Maritime Events
Morning Watch — today

The brief · Monday, 26 October 2026

Borr Drilling jackup sinks off Gabon as container spot rates keep climbing

  1. 01Safety & incidents

    Borr Drilling jackup sinks off Gabon, one dead and four missing

    Borr Drilling's Prospector 5 rig sank late on Saturday off Mayumba, Gabon. Reuters reports one worker killed and four missing. An earlier Offshore Energy report gave 110 rescued and five unaccounted for, and described a punch-through incident at the 2014-built unit. The search is continuing.

  2. 02Markets & finance

    Container spot rates rise again as carriers add surcharges

    Drewry's World Container Index rose for a second straight week to a 15-week high. Xeneta reports higher Far East–Europe spot rates despite the Red Sea return, saying demand is outweighing supply. MSC is adding an emergency surcharge on cargo from Greece, Türkiye, the Black Sea and non-Italian Adriatic ports to northern Europe. Maersk has revised its North America peak season surcharge.

  3. 03Cyprus & East Med

    Greece and Egypt look east as Libya–Turkey pact raises Cyprus concerns

    Athens and Cairo have agreed to advance talks on extending their 2020 EEZ agreement eastwards towards Cyprus, following Libya's move on its maritime pact with Turkey. A legal expert warned that Turkey could use the Libya deal as a precedent to challenge Cyprus' maritime rights. Separately, Cyprus is pursuing shipping business in China after meetings in Japan.

  4. 04Markets & finance

    Russian diesel heads to New York; capesize rates recover

    The Malta-flagged tanker Agioi Fanendes is carrying Russian diesel to New York, and the Kremlin expects regular shipments. Analysts say supply remains limited. The VLCC market is giving up earlier gains, while the LR2 TC1 Gulf–Japan route reached a TCE of $313,200 a day. The capesize 5TC average rose from $30,518 to $34,380 over the week.

  5. 05Ports & containers

    HHLA cuts 2026 forecast; Konecranes port orders fall

    HHLA has lowered its 2026 earnings outlook. It blamed strike disruption, problems ramping up terminal automation in Hamburg and a non-cash impairment in its logistics arm. Konecranes delivered strongly in the third quarter, but new Port Solutions orders fell sharply year on year. Valenciaport handled 498,837 TEU in September, up 5.48%.

  6. 06Markets & finance

    Orderbook hits record as conversion and tanker deals land

    BIMCO data put the global orderbook at 203.2 million CGT in early September. That is 13% higher than a year earlier and above the pre-2008 record. Seatrium won a contract to convert five Karpowership Whale Class Powerships. Bahri ordered three VLCCs worth $450 million from IMI, while Korean yards are eyeing FSRU conversions of ageing LNG carriers.

  7. 07Fuel & energy

    Rotterdam bio-bunker sales slide as EU weighs fuel subsidies

    Rotterdam's sales of bio-blended bunkers fell 38% from the second to the third quarter, led by a drop in bio-VLSFO. The B30-VLSFO premium over conventional VLSFO narrowed to $155/mt. A proposed EU SMAP subsidy funded by the carbon market would favour e-fuels and bioLNG. The WSC says the dual-fuel container and car carrier fleet passed 500 ships.

Written by Maritime AI at 06:30 Cyprus time from 91 headlines and their outlets’ own summaries. It can get things wrong — read the original articles before you rely on anything here.