers during construction, including workers from local communities and Indigenous groups. To date, more than C$52 million has been spent on the hiring and procuring of services from Indigenous businesses, Enbridge said.
“The multi-billion dollar Sunrise Expansion program is a shovel-ready, critical natural gas infrastructure project that supports the advancement of Canada’s energy superpower ambitions,” Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said in a news release.
The project will include the construction of new pipeline segments along the existing system, additional natural gas compression, and upgrades and modifications to existing facilities.
“Our commitment to Canadians was to get projects approved and built — and with today’s approval of the Sunrise Expansion program, we’re doing just that. This project will enable us to heat more homes, businesses, hospitals, and schools, while bolstering British Columbian industry, including for LNG, and creating thousands of jobs,” Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson said.
“It is proof that, in partnership with industry and Indigenous partners, we can strengthen energy security and price stability and create new international trade opportunities, while meeting rigorous environmental and safety standards,” Hodgson added.
Construction is scheduled to begin in July 2026, with a targeted in-service date in late 2028.
Leftist candidate in copper giant Peru wants new mining rules
A leftist presidential candidate on the verge of reaching Peru’s runoff election is pledging to overhaul mining rules in one of the world’s leading copper-exporting countries.
Vowing to redistribute wealth to Peru’s rural communities, Roberto Sánchez, 57, plans to review tax contracts with major mining companies, redraft the country’s market-friendly constitution and hike taxes to levy windfall profits at a time of buoyant metals prices. He also wants to phase out open-pit mining — the way virtually all of Peru’s big mines operate — blaming the practice for harming the environment.
“We don’t want to expropriate a single dollar or an inch of land from anyone, we want to broaden the benefits by democratizing access to wealth,” Sánchez said in an interview. “Neocolonial Peru is over.”
Sánchez currently holds a razor-thin margin of only around 17,000 votes over right-wing populist Rafael López Aliaga for the chance to take on conservative Keiko Fujimori in a June 7 runoff. An electoral court is reviewing tally sheets that represent as many as a million votes. Whoever wins will become Peru’s 10th president in a tumultuous era and will not have a congressional majority, which could hinder any efforts to revamp existing policies.
The Andean country is the world’s third-largest copper producer and a key supplier of gold, silver and zinc, with mining accounting for 60% of its exports. It is a significant base of operations for global mining companies including Glencore Plc, Anglo American Plc, Freeport McMoRan Inc. and MMG Ltd.
Sánchez also said he wants to review free trade agreements and a host of contracts involving the Camisea natural gas fields which supply a major liquefaction terminal, known as Peru LNG, on the Pacific coast. Major players in Camisea include Pluspetrol SA and Shell.
“Standards must be set in a way that benefits the people,” Sánchez said in the interview at his party headquarters in the capital Lima. He declined to say who are serving as his top economic advisers.
Tapping international reserves
Sánchez has been critical of Peru’s veteran central bank chief Julio Velarde, considered the steady hand that has largely insulated the resource-based economy from the country’s chronic political turmoil.
He declined to say whether he’d nominate Velarde for a fifth term, stressing he would meet with him with the caveat that “no one is indispensable.”
But in a sign of pragmatism, he stressed the importance of preserving the institution’s autonomy and the country’s macroeconomic stability.
Sánchez added he is considering using Peru’s almost $100 billion in international reserves — which are vast by any measure, at about a third of gross domestic product – to fund spending on health, infrastructure and education.
“We need a strong fiscal chest for the major transformations we want to carry out,” he said.
Sánchez said the country’s needs would prevent him from prioritizing a controversial plan to buy new fighter jets, a decision that current Interim President José María Balcázar has said will fall onto the next administration.
A signing ceremony for an up to $3.5 deal with Lockheed Martin Corp. was abruptly postponed last week, drawing US backlash. In the wake of the controversy on Wednesday, Peru’s defense and foreign ministers resigned.
