Maritime News from gCaptain.com

The Trump administration has doubled its maritime insurance backstop to $40 billion, expanding a flagship effort to restart commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz—even as shipowners continue to largely stay away.

Reunification marks major shift in offshore oversight model built after Deepwater Horizon.

President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. can open the Strait of Hormuz with a little more time, as pressure mounts for his administration to find a quick resolution to a war against Iran.

Container spot freight rates on the main east-west trades largely flatlined this week as excess capacity and uneven demand failed to further spur recent pricing increases by carriers.

By Weilun Soon and Samy Adghirni (Bloomberg) — A French container ship and a Japanese-owned tanker have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, in what appear to be the first such transits...

By Erik Wasson and Gregory Korte (Bloomberg) President Donald Trump is preparing to release a fiscal year 2027 budget plan on Friday that will frame his party’s midterm election message around...

A Japanese-linked liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier has successfully transited the Strait of Hormuz, marking the first such passage by a Japan-affiliated vessel since the waterway was effectively shut by conflict in the region, its operator said on Friday.

Iran targeted more sites in Arab Gulf states overnight and into Friday, hours after US President Donald Trump issued fresh threats against Iranian infrastructure to pressure Tehran to start peace negotiations.

The Swedish Coast Guard said on Friday it had seized an oil tanker in the Baltic Sea that is believed to be part of the Russian shadow fleet and suspected to be the source of a 12 km oil spill off the island of Gotland.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday they planned to boost defense cooperation and work together to address the economic and energy crises triggered by the war in Iran.

A container ship signaling French ownership has exited the Strait of Hormuz, in what appears to be the first known transit by a vessel linked to Western Europe since the war all but shuttered the vital waterway.

Detentions of Panama-flagged vessels by China that followed a Panamanian court ruling raise serious concerns about efforts to undermine rule of law in the Latin American country, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.

The U.S. trade deficit widened in February as a rebound in imports offset strong growth in exports, which increased to a record high, potentially keeping trade on track to subtract from economic growth in the first quarter.

The liquefied natural gas carrier Arctic Metagaz is “completely out of control at sea” in the Mediterranean after a towing attempt collapsed at around 0400 local time on April 2 due to severe weather, according to an urgent notice issued by Libya’s Ports and Maritime Transport Authority. 

President Donald Trump finally tried to sell the American public on his Iran war. But his primetime address five weeks into the messy conflict instead underscored the US president’s growing defensive posture, as pressure mounts on global shipping routes, gas prices and his political party.

Britain will host talks on Thursday aimed at forming a coalition of countries to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. President Donald Trump said securing the vital waterway was a problem for other nations to resolve.

The Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints—remains effectively closed, sending shockwaves through global trade, energy markets, and financial systems, according to a new report from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 

In recent days, the operator of an oil tanker stuck in the Persian Gulf received a compelling proposal. After weeks at anchor with missiles and drones passing overhead, it could finally sail safely out through the Strait of Hormuz and into the open ocean — escorted by the Iranian Navy. But first it would need to change its registration and raise the flag of Pakistan, according to a company executive, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive conversations.

U.S. offshore oil production surged to a record 714 million barrels in 2025, marking a new high for output from the Outer Continental Shelf and underscoring the growing role of deepwater projects in the nation’s energy mix.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a US insurance program meant to boost shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will begin soon, a move that may help revive flows of much of the world’s oil and gas supplies.