Port Hedland, Western Australia, completed Australia's first green ammonia bunkering operation this week: the 300-meter-long ammonia-powered bulk carrier "Mineral Europa" received certified green ammonia from the bunkering ship. The ship-to-ship transfer took about two hours and was completed at 8:42 local time, and then entered the port to load iron ore destined for China. The ship is operated by CMB.TECH and leased to Australian miner Fortescue. It is known as the world's first ammonia-powered dry bulk carrier; ship compatibility assessment, ammonia diffusion modeling and emergency response procedures were completed before operation, and the port authority stated that all safety and operational requirements were met before being released. Dino Otranto, CEO of Fortescue Metals, said that the industry has been ahead of regulation to prove that the technology is feasible, but further investment in green ammonia production and bunkering infrastructure still requires policy certainty and long-term fuel procurement commitments.
According to shipbuilding industry sources, Idan Ofer's Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) has placed an order for four medium-sized container ships with Japan's Imabari Shipbuilding. This will be the first time it has ordered container ships in Japan in four years - its expansion has previously been mainly at Chinese shipyards. If the deal is completed, its container ship order book will exceed 65 ships, worth more than 5.5 billion US dollars. The specific ship price and delivery period have not been disclosed. The background of the same period is that Japan is increasing its efforts to rebuild the shipbuilding industry: The goal is to double annual shipbuilding capacity from about 9 million gross tons to 18 million gross tons by 2035. In September, eight shipyard investment plans were approved, with a total public and private investment of about 900 billion yen (US$5.83 billion) planned, of which the government supports up to 311 billion yen (US$2 billion), and a group headed by Imabari can receive up to 113.8 billion yen (US$727 million). Funds have been invested in shipyard expansion, automation, cranes and other production upgrades. Imabari also previously strengthened its position by acquiring a 60% stake in Japan Maritime United (JMU).
During the European Naval Defense Show (Euronaval 2026) in Paris, Fincantieri, Spain's Navantia and France's Naval Group signed an EPC2 consortium agreement. On the same day, Fincantieri also announced progress with Navantia on the priorities of the joint venture EPC. The three groups are long-term participants in the European Navy's surface ship cooperation, This agreement advances collaboration to the consortium level.
Danish oil product shipowner Torm disclosed in its third-quarter results that it has signed an agreement for eight new LR2 ships through a 50:50 joint venture, and the signing will be completed after the end of September. Torm did not disclose the joint venture party and the shipbuilding yard, and the ship price and delivery date were also not disclosed. According to previous estimates by the brokerage industry, the unit price of these ships with scrubbers is about 46 million U.S. dollars, and the total price of the eight ships is about 368 million U.S. dollars. This is another step for Torm after returning to direct ordering - it had previously ordered MR-type ships at Changhong International in Zhoushan, China. It exercised its options on two more MR ships in the third quarter, bringing the series to eight firm orders: the initial six 50,000-ton ships are scheduled to be delivered in 2029, and the additional two ships will be extended to 2030. During the same period, the company continued to dispose of old shipping capacity, and sold the LR1 "Torm Venture" built in 2007 and the MR "Torm" built in 2008 in the third quarter. Laura", the operating fleet at the end of September was 95 product oil tankers (excluding orders on hand).
Kongsberg Maritime announced on November 6 that it has won a contract to provide safety and automation systems (SAS) for Equinor's Wisting floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO). Wisting is located in the Barents Sea, about 300 kilometers away from the Norwegian mainland. It is expected to operate for about 30 years. It is one of the largest undeveloped oil field discoveries on the Norwegian continental shelf. In the initial stage of the project, Kongsberg will design the front-end engineering of the system. (FEED) provides support and works with Equinor and other suppliers to mature the solution to support a safe, efficient and approved development concept.
On November 5, the Ministry of Transport issued the "Notice on the Release of the 2026 Transportation Standardization Plan (Third Batch)" (Jiao Science and Technology Letter [2026] No. 583), issuing 14 items of industry standard projects, 2 items of foreign language versions of industry standards and 6 items of departmental metrology verification regulations. The notice requires professional standardization technical committees, metrology technical committees and major drafting units to follow the "Transportation Standards Development, Revision Procedures and Requirements" (JT/T 18-2025), "Traffic Measurement Technical Specifications Formulation, Revision Procedures and Writing Requirements" (JT/T 17-2025) organize the implementation, strengthen organizational coordination, solicit opinions extensively, and complete the formulation and revision tasks and technical review on time. See the attachment of the notice for the specific project list.
First, Wärtsilä announced on November 3 that it had converted one main engine of each of Chevron Transport's three LNG carriers from dual fuel (DF) mode to spark ignition gas (SG) mode, using spark plug ignition instead of diesel ignition to reduce methane escape; based on the IMO weighted (E2 cycle) average calculation, methane emissions after the modification were reduced to 1.1% of fuel usage. Three more ships will be modified this year and next year. The total number reaches six, and the plan is applicable to ships in service using Wärtsilä 50DF diesel-electric propulsion (Source: Wärtsilä official website, 2026-11-03).
Secondly, WinGD signed its first licensing agreement with HD Hyundai Marine Engine (formerly STX Heavy Industries), handing over the design of dual-fuel and diesel two-stroke models to the Korean factory for construction, covering the medium-bore X52 and X62 series (both have X-DF dual-fuel versions, available with LNG, ammonia/LPG or methanol/ethanol), Supplying bulk carrier and oil tanker projects built with Korean-made main engines; the plant was acquired by HD Korea Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering in 2024. It specializes in small and medium-bore two-stroke engines and complements HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which specializes in large engines (Source: WinGD official website, 2026-10-30).
Third, WinGD has won three long-term service agreements, covering a total of 14 dual-fuel LNG carriers. The customers are COSCO Shipping Liquefied Natural Gas (Hong Kong) Ship Management, NYK LNG Shipmanagement and TMS Cardiff Gas. The services include planned maintenance spare parts, technical labor, workshop services and consultation, and are overlaid with remote monitoring, troubleshooting and WiDE platform engine optimization (Source: WinGD official website, 2026-10-26).
In addition, Wärtsilä has been ordered to supply engines and propellers for the first batch of floating liquefied natural gas units (FLNG) built by Samsung Heavy Industries for the Delfin LNG project in the United States. The order has been booked in the second quarter of 2026; the unit serves the Port Delfin project about 40 nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana. Delfin hull and turbine chief engineer Björn Axfors said that when a hurricane warning is received, it can escape and lift the propellers to the ship for maintenance before the hurricane season. It is crucial for FLNG in this sea area (Source: Wartsila official website, 2026-11-05).
The European Parliament's Environment Committee this week voted 48 against, 26 in favor, and 5 abstentions to oppose the European Commission's proposal to include two Indian shipyards, Shree Ram Vessel Scrap and YSI Recyclers, in the EU's list of approved shipbreaking facilities. Both plants are located in Alang-Sosiya, Gujarat. If the proposal is passed, it will be the first time that an Indian shipbreaking facility has been included in the list; the European Commission has previously given preliminary support after inspections. The core of the dispute is beaching. ——Opponents believe that it is difficult to contain harmful substances such as oil and heavy metals when cutting ships in the intertidal zone, and that downstream scrap steel flows to local re-rolling plants that are not evaluated according to EU industrial emission standards; NGO Shipbreaking Platform and the European recycling industry organization Recycling Europe both welcomed the voting results.