Currently a lawmaker, Sánchez served as foreign trade minister under the administration of ousted former President Pedro Castillo, while Fujimori will face her fourth consecutive runoff vote, having lost the last three.
Overall, Sánchez’s platform mimics the key promises that swept Castillo into the presidency in 2021, spooking investors at the time while drawing support in Peru’s impoverished Andean regions. Castillo was eventually ousted and arrested in late 2022 after attempting to shut down congress and the judiciary.
Sánchez has campaigned as Castillo’s heir, donning the same traditional hat from Peru’s Cajamarca region and promising to pardon him on Day 1 of a future administration.
Since Peru’s April 12 election, the country’s sol currency has been the worst performer in Latin America, with analysts pointing to Sánchez’s unexpected rise as the key factor. Government bonds handed investors less than 0.3% return, underperforming most emerging-market sovereign peers.
Still, if elected, Sánchez’s ambitious reforms are bound to hit roadblocks, including a new bicameral congress where left-wing forces will be outnumbered by conservative ones. To redraft Peru’s constitution, for example, Sánchez is proposing to repeal a law that prohibits convening a constituent assembly through a referendum. But to do that he would need conservative support in congress.
Similarly, while Castillo offered big reforms during his presidential campaign, once in office he failed to deliver them, a fate that could also beset a Sánchez presidency.
The leader of the Juntos por el Perú party is now in second place in the official vote count with just over 94% of votes tallied. But with as many as one million challenged ballots, Sánchez’s spot in the second round still isn’t secured. Electoral authorities say final results may take until mid-May.
The first round got off to a rough start when ballots arrived late to some polling stations mainly around Lima, which prompted authorities to allow some voters to cast ballots the next day.
López Aliaga, who has the most support in Lima, seized on the logistical problems to allege fraud. Sánchez has said he will respect the final results.
Since election day, López Aliaga has called for a redo of the entire election, later softening his demands to propose adding more voting days to accommodate the large share of Lima voters who were impacted by the logistical snags.
Sánchez said the delays had not tainted the election and criticized the resignation of electoral agency head Piero Corvetto amid the controversy. The candidate claimed the pressure that led to Corvetto’s departure was part of an alleged right-wing plot to “take control of the country’s institutions.”
“This is a serious damage because they intend to boycott and disregard the will of the people,” he said.
BV Calls for Greater Connectivity Across Value Chains
Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore (BV), a world leader in testing, inspection, and certification (TIC), declared its vision for the future of maritime trade during Singapore Maritime Week, with Executive Vice-President, Industrials & Commodities, Matthieu de Tugny delivering a keynote address detailing how digitalization, artificial intelligence, and the energy transition are fundamentally reshaping shipping and the global value chains it underpins.
During the keynote address, de Tugny outlined that the industry’s trajectory will be shaped by three intersecting forces: decarbonization, digitalization, and industry resilience. He stressed that the sector is moving beyond fragmented, vessel-level optimization towards more sophisticated inter-connected intelligence across the entire value chain, a shift that demands multi-sector collaboration.
Regarding artificial intelligence, de Tugny highlighted that AI is already generating tangible results across vessel operations, engineering, ports, and supply chains. The integration of sophisticated smart systems is supporting voyage optimization, predictive maintenance, digital twins, routing efficiency, and smarter logistics, delivering real-world gains today.
However, de Tugny also cautioned that AI’s potential can only be realized when underpinned by reliable, structured, and trusted data. Critically, he emphasized that human expertise remains central to the industry’s future, with AI serving to augment decision-making rather than replace the professionals who drive it.
De Tugny also highlighted BV’s capabilities in this area, having developed a suite of advanced solutions designed to help clients as they navigate this transformation:
- Digital Class: Integrates design, construction, and operational data to enable continuous, real-time assurance in place of periodic inspections, giving operators and owners a live view of vessel condition and compliance.
- Augmented Surveyor 3D: Combines drone-based inspections, AI-supported defect detection, and digital 3D asset models to improve the speed, accuracy, and safety of survey operations.
