Government Update News

The European Commission has successfully closed the first round of activities of the Hydrogen Mechanism operated under the EU Energy and Raw Materials Platform. Market participants currently developing hydrogen projects (on both supply and demand side) responded with high engagement, showing great appetite for this new initiative and the development of the hydrogen market.During this first round, the Hydrogen Mechanism gave future producers of hydrogen a transparent and easy way to test demand for their specific projects and find potential offtakers…

The Coast Guard suspended its search for the missing crew members of the cargo vessel Mariana at 10:35 p.m. Tuesday. Missing are five crew members of the cargo vessel Mariana, which reportedly experienced a disabled engine approximately 140 miles northwest of Saipan on April 15.The six crew members aboard the Mariana at the time of the incident were Frederick L. Nosek Jr., Landon Delos Reyes, Jose L. Ramirez, Mohammed A. Rahaman, Chet R. Brochon, and Vincent B. Agulto. U.S. Air Force 31st Rescue Squadron divers have recovered one deceased individual from the overturned vessel.

Russia has added four LNG carriers to its fleet, LSEG ship-tracking data and the Russian ship register showed on Wednesday, which could help the country to increase its market share ahead of an EU ban on Russian gas imports.The European Union in January gave its final approval to a ban on Russian gas imports by late 2027.The bloc has also imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its war on Ukraine. The sanctions have limited Russia's access to the vessels it needs to gain a…

Donald Trump discussed how to mitigate the impact of a possible months-long U.S. blockade of Iran's ports with U.S. oil companies, a White House official said on Wednesday, as the U.S. president urged Tehran to 'get smart soon' and sign a deal.The talks with oil executives on Tuesday followed days of deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict, which has led the U.S. to try to squeeze Iran's oil exports with a naval blockade to try to force it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.Trump…

A long-running dispute over container detention charges between Evergreen and a U.S. trucking company has been resolved, with a federal appeals court siding squarely with the regulator and reinforcing limits on when carriers can impose such fees.In a decision issued April 28, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a petition by Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. and upheld a ruling by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) that certain detention charges were unreasonable.The case stems from a 2020 shipment handled for Yamaha Motor Co.…

"The Iran war and the resulting disruptions to ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz have increased uncertainty for both the global economy and the dry bulk market. Around 4% of dry bulk cargoes and tonne mile demand typically sail through the strait and at present, and around 210 ships, equivalent to roughly 1% of the dry bulk fleet, are currently trapped in the Persian Gulf,” says Filipe Gouveia, Shipping Analysis Manager at BIMCO.Given the high uncertainty over when transits may resume, we present two forecast scenarios.

A Ukrainian drone attack caused a major fire at a Russian oil refinery in the city of Tuapse on Tuesday, officials said, in what President Vladimir Putin described as evidence of increased Ukrainian attacks on civilian targets.It was the third attack on the Black Sea port in less than two weeks.Ukraine's military confirmed it had carried out the strike, the latest in a series designed to disrupt Russia's oil industry and slash revenue that helps Moscow fund the war in Ukraine.Putin…

A joint letter organized by the American Biofuels Maritime Initiative (ABMI) has been sent to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ahead of this week's negotiations at the IMO MEPC 84 meeting in London. The effort is aimed at ensuring that global maritime decarbonization also translates into durable new demand for American biofuels and additional income streams for U.S. farmers and rural communities.In the ABMI letter, leading biofuel and agricultural stakeholders urge the Trump administration to champion a global maritime fuels framework that is technology‑neutral…

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