According to Reuters, from May to October, Russia and Ukraine attacked a total of 317 merchant ships and other ships in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, more than four times the 74 ships in the previous half year (data from security agency Ambre Analytics senior analyst Tomas Alexa). In October alone, Russia attacked 38 ships and Ukraine 5 ships, while in the third quarter, Ukraine attacked 137 ships and Russia 92 times, with the pace of attacks at There were obvious ups and downs around the fifth anniversary of the war in February. After seven cargo ships were attacked near Romania and Bulgaria last month, NATO said it would send more maritime patrol aircraft, radars and drones to its eastern flank; a NATO official said the alliance had committed to investing more than $40 billion in anti-drone capabilities over the next five years. The attacks have hit exports hard: According to Russian export data seen by Reuters, Russia exported only 300,000 tons of grain in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in September, compared with 4.74 million tonnes in the same period last year (approximately 4.74 million tons).
Italy's Grimaldi Group (Grimaldi) has signed a letter of intent with China Merchants Group for five new-generation 10,000-space car carriers (PCTC), and has signed a letter of intent with Guangzhou Shipyard International, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, for another five 11,000-space ships. Both types of ships can carry containers and other ro-ro cargo. The group confirmed the agreement, saying that the project will be transferred from preliminary design to engineering design, with a cycle of about six months, and the delivery target is 2030 and 2031. The two batches of agreements have not yet been converted into formal construction contracts, and the price has not been disclosed. This is part of its 4 billion euro (about 4.5 billion US dollars) fleet investment plan; from 2022 to 2023, the group has ordered a total of 17 ammonia fuel-reserved PCTCs in China (10 from China Merchants and 7 from CSSC).
Lloyd's Register (LR) released the "Fuel for Thought: Ports" report on November 2: According to Clarkson data, as of January 2026, there are 1,942 ships that can use alternative fuels on order globally, accounting for 47% of the global order book by tonnage. However, supporting bunkering capabilities vary greatly - 222 ports around the world can bunker LNG, only 25 ports actually provide methanol, and commercial ammonia bunkering is only in Ulsan, South Korea. 1 port has been launched (first operation in April 2026). Shipowners have ordered 385 methanol-capable ships and 45 ammonia-capable ships. Kamran Ul Haq, senior vice president of LR Port Consulting, said that "the fleet is running faster than the infrastructure that supports it", and pointed out that shipowners can order ships today, which does not mean that there is fuel where the ships need it. The report also pointed out that in the past 12 months, 90 No ports have a record of biofuel deliveries, but the top 13 account for 77.5%, with Singapore alone accounting for more than a quarter.
According to Ship & Bunker data, Singapore's very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO) broke through the US$1,000 mark to US$1,000.50/ton on October 28, rose to US$1,019.50 on Friday, and fell back to US$1,003.50 on Monday. High sulfur fuel oil (HSFO) was reported at US$898.50 on Monday, and marine diesel was US$1,263. With February 28 Compared with the US$521.50 before Japan and the United States attacked Iran, VLSFO has increased by more than 92%, peaking at US$1,120.50 on March 13. At the current price, a single fuel bill for a ship filling 3,000 tons of VLSFO is about US$3 million, which was about US$1.56 million before the war. The regional price difference is obvious: Rotterdam VLSFO reported 763.50 US dollar, about US$240 lower than Singapore; Fujairah reported US$991.50. Singapore's LNG fuel was reported at US$1,939 per ton on Monday, up US$74 on the week; Rotterdam rose US$97 to US$1,873.
On November 2, Yangzijiang Maritime Development announced that it had recently signed a total of 11 new ship construction contracts with a number of Chinese shipyards, including 4+2 82,000-dwt bulk carriers and 7 114,000-dwt LR2 oil tankers, which are planned to be delivered from 2029 to 2030. They will be built according to IACS class standards and equipped with green environmental protection technology. The announcement did not disclose the specific shipyard; previously in October, the company had signed a contract for 4+2 82,000-ton Kamsarmax bulk carriers with Jiangsu Watts Energy, and on September 30 it signed a contract for 6+2 114,000-ton LR2s with Jiangsu Haifeng Shipbuilding. After the new order was included, its new shipbuilding investment portfolio increased from 98 ships to 111 ships (including options). Among them, 7 ships have been delivered, 86 ships have firm orders, and 18 ships have options; in the past 10 months, a total of 18 new ship sales contracts have been signed, with a total value of 808 million US dollars.
Mitsui Lines (MOL) announced that it has signed a long-term charter agreement with German energy infrastructure company Deutsche ReGas. It will convert an LNG carrier into a floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) through Hudong-Zhonghua. It will be deployed at the Deutsche Ostsee LNG import terminal in Mukland Port, Germany, after it is put into operation in 2028. The name of the ship used for conversion has not yet been announced; according to German media reports, the charter will last until 2043. The total value is hundreds of millions of dollars. After the new unit is put into operation, the Mukran terminal will resume dual FSRU operations, and the regasification capacity will return to the approved limit of 13.5 billion cubic meters per year, which is approximately equivalent to 15% of Germany's natural gas demand. MOL said this is the company's first independent development project to use existing LNG ships to retrofit FSRUs.
Wison New Energies held a keel-laying ceremony at its Nantong base on October 25 for the Turkish Petroleum Corporation's (TPAO) Black Sea Sakarya gas field phase 3 floating production unit (FPU), and the hull segments began to be assembled in the dry dock. The unit is designed to process 25 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, with an operating water depth of 2,150 meters and a design life of 30 years. It is responsible for natural gas processing. Supercharging and export function. The Sakarya gas field is about 170 kilometers away from the shore, with proven reserves of 405 billion cubic meters; its second phase has been put into production in April 2023. According to the judgment of Ashley Sherman, director of upstream research at Wood Mackenzie, it can meet nearly 30% of Türkiye’s natural gas demand by 2030.
Shipping Solutions, a subsidiary of DP World, announced the launch of the "China Africa Link" weekly route, which is scheduled to sail in late November 2026. The calling order is Shanghai-Ningbo-Nansha-West Port of Klang-Dar es Salaam-Maputo-Singapore-Shanghai, connecting China's major export ports with East Africa and the southern African market, carrying machinery, electronics, building materials and auto parts, and undertaking African agricultural products and minerals on the return trip. This route is complementary to its port investment in Africa: The Maputo Container Terminal is undergoing a US$165 million expansion, and more than US$500 million has been invested in the modernization of the Port of Dar es Salaam.
Guangzhou Port (601228) disclosed main production data on November 3: the estimated container throughput in October is 2.332 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%; the cargo throughput is 51.531 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.1%. The cumulative container throughput from January to October is 23.46 million TEU, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. Cargo throughput 499.086 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. The company reminds that the above are quick statistics. The third quarter report shows that the operating income in the third quarter was 3.206 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 24.62%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 237 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.67%; the revenue in the first three quarters was 9.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.47%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company was 237 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.47%. 793 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.98%.