- SmartShip Framework: Supports clients along a progressive journey from connected vessels to autonomous functions and fully integrated maritime ecosystems, managing both the technical and regulatory dimensions of the transition.
De Tugny also addressed the global energy transition, calling for ambitious long-term planning alongside pragmatic near-term action. While next-generation fuels – including LNG, methanol, and ammonia – alongside new infrastructure and financing models are essential to achieving net-zero targets, de Tugny emphasized that existing fleets can already reduce their emissions footprint today through digital optimization, energy-saving technologies, and improved operational performance.
SINAY Boosts Maritime Intelligence Platform with MariTrace Acquisition
(L-R) Yanis Souami, CEO & Founder of SINAY; Thomas Owen, CEO & Founder of MariTrace; David Lelouvier, COO & Managing Director at SINAY; and Simon Rathbone, Director of Software Development at MariTrace
Maritime intelligence specialist SINAY has acquired UK-based vessel tracking platform MariTrace, strengthening the French company's position as an integrated provider of security, operational and environmental intelligence.
The move builds on earlier acquisitions of marine weather analytics provider OpenOcean in 2022 and container tracking service Safecube in 2024, and represents another step towards combining vessel, cargo and environmental data into a single source of operational intelligence for maritime stakeholders.
CRITICAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM Amid strong market demand for reliable data, MariTrace provides real-time intelligence across maritime security, risk assessment, trade analytics and vessel tracking, with particular strength in the world's highest-risk maritime corridors, including the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. The platform is used by 100-plus customers across insurance, security, ship-owning, offshore contracting and commodities, and operates in 24 countries worldwide.
SINAY CEO and founder Yanis Souami said: "This acquisition fully aligns with our mission to become the leading full end-to-end supply-chain visibility platform in the maritime industry. By bringing together vessel tracking, cargo visibility and environmental intelligence, we are giving customers the tools they need to make better-informed operational and commercial decisions in an increasingly complex risk environment."
STRATEGIC SYNERGIES Safecube already enables SMBs to track their containers with ease, centralising shipment data and delivering automated alerts for ETAs and key events. Integrating MariTrace's vessel tracking with Safecube's container-level visibility gives customers a unified view that links cargo to its carrier, enriched with risk intelligence and more accurate ETA predictions.
At the same time, SINAY's expertise in environmental monitoring – including CO2 emission calculators and underwater noise assessment tools – provides an additional environmental compliance layer for MariTrace's customer base of vessel owners, offshore contractors and insurers, alongside existing security and risk data.
MariTrace CEO and Co-founder Thomas Owen said: "Joining SINAY allows us to expand our offering by combining our risk and tracking capabilities with a broader set of data and analytics. Together, we can deliver deeper insight into both operational risk and performance."
Founded in 2008, SINAY has grown into an international provider of maritime data intelligence, with 130 employees, EUR 10m in annual revenue and EUR 12m raised from international investors.
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
EU Breaks Deadlock on Russian Sanctions but Defers Maritime Services Ban
EU added 46 vessels to its sanctions but deferred the maritime services ban (file photo)
The European Council broke weeks of deadlock, in part after the election loss for Hungarian President Victor Orban, and adopted its 20th sanction package on Russia along with a massive loan to Ukraine. Leaders highlighted that it is the biggest package adopted in two years, but it took weeks of political wrangling to get the package approved.
“Today we finally broke the deadlock,” said Kaja Kallas, who speaks for the Council on Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and chairs the Foreign Affairs Council. “The EU will provide Ukraine with what it needs to hold its ground while we inhibit those enabling Russia’s illegal aggression.”
They asserted that the package will further cripple Russia’s economy. It includes 120 individual listings ranging from more elements of the maritime sector to energy revenues, industrial segments of the economy, trade and financial services, including crypto.
One key sticking point was a load to Ukraine. The final measures adopted included a €90 billion ($105.5 billion) loan to support Ukraine.
