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)
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Marcura Husbandry Targets the Vessel OPEX Blind Spot
For most ship managers, husbandry port calls sit in an uncomfortable gap. They are operationally critical: the crew changes, repairs, bunkering stops and maintenance calls that keep vessels running - yet they are routinely managed through email chains, informal coordination and judgment calls made without reliable data. The costs are real; the visibility is not.
Launching today, Marcura Husbandry is built to close that gap, bringing planning, procurement, execution and benchmarking into a single connected workflow.
Of the roughly 1.3 million port calls recorded globally each year, close to a fifth are classed as husbandry, according to Marcura’s analysis. Despite the significant number of calls that exist specifically to maintain vessels, the process governing them has barely changed in decades.
Masters scope services informally. Agents are appointed based on familiarity rather than contract compliance. Preliminary invoices are approved without benchmark context, and when the final disbursement account arrives higher than expected, which it routinely does, the cause is rarely identified and almost never recovered.
Janani Yagnamurthy, SVP, Product, Marcura, said: "Marcura has spent 25 years at the centre of port spend management, processing disbursement accounts and building the data that underpins how the industry understands port costs. That depth of proprietary data, combined with the expertise we have built internally, gives us unmatched insight that helps drive value. Marcura Husbandry brings this capability into the full vessel management lifecycle, and we believe it marks a fundamental shift in how ship managers approach non-commercial port call costs."
Marcura Husbandry brings cost intelligence into the workflow before any agent is appointed. The Estimator module draws on historical data, port profiles and vessel characteristics to set an expected husbandry cost, so teams can compare ports and budgets before procurement starts. Where contracted rates exist, they surface automatically at approval. Where they do not, a structured digital RFQ brings every agent quote into a standardised format and shows an accurate market benchmark alongside each one.
Once an agent is appointed, the PDA is screened against benchmark rates, contracted rates and historical spend before approval. The FDA gets the same check when it arrives. Every call feeds vessel and voyage spend analytics, PDA-to-FDA variance reporting and updated market benchmarks, giving teams the evidence to negotiate, renew contracts and report with confidence.
Marcura Husbandry is available now. Find more information and book a demo here.
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
GT Wings New Performance Assessment Tool for Jet Sail Wind Propulsion
MV Vectis Progress with AirWing - credit: GT Wings
GT Wings has introduced a holistic ship performance assessment tool to support early-stage evaluation of its AirWing™ wind-assisted propulsion system. The tool, developed by independent wind assist experts Blue Wasp Marine and based on its proprietary Pelican Suite™ web-based platform, will enable GT Wings to develop and submit reliable and structured indications of potential fuel, emissions, and regulatory savings.
RINA’s review and verification confirm that the modelling methodology and performance assessment framework of the Pelican Suite™ tool are aligned with recognised industry standards and guidelines. This Approval in Principle provides confidence that the approach is suitable for early-stage evaluation of wind-assisted propulsion solutions, offering shipowners a reliable basis for preliminary technical and commercial assessments.
Strengthening early-stage performance assessment
GT Wings has developed AirWing™, a Jet Sail wind propulsion system using controlled suction and blowing to achieve high aerodynamic performance with a minimal deck footprint. As wind-assisted propulsion adoption accelerates, shipowners are increasingly seeking reliable early-stage insights to inform both technical and commercial decisions.
GT Wings’ Jet Sail system has already been installed onboard Carisbrooke Shipping’s MV Vectis Progress, with additional orders from Grieg Maritime Group, and the company has completed more than 80 early-stage performance assessments to date. This new tool builds on that experience, enabling more consistent and transparent initial evaluations.
Faster, more robust early-stage insight
The assessment tool enables rapid, route-based simulations to estimate potential fuel, emissions and regulatory savings across different vessel types, operating profiles, and AirWing™ configurations.
Using a four-degrees-of-freedom (4DOF) modelling approach, the tool provides a consistent, physics-based indication of performance. This allows shipowners to compare options and build an early business case with greater confidence.
Independent modelling approved by RINA
Blue Wasp Marine provides physics-based maritime performance modelling and simulation tools that are applied across a range of wind-assisted propulsion technologies. Its Pelican Suite™ software enables consistent, technology-neutral assessment of aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performance.
