Government Update News

Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Chairman Laura DiBella joined the U.S. delegation to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) this week for the 84th session of the Maritime Environmental Protection Committee in London. As part of the delegation, Chairman DiBella is reinforcing the U.S.’s opposition to the IMO Net-Zero Framework (NZF). The NZF is, plainly, an unnecessary tax on U.S. shippers and vessels operating in international waters. The NZF would cost the maritime industry billions of dollars annually. As the largest consumer of imported goods, these costs will be directly passed onto U.S. consumers.The FMC is invested in the protection of U.S.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez opened the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 84), urging Member States to find convergence and make meaningful progress on the IMO Net-Zero Framework to cut global shipping emissions and set an example of effective multilateralism.His opening remarks:"Good morning, distinguished delegates, welcome to the 84th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee.Situation in the Strait of Hormuz“Before turning to the work of this session…

An LNG tanker managed by UAE's ADNOC has crossed the Strait of Hormuz and appears to be near India, ship-tracking data showed on Monday.If confirmed, this will be the first loaded LNG tanker to cross the strait since the Iran war started on February 28. Adnoc did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.The 136,357-cubic-meter tanker, which is managed by Adnoc Logistics & Services and was last seen in the Gulf on March 30, has shown up off the west coast of India…

President Donald Trump granted a 90-day extension to a shipping waiver that makes it easier to move oil, fuel and fertilizer around the United States, the White House said on Friday, the latest effort to curb rising energy costs linked to the war with Iran.The move reflects a broader push by the White House to dampen politically sensitive fuel price spikes ahead of November’s midterm elections, where affordability is expected to be a defining issue for voters. Recent polling shows…

President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday that it had reached a deal to end two more U.S. offshore wind leases in exchange for $885 million in pledged investments in domestic fossil fuels.The projects, one in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific, are managed by Ocean Winds, a joint venture between France's ENGIE and Portugal's EDP Renewables.The announcement comes a month after French energy giant TotalEnergies reached a similar agreement with the Interior Department to redirect $1 billion from offshore wind leases to U.S. oil and gas production.

IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez has called on all member states to support efforts to address the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, where around 20,000 seafarers remain trapped and unable to leave.In an informal briefing to member states and industry representatives, Dominguez confirmed that several vessels had been seized and detained in the region over the past few days. He urged maximum caution, considering potential mines present throughout the Strait and threat of further attacks on ships. “My call is to release the seafarers because they are not at fault,” he said.

U.S. Central Command said it intercepted a merchant vessel trying to get through the blockade of Iran on Saturday.The ship, identified as the Sevan, was part of a 19-vessel "shadow fleet" transporting Iranian oil and gas products to foreign markets, the U.S. military said.Central Command said it was intercepted in the Arabian Sea by a U.S. Navy helicopter from the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney and was "currently complying with U.S. military direction to turn back to Iran under escort."The “shadow fleet” vessels have been sanctioned by the U.S.

The shipping industry is getting ahead of discussions at MEPC 84 next week by reaffirming their commitment to the IMO.BIMCO, CLIA, ICS, INTERCARGO, INTERFERRY, INTERTANKO and WSC, representing the global commercial shipping fleet, issued a statement saying they remain committed to pursuing the ambition established within the 2023 IMO Strategy on Reduction of GHG Emissions from Ships, having invested and committed billions of dollars to trial and implement the use of alternative…

The White House is expected to extend the Jones Act waiver for up to 90 days as early as Friday to help blunt fuel price pressures tied to the Iran conflict, according to two sources familiar with the decision.The move would temporarily ease requirements that goods transported between U.S. ports be carried on American-built and American-crewed vessels, allowing foreign-flagged ships to move fuel and other key commodities more freely as the administration seeks to contain energy…

Navy Secretary John Phelan has been fired, a U.S. official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ousted the Army's top general.The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration "effective immediately." But it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go.His firing was first reported by Reuters.The sources…

The U.S. military has intercepted at least three Iranian-flagged tankers in Asian waters and is redirecting them away from their positions near India, Malaysia and Sri Lanka, shipping and security sources said on Wednesday.Washington has imposed a blockade on Iran's trade by sea while Iran has fired on ships to prevent them sailing through the Strait of Hormuz waterway at the entrance to the Middle East Gulf. Nearly two months after the U.S. and Israel began their war on Iran…

Iran said it had captured two container ships seeking to exit the Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday after firing on them and another vessel, in its first seizures since its war with the United States and Israel began in February.Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the seizures and added its Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy had warned that any disruption to order and safety in the strait would be considered a "red line."The seizure of one of the ships, the Panama-flagged MSC Francesca…

A federal judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from enforcing a series of permitting policies that wind and solar energy industry groups say have stymied the development of new energy generation projects.Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston issued a preliminary injunction sought by nine advocacy groups and industry trade associations that argued the administration had imposed unlawful roadblocks that have halted the development of wind and solar energy projects nationwide.The judge said the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in showing the U.S.