The other key point that, however, failed to proceed was a proposed wider ban on maritime services. The EU is seeking to further rein in support for the energy transport industry. It adopted some measures but stopped short of maritime services. It said, however, that the groundwork had been laid. The next step will be coordination and discussion with the G7 and Price Cap Coalition before moving forward with the efforts to ban maritime services on Russian crude oil and gas.
The package, however, adds 46 vessels to the sanctions, establishing port access bans and denying the provision of a broad range of services. With these latest additions, the EU has now designated a total of 632 vessels.
It is also targeting non-EU tankers in the efforts to further curtail the shadow fleet. It is also targeting vessels used for transporting military equipment and grain taken from the occupied section of Ukraine.
The new measures also introduce mandatory due diligence checks for the sale of tankers. The goal is to make it more difficult for legitimate tankers to be acquired for operations in the shadow fleet. The package also extends the bans on providing maintenance and other services to Russian LNG carriers and icebreakers.
A ban was introduced on transactions with the Russian ports of Murmansk and Tuapse and the Indonesian oil terminal at the port of Karimum. The EU contends they are used to circumvent the price cap. Also starting in January 2027, it will be illegal to provide LNG terminal services to Russian entities.
Libya Again Warns That Wreck of Arctic Metagaz is Drifting Out of Control
52 days after the explosion the wrecked the LNG carrier, the hulk is again drifting out of control in the Mediterranean
Nearly two months after the Russian LNG carrier Arctic Metagaz was ripped apart by an explosion likely caused by a Ukrainian drone attack, the wreck is still a danger to navigation and the environment with no solution in place. Libyan authorities issued a new alert that the wreck has broken free in the Mediterranean.
The Libyan Ports and Maritime Transport Authority warns that the wreck broke its towline at midday local time on April 22. It was approximately 120 nautical miles north of Benghazi. According to the statement, the towing cable snapped due to adverse weather conditions during the operation to hold the wreck offshore. It warns that the wreck is “completely out of control and adrift.”
The wreck has broken away from the tugs several times since the operation began to hold it offshore near the edge of the Libyan EEZ and away from its offshore oil and gas operations. In the latest report, they are saying that the tugboat is currently unable to reattach the vessel due to technical issues with the tug.
The wreck drifted for weeks, at times approaching Malta and Italy before the currents and winds drove it toward Libya. It came close to shore before Libya became the operation, using a series of tugs to hold the wreck offshore. The emergency committee formed to oversee the operation had called for more powerful tugs to be part of the operation, and the offshore operators were warned to have boats on standby if the wreck approached.
Libya’s oil company had said it was working to bring in an international salvage team in partnership with Italy’s Eni. Reports have cited the difficulties in undertaking a salvage operation because of the sanctions imposed by the EU on Russian energy shipping.
Libya had explored bringing the wreck into a port, but reports said they do not have the capabilities to handle the vessel, which may have explosive quantities of natural gas still trapped in its tanks. It also has nearly 1,000 tons of fuel aboard.
The emergency committee was calling for expediting legal action on the flag state of the vessel (Russia) as well as invoking the international conventions, especially the Nairobi Wreck Removal Convention and the MARPOL Convention. A group of Mediterranean states also called on the IMO to help organize a salvage effort. Russia has said it is not its problem, but instead the concern of the country where the wreck is located, while the Libyans have said Russia must also issue an official letter of abandonment.
The current warning is telling ships to remain at least five nautical miles from the wreck and to report any change in the status of the vessel. Despite the heavy damage from the explosion and fires and a subsequent list, the wreck has remained afloat. The water ingress appeared to have been stopped by the subdivisions and LNG tanking systems.
Report: Arctic Routes to Remain Peripheral, Especially for Boxships
In the past few years, there has been a lot of hype about the growing ship traffic along the Arctic routes. But recent analysis shows that whle Arctic shipping has indeed surged, growth remains uneven. In a new report, credit insurance firm Coface said that the commercial impact of Arctic shipping routes is likely to remain marginal within the next five years. Nevertheless, Arctic routing offer significant benefits for certain commodity flows.