To further strengthen confidence in the methodology, the modelling approach and outputs were verified in line with industry practices by RINA, supporting alignment with recognised standards such as MEPC circ.896 and the ITTC Guidelines for Wind Powered Ships (2024), providing an additional layer of assurance for shipowners.
By combining GT Wings’ project experience with independent modelling and a clear verification pathway, the tool provides a neutral and credible view of performance potential.
Jonny Gambell, Sales and Strategy Director at GT Wings, said: “Our Jet Sail technology represents a fundamentally new approach to wind propulsion. To best serve our customers’ interests, it’s vital that early performance assessments are credible and transparent. This tool gives shipowners a trustworthy first view of potential savings, helping them to understand the return on investment and the reduced emissions that our technology brings. We are fortunate to be working with Blue Wasp, who’s unrivalled simulation expertise has helped us to develop this state-of-the-art performance tool.”
Giovanni Bordogna, CEO and R&D Lead of Blue Wasp, added: “We are proud to contribute to the development and credibility of the Wind Assist industry through state-of-the-art performance prediction tools. This approval from RINA for our Pelican Suite™ software is an important recognition of our work and confirms that we are progressing in the right direction.”
Patrizio Di Francesco, Special Projects North Europe Business Development Manager at RINA, commented: “As a member of the International Windship Association (IWSA), RINA is pleased to collaborate with GT Wings in addressing the challenges related to wind propulsion performance prediction, leveraging its newly developed Rules for Wind Assisted Propulsion Systems (WAPS) and granting an Approval in Principle to support a robust and reliable assessment framework.”
The products and services herein described in this press release are not endorsed by The Maritime Executive.
Jones Act Supporters Launch Campaign to End White House's Waiver
The Trump administration has waived the Jones Act for petroleum and fertilizer cargoes from March through mid-August, covering all U.S. regions and all ports. The waiver is unprecedented in length and scope, and U.S. domestic shipping operators are pushing back hard. This week, the American Maritime Partnership - the voice of the domestic maritime industry - launched a national advertising campaign aimed at convincing the White House to bring the waiver to an end.
“Clearly, President Trump has been led to believe that waiving the Jones Act is an effective way to lower gas prices, when we all see that prices have not gone down with the waiver. What the waiver does is put America last by allowing foreign operators and mariners to take American business and jobs,” said Jennifer Carpenter, President of the American Maritime Partnership.
Through May 21, about 60 waivers have been issued for foreign-flag vessels, according to RBN Energy. The largest share are for fuel deliveries from the Texas coast to California, a perennially expensive market for gasoline. California has lost substantial refinery capacity due to closures in recent years, and is heavily import-dependent; with the new access to foreign tanker tonnage, it has taken in more than three million barrels of petroleum products from Texas refiners since the start of the waiver period. Crude oil from the Gulf - including Strategic Petroleum Reserve barrels out of Louisiana - has also been shipped to refineries in California, making up for lost deliveries from overseas. California isn't the only beneficiary: Smaller numbers of foreign-flag voyages have occurred from the Texas coast to customers in Florida, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico, RBN found, and a handful of cargoes have made it all the way north to Alaska.
But if the waiver has the power to bring down the pump price of gasoline, it has yet to demonstrate it in a visible way in California, where the largest share of waiver voyages have ended up. Average gas prices reached $6 per gallon in the state in early May, and have remained at that level ever since. Domestic crude oil prices have fallen by about 20 percent over the same period, from about $105 to about $87 per barrel.
Commodity research firm Argus says that the savings from shipping on foreign-flag tonnage amount to about six cents per gallon, not enough to materially affect the price at the pump. The pro-Jones Act Center for Maritime Strategy puts the number even lower. Meanwhile, according to AMP, the waiver is having significant negative effects on the future of the Jones Act fleet: the group says that it has prompted one investment platform to put a halt to a planned $1 billion capital raise for American domestic shipping, putting at risk another $2.6 billion in shipyard contracts.
"The waiver] directly undermines the very policies that President Trump campaigned on and has championed – buy American, hire American, and strengthen our national might. The President should trust his instincts, follow his outlined policies and put America and our national security first," said AMP's Jennifer Carpenter in a statement.
