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Market

Where the market finds its wind: tight tonnage, firm cargo and shifting currents

Ultramax and Handysize markets held firm as tight tonnage, healthy cargo demand and shifting regional currents defined the week ending 25 September 2026, while positioning, ballast economics and forward confidence increasingly shaped owners’ and charterers’ decisions

28/09/2026

Sea

Editorial illustration of a weathered VLCC merging into a giant price tag, symbolising the sharp repricing of secondhand tonnage

Maritime Industry

Soaring freight turns older VLCCs into hot assets

22/09/2026

Close-up of a weathered ship’s hull with rust-streaked grey and orange paint and a dark rectangular opening

Maritime Industry

Decks and Deals Weekly #50

27/09/2026

Aerial view of four bulk carriers moving outward in different directions, their wakes converging around a central ocean current

Market

Gentle tides, diverging currents: dry bulk’s uneven week

21/09/2026

Security

Editorial illustration of a distant vessel above a scarred seabed, suggesting deliberate selection among vulnerable submarine cable routes

When the adversary chooses the failure

27/08/2026

Erdoğan, Mohammed bin Salman and Sharif holding signed copies of the Mecca Pact in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

The Mecca Pact meets the Hellenic triangle, and both want Cairo

17/08/2026

Masked militants in desert camouflage sit armed with rifles in a rocky landscape, identified as a Baloch Liberation Army unit labeled “Fateh Squad”

The Baloch insurgency has mutated — and Pakistan is struggling to keep up

02/04/2026

Land

Editorial illustration of fragmented railway tracks separated by gaps, with a red freight container waiting before the disconnected network

Land

Rail corridors: ports do not create corridors, connections do

24/09/2026

Land

Amorgos: the island that does not shout, yet insists on existing in the future

15/09/2026

Aerial view of a green-covered cargo barge exiting a concrete lock chamber on the Pinglu Canal near Qinzhou, in Guangxi, southern China

Supply Chain

Beibu Gulf Port buys its way into a liner company, weeks before the canal opens

14/08/2026

Energy

Two melting clocks in a sparse desert landscape, one more solid and one dripping black oil, representing contrasting oil strategies and timelines

Two clocks, one cartel: The UAE OPEC exit and the Sunni Gulf’s real fault line

02/05/2026

Aerial view of solar farm in Tengger Desert, Ningxia, China, November 2024

The war for oil in a world that is leaving it behind

06/03/2026

Expansive petrochemical refinery complex in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, featuring tall distillation columns, cranes, dense pipelines, and heavy industrial structures

Global oil at risk—and China feels the pressure first

03/03/2026

Geopolitics

An Afghan war rug woven with military motifs unravels to reveal an older traditional geometric pattern beneath

Geopolitics

Twenty-five years after 9/11

17/09/2026

Editorial illustration showing a renminbi pipeline running toward Frankfurt and Deutsche Bank, with a central valve topped by a dollar sign

Politics & Economy

Europe’s first non-Chinese renminbi clearing bank arrives in Frankfurt, and the dollar still sets the limits

13/08/2026

Wide aerial view of a calm Mediterranean seascape with a solitary cargo vessel and subtle geometric maritime route overlays

Geopolitics

The Eastern Mediterranean’s new map: the corridors are slow, the claims are not

21/05/2026

Interview

Xiaoyu Lu, professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies, pictured outdoors in an academic setting

Xiaoyu Lu: “A China–U.S. clash is entirely avoidable — and the decisive choice lies largely in Washington”

26/09/2026

Portrait of General Jamil el-Sayyed in a dark suit against a muted olive-grey background

General Jamil el-Sayyed: “Israel should withdraw first — then Lebanon can deal with Hezbollah’s weapons”

19/09/2026

Portrait of Ali Alfoneh, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute and expert on Iranian politics

From micromanager to collective rule: Ali Alfoneh on Iran after Khamenei

22/08/2026

Professor Roxana Nicknami, University of Tehran, photographed in a modern office during her interview on Iran, international law, deterrence, and regional security

Iranian scholar Roxana Nicknami on why international law and deterrence will shape the next Iran crisis

02/08/2026

GeoTrends Analysis

Editorial illustration of Venezuela’s emerging Atlantic maritime economy, combining port infrastructure, merchant shipping, oil facilities, urban activity and trade

Venezuela: the Atlantic’s next maritime play?

16/09/2026

From energy recovery to emerging trade flows, Venezuela is becoming a maritime story the Atlantic market cannot afford to ignore — and one that increasingly deserves the shipping industry’s attention

3D relief map of the North Atlantic showing emerging connections between eastern Canada and a network spanning Western Europe

Canada looks beyond Washington as Europe becomes a strategic anchor

10/09/2026

Canada’s deepening relationship with Europe is becoming a central pillar of a broader diversification strategy as U.S. trade tensions reshape Ottawa’s economic and strategic choices

EDITORIAL

Beyond Borders

Where the market finds its wind: tight tonnage, firm cargo and shifting currents

Soaring freight turns older VLCCs into hot assets

Decks and Deals Weekly #50

Gentle tides, diverging currents: dry bulk’s uneven week

When the adversary chooses the failure

The Mecca Pact meets the Hellenic triangle, and both want Cairo

The Baloch insurgency has mutated — and Pakistan is struggling to keep up

Rail corridors: ports do not create corridors, connections do

Amorgos: the island that does not shout, yet insists on existing in the future

Beibu Gulf Port buys its way into a liner company, weeks before the canal opens

Two clocks, one cartel: The UAE OPEC exit and the Sunni Gulf’s real fault line

The war for oil in a world that is leaving it behind

Global oil at risk—and China feels the pressure first

Twenty-five years after 9/11

Europe’s first non-Chinese renminbi clearing bank arrives in Frankfurt, and the dollar still sets the limits

The Eastern Mediterranean’s new map: the corridors are slow, the claims are not

Europe’s first non-Chinese renminbi clearing bank arrives in Frankfurt, and the dollar still sets the limits

The Eastern Mediterranean’s new map: the corridors are slow, the claims are not

Xiaoyu Lu: “A China–U.S. clash is entirely avoidable — and the decisive choice lies largely in Washington”

Interviewer Name

Interviewer Name

General Jamil el-Sayyed: “Israel should withdraw first — then Lebanon can deal with Hezbollah’s weapons”

From micromanager to collective rule: Ali Alfoneh on Iran after Khamenei

Iranian scholar Roxana Nicknami on why international law and deterrence will shape the next Iran crisis

Venezuela: the Atlantic’s next maritime play?

Canada looks beyond Washington as Europe becomes a strategic anchor

Christophe Tytgat: “The Greek example should be a source of inspiration for other EU Member States”

The U.S.-China rivalry is shifting to global trade by sea

Chinese people in Africa are threating of kidnapping

The new “weapons” of geopolitics are opening a Pandora’s box for the global economy

America wants ships, shipyards and ports — but maritime power begins with cargo

Neon tides: corporate shipping in the age of algorithms

Digital transformation in shipping: why we cannot afford to wait any longer

The Blue Homeland and the role of democrats in Türkiye and Greece