With climate change opening up navigation in the Arctic, the region is being seen as a viable alternative to the traditional routes. Add to the fact that critical chokepoints are also increasingly facing disruptions due to geopolitical tensions and drought. These factors combined have raised the transport viability of the Arctic. Arctic routes also offer reduced sailing distances - up to 40% less between East Asia and Northern Europe.
While the Arctic shipping outlook appears favorable, Coface’s analysis indicates that the region’s routes will primarily attract the transport of raw materials. Arctic routes will particularly offer significant cost savings to liquid bulk shipping (crude oil, diesel or LNG). Dry bulk is another segment that is likely to find Arctic shipping competitive, but only when ships can operate without icebreaker support.
On the other hand, the Arctic is expected to remain uncompetitive for container shipping, despite the shorter distances. Operational constraints, the limited size of vessels and the specific costs of Arctic navigation prevent it, at this stage, from competing with the economies of scale of traditional routes.
Overall, only about 3.5 percent of trade between East Asia, Northern Europe and North America is likely to use Arctic routes in the short term. Thus, the overall impact of Arctic shipping in the global trade is expected to be minimal. However, industries linked to cereals, energy, metals and timber will benefit from the Arctic routes.
In the short term, Coface sees the value of Arctic routes as more political than commercial. “Until container transport becomes economically viable on a large scale, the Arctic routes are unlikely to radically disrupt the major balances of global trade,” Coface added.
These findings are corroborated by a new publication by Norway’s research organization Fram Center (High North Research Center for Climate and Environment). The study analyzed shipping traffic in the High Arctic between 2013 and 2022. Largely, the focus was comparing traffic in High-Arctic Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs), consisting of major seas in the Arctic.
Vessels in the Barents Sea accounted for 74 percent of the total distance sailed in the High-Arctic LMEs in 2022. Vessels sailed 4.5 million nautical miles (nm) in the year than 10 years before, making the growth in the Barents Sea the largest. In contrast, traffic in the Northern Canadian Archipelago increased by only 2,000 nm, making the region to have the lowest share.
Remarkably, sailed distance tripled in the Kara Sea, with the LME becoming number two in 2022 traffic with a 7.8 percent share, followed by Baffin Bay with 7.3 percent. The Kara Sea exceptional performance could be explained by the steady increase in traffic of cargo ships. The launch of the Yamal Peninsula LNG project has seen a rise of crude oil and gas tankers of a size and type that had never been present in the Arctic before.
In the Barents Sea, fishing vessels constitute the biggest share of the traffic. This also applies to Baffin Bay, but in this region, there is a significant increase in small containerships, which serve settlements in Greenland and northern Canada. Bulk carrier traffic is also on the rise, owing to expansion of iron-ore mining on Baffin Island.
HD Hyundai Finalizes Its First International Contract for an Icebreaker
HD Hyundai finalized its first contract for an icebreaker to be built for Sweden (HD Hyundai)
The Swedish Maritime Authority and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries completed the contract for the construction of a new icebreaker to support operations in the Baltic. The vessel, which is critical for modernizing Sweden’s fleet, also marks the entry of South Korea’s shipbuilders into this segment of the international market.
HD Hyundai reports the contract is valued at $348.9 million for one icebreaker due for delivery in 2029. The vessel, which will be 126 meters (413 feet) in length, will be approximately 15,000 tons displacement. It will be a Polar Class 4 (PC4) icebreaker, meaning it can handle continuous ice breaking at approximately 1 to 1.2 meters (approximately 3 to 4 feet) in thickness.
Sweden had launched the project in October 2017, with the Maritime Authority submitting preliminary studies and recommending that its fleet of five vessels should be replaced by 2030. It worked with the Finnish Transport Agency and Aker Arctic Technology in Helsinki to develop the design. They said the vessel would be able to maintain a 32-meter (105-foot) wide channel.