The true test may be still to come. In the initial phase of the waiver period, international product tanker availability was tight, limiting domestic-voyage arbitrage opportunities due to chartering costs. Day rates on the U.S. Gulf MR index have since come down significantly, reducing the financial barrier to trading domestically with foreign-flag tonnage.
Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Porsche Over Felicity Ace Fire
Judge ruled that the shipowner hadn't proven that an electric sports car started the fire
A 2022 Porsche Taycan electric car (Press handout photo courtesy Porsche)
A lawsuit against carmaker Porsche over the fire aboard the car carrier Felicity Ace has been resolved in favor of the famous German auto brand.
Felicity Ace departed the ro/ro port of Emden, Germany on February 10, 2022 with a load of 4,000 cars on board, all built by the Volkswagen Group. The consignment included high-value autos from VW's luxury Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini brands. Some of these vehicles were all-electric or hybrid-electric, fitted with lithium-ion batteries.
On February 16, a fire broke out on a vehicle deck while the ship was about 200 nautical miles off the coast of the Azores. The crew were not able to control the blaze, and they abandoned ship successfully. All 22 were rescued by the Portuguese Navy, and no injuries were reported. The ship, however, was badly damaged: burn patterns on the exterior suggested complete combustion in most cargo holds and spaces above the waterline. The vessel burned for about one week, and when it was finally out, salvors boarded to rig up a tow. The salvage team began to tow the hulk to a port of refuge, but while under way, the Felicity Ace took on a severe list; the wreck suddenly sank on the morning of March 1 - taking with it hundreds of millions of dollars in burnt cars.
The Felicity Ace after the fire, February 2022 (Portuguese Navy)
After the sinking, shipowner MOL and its insurers filed two lawsuits against Porsche in two different German regional courts, one in Braunschweig and another in Stuttgart. The plaintiffs alleged that the batteries inside of a new Porsche Taycan all-electric sports car was responsible for starting the fire on the vehicle deck. More than 100 high end Taycans were on board; depending on options, these vehicles were each worth about $80-180,000 each (MSRP) at the time of shipment.
The plaintiffs contended that the risks of the battery technology were new and little-known at the time, and that the automaker should have given more warning. VW countered that the fire could have started a different way, and that the vessel's firefighting procedures and systems were at fault for the spread of the blaze. Initial attempts at mediation were not successful, and both suits proceeded to trial.
On Wednesday, the Stuttgart court concluded that it had not been given conclusive evidence that a Taycan had started the fire, and ruled in Porsche's favor. The ruling is still subject to possible appeal.
The Braunschweig trial is still under way.
Product Tanker Catches Fire Anchored Off Bangladesh
Teams were fighting the fire aboard the product tanker anchored at Chittagong (Bangladesh Coast Guard)
The Bangladesh Coast Guard reports it was working to control a fire that was burning on a product tanker anchored off Chittagong. The fire was reported at 0725, coming on the holiday of Eid al-Adha, one of the holy days of the Islamic calendar, coinciding with the culmination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
The tanker Meghna Trader (13,000 dwt) was built in 2007 and is owned by Meghna Group of Industries (MGI), one of the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh. The ship is part of a fleet operated by Meghna Edible Oils Refinery, a major industrial facility and producer of edible vegetable oils, including soybean, sunflower, and mustard oils.
The ship had been at anchor for the past 10 days after arriving from Indonesia. The fire teams reported they were able to rescue 22 crewmembers without injury.
Coast Guard and rescue teams were reported to be working tirelessly on fire control and extinguishing the fire. Images showed fireboats spraying down the vessel. The Coast Guard vessel Shyamol Bagla and a Coast Guard tug, Promatta, responded. In addition, two high-speed boats from the fire departments and shore teams were also assisting.
In just under three hours, the Coast Guard reported the external portion of the fire had been extinguished. However, the fire was continuing to burn on the interior of the ship, and they were continuing efforts to extinguish the fire.
Fire Breaks Out Aboard Ro/Pax Ferry at Port of Naples
Firefighters at the port of Naples, Italy have successfully controlled a blaze that broke out yesterday aboard a moored ferry near the city's famous Piazza Mercato.
