Maritime Events
Morning Watch — today

The brief · Thursday, 29 October 2026

Sea drones strike Zim-chartered containership off Bulgaria as Black Sea risks grow

  1. 01Safety & incidents

    Containership hit by sea drones off Bulgaria; Turkey warns

    A Greek-owned containership on a Zim service was struck by sea drones off Bulgaria on Wednesday. The Bulgarian Navy rescued the crew, who are safe ashore. Turkey's defence minister warned Russia and Ukraine against further attacks on merchant ships and said Ankara could take legal action. France has deployed maritime patrol aircraft to the region.

  2. 02Safety & incidents

    Ras Tanura damage confirmed; US urges ships to avoid Hormuz

    Satellite images show that a Houthi missile strike on Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura export hub hit a critical component. The US military told vessels with no need to transit between Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz ports to stay away. Europe's benchmark gas price briefly reached €100/MWh, the first time since 2022, amid Middle East LNG disruption.

  3. 03Markets & finance

    Tanker owners report surging earnings from war disruption

    Scorpio Tankers said its LR2 product tankers secured bookings averaging $181,000 a day as the Middle East war disrupts oil flows. Saudi owner Bahri reported a sharp rise in third-quarter profit on stronger VLCC rates; one outlet described it as a ten-fold jump, another as almost 900%.

  4. 04Markets & finance

    Boluda to buy Samskip; Contship agrees Tarros acquisition

    Boluda Shipping has agreed to acquire Icelandic carrier Samskip, forming a 32-vessel short-sea network linking Northern Europe with Iberia, the Canary Islands and West Africa. Separately, Contship, through its subsidiary Sogemar, signed an agreement to acquire Mediterranean shipping and logistics operator Tarros Group.

  5. 05Markets & finance

    Wallenius Wilhelmsen orders more PCTCs as car carrier orderbook swells

    Wallenius Wilhelmsen has contracted four dual-fuel car and truck carriers at Jinling Shipyard with options for eight more, worth up to $1.5bn, taking its renewal programme to 26 ships. Clarksons data cited by one outlet put the car carrier orderbook at over 200 ships, equal to 23% of the existing fleet.

  6. 06Ports & containers

    Strike threat and rail backlog weigh on Los Angeles–Long Beach

    Around 250 unionised port security workers could walk out from 1 November at the busiest US port complex, with Freightos reporting the union has approved action. Nearly 35,700 import containers were awaiting on-dock rail, as record volumes and reported railcar shortages slowed inland moves.

  7. 07Cyprus & East Med

    Cyprus gas project advances as Turkey courts Egypt on sea borders

    Eni has awarded Baker Hughes a contract for subsea production systems for Cyprus's first commercial gas project, while Chevron reported another gas-bearing interval in the Mediterranean. Turkey said it is ready to sign a maritime delimitation deal with Egypt, claiming Cairo would gain over 15,000 sq km compared with a deal with Greece. Cyprus also backed India's EU ship recycling recognition.

Written by Maritime AI at 06:31 Cyprus time from 250 headlines and their outlets’ own summaries. It can get things wrong — read the original articles before you rely on anything here.