Plans called for the vessel to have the capability to be powered by methanol in the future. HD Hyundai reports it will utilize an electric propulsion system. The ship will be used to perform icebreaking as well as fleet operation support, towing operations, and ice management in the Baltic.
According to the Swedish Maritime Administration, its icebreakers are critical to keeping northern ports open, which otherwise could have to close for up to 130 days a year. It highlights the critical role of the maritime trade to the country’s economy while highlighting that five of its six vessels were built in the 1970s and 1980s. The age of the ships has become a challenge and requires additional maintenance to keep them in operation.
A tender was launched in 2025 with a total of four bids, one from Norway, two from Finland, and HD Hyundai from South Korea. In addition to price, which Sweden said was the most important factor, it also considered the delivery timetable and technological capabilities of the yard. In November 2025, HD Hyundai was selected as the winner of the tender.
The results of the tender, however, were challenged in the Swedish courts. The Administrative Court found in favor of the Maritime Administration, but that decision was appealed. The SMA reported on April 14 that the Court of Appeals had decided not to “grant leave,” meaning the lower court’s decision was final and cleared the way for the shipbuilding contract.
HD Hyundai is calling it a “breakthrough” and is in keeping with its plans to expand internationally for specialized vessels. The company is already citing the opportunities with the 2024 ICE Pact between the United States, Canada, and Finland, which projected a $9 billion investment to build 70 to 90 icebreakers over the next decade.
“We will expand into new export markets in the special-purpose vessel sector based on our technological prowess and business integration capabilities,” said HD Hyundai Heavy Industries President Joo Won-ho (Head of Warship and Medium-sized Vessel Business).
Last year, the EU announced it would provide more than $6 million for a program running between 2025 and 2029 to renovate and modernize Sweden’s state icebreakers. It is a joint project with Finland and Estonia to ensure the continued operations of the icebreakers. This winter, the Baltic saw some of its most challenging conditions, placing high demands on the icebreaker fleet as the ice expanded and slowed vessel movements.
Sunday, April 26, 2026
From sun to subsoil, how countries are moving away from fossil fuels
Plant waste is turned into briquettes of biochar, or "green coal", in Chad
- Copyright AFP/File Joris Bolomey
Heating with geothermal energy, lighting with solar panels, cooking with biodegradable waste: how can we live with less oil and gas?
It’s a long-burning question — but one that is catching fire as energy costs soar due to the conflict in the Middle East, which has strangled exports of crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
With the global energy shock caused by the conflict expected to linger, AFP’s video journalists around the world have explored how countries are experimenting with the climate transition. – Geothermal in France –
For a long time, the owners of the building where Anne Chatelain lives near Paris resisted switching from gas heating to geothermal energy.
But on January 1 they finally began heating their homes using the natural heat from the subsoil — the soil immediately beneath the surface.
As energy bills soar elsewhere in the world, “Our property manager has announced a 20 percent reduction in heating and hot water bills for 2026 and 2027,” rejoices the 69-year-old retiree.
The tech is both climate-friendly and, as a local resource, “not subject to taxation and geopolitical upheavals” such as the war with Iran, says Gregory Mascarau, a Paris director for the French multinational electric utility company ENGIE.
Shallow geothermal energy allows for heating and cooling by using the temperature of the subsoil at depths of less than 200 meters (650 feet).
Deep geothermal energy involves extracting hot water from depths of 1,000 to 2,000 metres, where its temperature ranges from 80C to 150C.
Since 2023 it has resulted in roughly 25-30 percent savings compared to the cost of heat provided by fossils fuels, says Ludovic Feron, head of the real estate infrastructure department at Gustave Eiffel University.
The catch is that a suitable subsoil is required, and that deep geothermal energy in particular can be hampered by high costs and uncertainties.
In France, this type of heating represents only about one percent of final heat consumption — for now.
– ‘Green coal’ in Chad –
It looks like charcoal, but the black briquettes are actually made from plant waste: millet and sesame stalks, palm fronds and cobs.