The incident occurred aboard the ferry GNV Phoenix, a ro/pax ferry that was moored at La Nuova Meccanica Navale for maintenance work. The blaze broke out on the seventh deck at about 1845 hours on Wednesday evening. All 85 people who were aboard the ship at the time of the fire evacuated safely, and there were no injuries reported.
Firefighting work continued through the night, aided from the waterside by one fireboat and three tugs and from shore by the Vigili del Fuoco, Italy's national fire department. As a precautionary measure, the city of Naples' health authority issued a shelter-in-place order, recommending against going outside or using ventilation systems. So far, air quality readings suggest no issues, according to regional environmental agency ARPAC.
Firefighters worked through into Thursday morning and finally got the blaze under control, preventing it from spreading through the ship. Decontamination work was under way as of Thursday morning, according to Vigili del Fuoco.
The port of Naples has remained continuously open to marine traffic, with the exception of Piers 29 and 30, where firefighting operations were under way.
GNV Phoenix (ex name Athara) is a 23-year-old ro/pax ferry, and was previously owned by Tirrenia. She trades domestically and has no history of overseas port state control inspections.
USCG Catches Four Chinese Stowaways on Barge Arriving From Florida
Chinese and Dominican stowaways under guard on a patrol boat in San Juan Harbor (USCG)
Last weekend, the U.S. Coast Guard busted a group of eight stowaways on a barge in San Juan's harbor, the latest in a string of interdictions on tug-and-tow traffic to Puerto Rico. This time was different in the unusual composition of the would-be immigrant group and the last port of call: the group was on board a vessel that had departed from the continental United States, not a foreign country.
On May 22, Sector San Juan received a report from CBP's Air and Marine Operations Center, which reported that possible stowaways had been spotted aboard the barge tow connected to the U.S.-flagged tug Southern Dawn.
AIS data provided by Pole Star Global shows that Southern Dawn's port of departure was Jacksonville, Florida. She left on May 16 and got under way for Puerto Rico, maintaining a steady speed of 7-8 knots throughout the voyage and making no foreign port calls, stops or diversions.
Though the tug had been on a domestic route, foreign nationals had managed to get on board the tow at some point before arrival in San Juan, according to the Coast Guard. Four Chinese nationals and four Dominican Republic nationals were apprehended by a Coast Guard boat crew, and were transferred to CBP for processing at the Puerto Nuevo Terminals in San Juan's harbor.
“The coordination and swift response of the Coast Guard and our partner agencies to apprehend and process these stowaways demonstrates our collective commitment to securing and protecting the U.S. maritime border and navigable waterways in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” said Cmdr. Matthew Romano, Coast Guard Sector San Juan's chief of response.
Chinese nationals account for about 2-3 percent of all illegal immigrants in the United States, but apprehensions of unauthorized Chinese migrants have been on the rise on the southern border in recent years. About 25,000 arrests of Chinese nationals occurred at the border in 2024, according to the Border Patrol.
It is unclear whether the stowaways boarded in Jacksonville or at sea, and why they attempted to reach Puerto Rico rather than Florida, Southern Dawn's port of origin and next port of call.
Southern Dawn is a twin screw, EMD-powered line-haul tug originally built at Bollinger as the Hoku Ke'a, delivered to Young Brothers and used in the Hawaiian trades. She was resold in 2021 to a company based in Louisiana and given her current name, according to Tugboat Information. AIS data shows that she has since returned to Jacksonville.
CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M
Maritime Leader SS Teo Takes Leave of Absence to Fight Price-Fixing Charges
SS Teo, 2018 (press handout courtesy Singapore Business Federation)
Well-known Singaporean executive Teo Siong Seng (SS Teo) is taking a leave of absence from his role as chairman of Pacific International Lines in order to focus on his defense against U.S. charges of price-fixing. The charges are connected with his role as CEO of container manufacturer Singamas, a related company.