The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search for a missing cargo vessel that experienced engine failure on Wednesday near Saipan in the Western Pacific, part of the Mariana archipelago. The overturned vessel was sighted by the airplane crew about 34 nautical miles northeast of Pagan, approximately 100 nautical miles northeast of the last known position of the cargo vessel Mariana.U.S. Coast Guard aircrews, a U.S. Navy Boeing P-8A Poseidon crew, and a Japan Coast Guard aircrew are slated to fly in support of continued search efforts. The crew of U.S.

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greece next week to renew a security pact between the two countries against the backdrop of the war in Iran, a Greek government official said on Sunday.France and Greece, long-standing NATO allies, signed a security and defense agreement in 2021, which required them to come to each other's aid if attacked and included the purchase of three French-made frigates and around 24 Dassault-made Rafale fighter jets by Athens.Macron's visit to Greece on April 24-25 will renew the agreement for a further five years, with an automatic renewal thereafter, th

TUI Cruises said on Sunday that its Mein Schiff 4 and Mein Schiff 5 ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz.In a statement posted on its website, the company said it had obtained approvals from relevant authorities, under careful consideration of the security situation.It said the ships would now proceed swiftly to the Mediterranean Sea.The cruise operator said that all passengers had previously been brought home and both ships were operating with reduced crews.

Concerns grew on Monday that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran might not hold after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran vowed to retaliate.Efforts to build a more lasting peace in the region likewise appeared to be on shaky ground, as Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the U.S. had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires on Tuesday.The U.S. has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports…

Four States deposited their instruments of ratification of the International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damage in Connection with the Carriage of Hazardous and Noxious Substances by Sea, 2010 (2010 HNS Convention), bringing the treaty’s entry into force a step closer. The 2010 HNS Convention aims to ensure adequate, prompt, and effective compensation for those affected by incidents involving hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) carried on seagoing ships. This…

Iran could consider allowing ships to sail freely through the Omani side of the Strait of Hormuz without risk of attack as part of proposals it has offered in negotiations with the United States, providing a deal is clinched to prevent renewed conflict, a source briefed by Tehran said.The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has resulted in the largest-ever disruption of global oil and gas supplies due to Iran's interruption of traffic through the strait, which handles about 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows.Hundreds of tankers ‌and other ships and 20…

The European Resilience Alliance for Clean Hydrogen & Derivatives (ERA) was officially launched at the European Parliament in Brussels on April 14.ERA is a pan-European, CEO-led initiative uniting leading industrial companies across the clean hydrogen value chain to address Europe's energy challenges, enhance industrial competitiveness, and secure strategic autonomy in the face of rapidly changing geopolitical and industrial pressures.ERA’s founding members include ENAGÁS, FLUXYS…

More than 20 commercial ships have passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the past 24 hours, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing U.S. officials.Reuters could not immediately verify the report.Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. military's Central Command said no ships have made it past a U.S. naval blockade of Iran's ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships have followed orders to turn back.U.S. President Donald Trump announced the blockade on Sunday after weekend peace talks in Islamabad between the U.S.

The U.S. military on Monday detailed the boundaries of its Strait of Hormuz blockade, saying it would extend east to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea, while ship-tracking data showed two ships turned around in the strait as the blockade went into effect.In a note to seafarers about the blockade that seeks to take control of the strait away from Iran, the U.S. Central Command said: "Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorization is subject to interception…

North Korea conducted another test-fire of strategic cruise missiles and anti-warship missiles on Sunday as part of operational efficiency trials of its destroyer Choe Hyon, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.Leader Kim Jong Un observed the test alongside senior defence officials and naval commanders, the report said.Two strategic cruise missiles and three anti-warship missiles were fired to check the warship's integrated weapons command system, train crews in missile-launch procedures and verify the accuracy and anti-jamming performance of upgraded navigation systems, KCNA said.The cruise missi