The residues are sorted, ground and mixed with a maceration of gum arabic to facilitate ignition, and with clay to slow combustion.
“It doesn’t smoke, it lasts, and it’s economical. And I can see that it doesn’t blacken the pot, and there aren’t even any side effects,” says Sophie Saboura, 24, a resident of the Chadian capital N’Djamena.
The briquettes last up to three times longer than traditional charcoal, according to Ousmane Alhadj Oumarou, technical director of the Raikina Association for Socio-Economic Development (Adser) factory.
“From an environmental standpoint, eco-friendly charcoal contributes to sanitation. And it also reduces the effects of climate change. It also helps combat deforestation,” says Oumarou.
Adser produces about 10 tonnes of briquettes, used for cooking, every day — but they aren’t available everywhere.
“There are limits to its use. Because even the manufacturing process takes time … it can take a week,” says Pierre Garba, a renewable energy specialist.
“Sometimes, when there’s demand, you try calling, you wait, and wait, and wait,” confirms Saboura. – Solar in Pakistan –
The aerial view of Islamabad is striking: solar panels stretch as far as the eye can see from the rooftops of the lush, green Pakistani capital.
Pakistan’s shift to solar power is “one of the fastest consumer-led energy transitions on record”, according to a recent study by a Pakistani think tank.
Unlike Western economies, Pakistan — whose citizens have long struggled with energy shortages, blackouts and regular loadshedding — did not impose tariffs on solar technology from neighbouring China from 2013 to 2025.
The rise in oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has also spurred consumers to embrace solar power.
Imports have surged from one gigawatt in 2018 to 51 gigawatts this year.
In the bustling streets of the ancient Mughal city of Lahore, Pakistan’s cultural capital, 49-year-old shopkeeper Aftab Ahmed is looking for solar panels to install at his home.
“It has become so expensive that an average person can no longer afford fuel for a motorcycle or a car. Fuel prices are also affecting electricity bills, leading to further increases,” he says.
Solar power offers the possibility of “at least some savings”.
Friday, April 24, 2026
QatarEnergy launches first LNG exports from $10bn Golden Pass project in Texas
QatarEnergy has launched the first LNG exports from its Golden Pass project in Texas, deepening its presence in the US and strengthening its position in global gas markets.
QatarEnergy has launched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Golden Pass project in Texas, marking a milestone in its largest US investment
The cargo was loaded at the Sabine Pass facility, a joint venture with ExxonMobil, as the project moves towards full commercial operations.
The shipment was carried onboard the Al-Qaiyyah LNG carrier, which has a capacity of 174,000 cubic metres.
“This is a significant industry milestone that marks a new chapter in QatarEnergy's global efforts to meet rising LNG demand and ensure reliable supplies to international markets,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and CEO of QatarEnergy.
The LNG carrier is loaded at the Golden Pass facility in Sabine Pass, Texas. QatarEnergy
Golden Pass LNG is a project valued at more than $10 billion (€8.5 billion), in which QatarEnergy holds a 70% stake and ExxonMobil 30%. It is expected to produce around 18 million tonnes per annum once fully operational.
The Golden Pass export facility reached a major milestone in late March 2026 by successfully producing its first LNG from Train 1 — the first of three independent processing units. This marks the start of the project’s phased rollout, with the remaining two liquefaction units scheduled to begin operations across 2026 and 2027.
It is one of the largest LNG export developments in the United States and is part of QatarEnergy's efforts to expand its LNG portfolio beyond Qatar, alongside its North Field expansion, which aims to raise domestic production capacity to 142 million tonnes per year by 2030.
The United States is currently the world's largest LNG exporter, and the Golden Pass project gives QatarEnergy direct access to export capacity from the US Gulf Coast, where shipments can reach both European and Asian markets.
The project also comes as global LNG demand remains strong, particularly in Europe and Asia, keeping pressure on new supply.
QatarEnergy Trading, the company’s LNG marketing arm, is expected to take around 70% of output.