Teo, 71, is one of seven executives in the container-manufacturing industry who face U.S. charges of conspiring to restrict production and drive up equipment prices during the pandemic-era cargo surge. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that in 2019-2020, a group of Chinese container manufacturers - Dong Fang, CXIC, Singamas, market leader CIMC, and two unnamed co-conspirators - began working together to suppress production and raise their prices for standard dry shipping containers. They allegedly agreed to restricted shifts and hours for their respective production lines and to install video cameras so that all cartel members could verify each others' compliance. By late 2022, the conspirators expanded the restrictions to include comprehensive caps on "total allowable capacity" for each company's annual production, DOJ alleges.
The arrangement allegedly boosted profit margins by massive amounts for the participants. Singamas, under SS Teo's leadership, swung from a $110 million loss in 2019 to a profit of $190 million in 2021.
Facing these charges, Teo has announced that he will be putting his high-profile posts in Singapore's business world on pause. He plans not to seek reelection to his post as chairman of the Singapore Business Federation when his term expires at the end of June, and he will be taking a leave of absence from his roles at the Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce, Enterprise Singapore, National University of Singapore and Pacific International Lines, where he is executive chairman.
Another Singamas executive, Chinese national Vick Ma, is under arrest in France and facing extradition to the United States.
SS Teo is the son of Chang Yun Chung, a well-known shipowner who founded Pacific International Lines in 1967. Teo took over as managing director of the firm as 1992, and became chairman in 2018. Today, PIL has about 100 ships and 300,000 TEU of capacity, making it the 12th-largest container line globally. With vessels ranging from feeders to ULCVs, it operates transoceanic as well as regional services.
Cable Layer Holed in Collision with Boxship off Pakistan
Damage to the bow of a cable ship after a collision off Pakistan (Pakistani TV)
Officials in Pakistan are investigating to understand what happened overnight on May 28 when a cable ship and a containership maneuvering outside the port of Karachi collided. No one was injured, but there are reports that containers have fallen overboard, and the hull of the cable ship is holed, and it is showing significant damage.
The cable ship Niwa (7,900 dwt) is owned and managed from the UAE. The ship, which is 146 meters (479 feet) in length, was underway, maneuvering toward the port of Karachi. The ship was built in 1991 and was arriving from Salalah, Oman.
A Turkish-owned containership, Papu (38,000 dwt), was outbound from Karachi to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The ship is registered in Liberia and has a capacity of 2,700 TEU. It was built in 2008 and is 215 meters (705 feet) in length.
Government officials and the port authority report that the collision took place outside the port near an anchorage. Port tugs quickly responded and escorted the holed cable ship to a dock in Karachi while the containership was instructed to hold in the anchorage. There are no reports of damage to the containership, but media reports indicate an undetermined number of containers went overboard.
Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Junaid Anwar Chaudhry said the authorities were assessing the structural damage to both ships and evaluating the environmental impact, but that operations in the port were continuing as normal. He said the initial information suggested negligence on the part of the masters of both vessels.
The containership was cited by Chinese officials in November 2025 for 17 deficiencies during a Port State inspection. Among the issues listed were the auxiliary engine and the condition of the steering gear.
Thai Government Invests to Secure the Gulf of Thailand
HTMS Thepha shepherds Cambodian fishing boats out of Thai waters (@warship525)
The still relatively-new Thai government, reflecting a greater concern than previously over fractious relations with Cambodia, is further strengthening its defenses in areas where they might be particularly needed if conflict breaks out again, particularly in the Gulf of Thailand.
Conflict between the two countries was focused last summer on the disputed border in Sa Kaeo, Ubon Ratchathani and Si Sa Ket provinces on Thailand’s southeastern border. Cambodian villagers who had built homes and farmed on the Thai side of the border attempted to claim squatters’ rights, and to have the border adjusted. But there was a popular revolt at concessions being made to Cambodia in the dispute, which many believed was due to a corrupt relationship between previous Thai government figures in the Shinawatra family and the casino interests of the Cambodian Hun Sen ruling family. The Thai military insisted that a more robust line should be taken with Cambodia, which was a mandate supported in the election that followed. A peace agreement imposed in July last year was felt by many Thais to be too lenient to Cambodia, whose forces had been pushed back from the disputed areas.
Trouble erupted once again in February this year when it was found that Cambodia had been laying mines on the Thai side of the border. But more troubling were clashes at sea, when on February 9 and 12, about 25 Cambodian fishing boats intruded approximately one nautical mile into Thai waters off the islands of Koh Kut and Koh Klang, at the southern end of the Khong Yai panhandle of Thai territory in Trat Province.
On both occasions the Krabi Class patrol boat HTMS Thepha (P525) intercepted the fishing boats and escorted the intruders out of Thai waters after warning shots were fired. The Thai Prime Minister General Anutin Charnvirakul in response suspended border negotiations in progress and concessions previously made relating to Thai territorial control of waters in the area, where Thailand had producing oil fields. The border with Cambodia remains closed.
Soon to be in Royal Thai Navy colors, a pair of C-295 maritime surveillance aircraft (Airbus)
In the light of these clashes, and election promises to bolster Thailand’s defenses made by General Charnvirakul, Thailand has ordered two C295 maritime surveillance aircraft. The aircraft will be based at U-Tapao near Pattaya, adjacent to the disputed waters in the Gulf of Thailand, and will be operated by the Royal Thai Navy. Equipped with maritime search radar and an electro-optical/infra-red sensor suite, they should be able to build a single day and night onboard maritime intelligence picture. Thailand already has three C-295 transport variants operated by the Army, with two additional C-295s on order for the Air Force.
The Khong Yai area of Thai-Khmer coastal dispute, the Ranong to Chumphon Land Corridor (red) and the Funan Technical Canal shortcut from Kep to the Mekong River (blue) at Phnom Penh and thence China (Google Earth/CJRC)
Strengthening maritime and coastal surveillance is an important issue for Thailand. The realization that the Strait of Hormuz was vulnerable to closure has prompted a review of other maritime choke points, of which the Strait of Malacca is most prominent, and through which 30% of global maritime sea traffic passes. Singapore and Malaysia are opposed to imposing transit or pilotage fees on transits through the Strait, and after some hesitancy Indonesia now agrees with this line as well. But China is keen on reducing its dependency on the choke point and its potential exposure to closure. So it is a keen sponsor of the Funan Techno Canal links the Mekong from Phnom Penh to the Gulf of Thailand through a compliant Cambodia, avoiding a possibly belligerent Vietnam; it is scheduled to open in 2028. Thailand’s planned Southern Economic Corridor would then reduce the need to run the Strait of Malacca, and also save 650 nm and four days of sea passage. The Thai plan, still in the project definition phase, is to build road, rail and pipelines, all linked with two deep-water ports at Ranong and Chumphon, rather than a canal. Despite Singapore’s attractions as a highly efficient port, the corridor would have strong cost advantages, and could be transformative for Thailand: so it wants to make sure it dominates the Gulf of Thailand and the waters between Chumphon and Kep, notwithstanding the border dispute with Cambodia and the presence of the Chinese naval base at Ream.
US Adds Sanctions on Tankers and Iranian Oil Awaiting Trump’s Decision
U.S. forces continue to press the blockade while talks are reported to be near a conclusion (CENTCOM)
The United States Treasury and Department of State continued with their efforts of “maximum pressure” with sanctions on Iran as the decision on the new ceasefire to end the war was reportedly near. The United States has been increasing the financial pressure through sanctions and the blockade in an effort to bring Iran to the negotiations and win favorable terms.
Donald Trump said he would be meeting with his advisers on Friday to review the status of the agreement. They said he would be making a “final determination,” although the Iranian said terms have not yet been reached.
U.S. forces continue to enforce the blockade against Iran. CENTCOM said as of May 29, a total of 115 commercial vessels have been redirected to “ensure no commerce enters or leaves Iranian ports.” TankerTrackers.com said on Wednesday that it calculated that “There are close to 60 million barrels of Iranian crude oil trapped by the U.S. Navy blockade. That is nearly $6 billion in oil revenue that currently is not reaching Tehran.”
The Department of State on Thursday reported it was increasing the sanctions to reduce the revenue that the Iranian regime receives. It said it was adding eight tankers and the companies involved in their operations, as well as three energy traders. Concurrently, Treasury reported it was sanctioning an oil sales network that facilitated the movement of tens of millions of barrels of Iranian oil. They asserted the funds were being funneled to the IRGC, Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff, and its military apparatus.
The sanctions were extended to ship managers based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, and a shipping company registered in the Marshall Islands. The tankers included both product and crude oil vessels, and they ranged from registries in Palau to the Marshall Islands, Panama, Comoros, Cameroon, and San Marino.
The NGO UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran) tracks around 200 tankers that have been sanctioned since 2020. It says that about one-in-three of the nearly 600 vessels it has tracked over the past six years involved in the Iranian oil trade.
The U.S. State Department also imposed sanctions on three traders of Iranian-origin petrochemical products. It included a trader based in Qatar, a Singapore-based company that it says was involved in the export of over $900 thousand worth of Iranian petrochemical products, and an India-based trader that it says imported approximately $54.6 million of Iranian petrochemical products.
Iran is believed to be pushing not only for the end of the U.S. blockade but also for an end to these sanction programs.
Trump, on social media on Friday, listed three conditions, Iran’s nuclear program, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and all sea mines destroyed. Reports indicate the ceasefire would be for 60 days, during which time negotiations would proceed on the enriched uranium and to finalize the terms of the agreement.
Trump Says U.S. Will End Naval Blockade of Iran
The U.S. has redirected 115 ships in the past six weeks during the blockade (CENTCOM)
Listing out his conditions for the ceasefire agreement on social media on Friday, Donald Trump said the U.S. would lift its naval blockade. He did not give a timeline, but said ships caught in the region may start the process of “heading home.”
Roughly a quarter of the large oil tankers trapped inside the Persian Gulf at the outbreak of the Iran war have managed to slip out, reports Bloomberg. Based on AIS signals and other data, it believes 29 of the 109 supertankers stuck in the Persian Gulf have either slipped out or gained permission from the Iranians for the transit.
However, traffic through the Strait has continued at a trickle, with even fewer vessels willing to chance a return trip back into the Persian Gulf due to the fears they could become caught. On Friday, the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, and World Trade Organization issued a statement warning of the lasting impact. In addition to a rapid drawdown of the world’s oil reserves, they warned that the continued disruption was having broad impacts on food and other critical supply chains.
Shortly before Trump’s statement, CENTCOM provided its daily update, reporting that a total of 115 commercial vessels have been redirected to ensure no commerce enters or leaves Iranian ports. While it no longer cites the four vessels that were disabled, it said the enforcement was ongoing. The number of vessels rose by a few each day.
“Ships caught in the Strait due to our amazing and unprecedented naval blockade, which will now be lifted, may start the process of ‘heading home!’ Say HELLO to your wives, husbands, parents, and families…” wrote Trump.
The lifting of the blockade, Trump said, was part of the efforts to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He asserted that Iran had to immediately open the Strait with no tolls, for unrestricted shipping traffic in both directions. He also said the U.S. had already detonated most of the mines, but made another condition that Iran would complete the immediate removal and/or detonation of any mines that are left, while asserting, “which will not be many.”
The key conditions are that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon or bomb, and he asserted the U.S. would “unearth” the enriched uranium, which is buried deep underground in the collapsed structures bombed last year by the United States. He said only the U.S. and China have the mechanical capability to unearth the uranium. He said the International Atomic Energy Agency would also be involved, and the uranium destroyed. He made no mention of Iran’s enrichment capabilities.
No timeline was provided, but he said that he was heading into the Situation Room to meet with advisers. He said he would be making a “final determination.” Trump has not commented, but reports said he left the meeting after two hours and had not reached a decision.
Iran has yet to make a public statement on the terms or if it has agreed to the terms. Hours earlier, a military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei warned Iran would launch attacks if the U.S. naval blockade “continues beyond a certain timeframe.
Experts agree that Iran’s exports of oil have largely been brought to a halt. TankerTrackers.com on Wednesday estimated that “There are close to 60 million barrels of Iranian crude oil trapped by the U.S. Navy blockade. That is nearly $6 billion in oil revenue that currently is not reaching Tehran.”
Iran has repeatedly said that any agreement would have to include a pullback of U.S. forces. The U.S. currently has approximately 20 warships in the region to maintain the line east of the Strait of Hormuz to enforce the blockade that Trump announced in mid-April.
