LNG

Worker using an angle grinder to remove rust from a ship’s curved steel hull

Decks and Deals Weekly #51

04/10/202605/10/2026

During 26 September–2 October 2026, shipping markets rewarded control of vessels, contracts and access. Cargo recovery brought fresh opportunities, but the gains depended on who could actually deliver

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

Decks and Deals Weekly #50

27/09/202630/09/2026

During 19–25 September 2026, shipping markets weighed Trump–Xi trade pledges against tanker bottlenecks and rising war-risk costs. Diplomatic relief mattered; dependable passage still carried a formidable price

A weathered ship hull rests alone on a barren shoreline beneath sweeping high-altitude clouds stretching across a vast blue sky

Decks and Deals Weekly #48

07/07/202628/07/2026

The period of 29 June–4 July 2026 opened with Iran replacing drones with invoices, closed with France and the UK deploying warships, and delivered a $1.47 billion VLCC orderbook bet in between.

A museum-quality ship model rests beside an empty, slightly worn glass display case on a maritime conservator's workbench. Carelessly discarded gloves, subtle dust, and an unfinished workspace evoke a moment of transition, where established practice is giving way to a new operating reality

Geopolitics is no longer a risk. It is the environment

02/07/202606/07/2026

Shipping has changed the way it thinks about risk. The 2025–2026 ICS Maritime Barometer documents not a new threat at the top of the rankings, but a new logic altogether

Low-angle view of a large commercial vessel’s bow cutting through rough seas beneath heavy clouds, with waves crashing against the hull

Decks and Deals Weekly #47

29/06/202601/07/2026

The week of 21–28 June 2026 delivered a drone strike on a trapped Evergreen vessel, a 39% VLCC rate collapse, container shipping’s third-largest spike in history, and a ceasefire that kept shooting

Sunlit boardroom overlooking a major shipyard, with a tanker model, technical blueprint and maritime documents arranged on a large conference table

Posidonia 2026: the visible power and the invisible power

07/06/202617/06/2026

At Posidonia 2026 in Athens, 1–5 June 2026, China sent 200 companies, opened a shipbuilding office and signed contracts. America sent a classification society. The asymmetry was not subtle

Dark aerial view of a shadowy VLCC tanker barely visible beneath black ocean water, creating a minimalist and atmospheric maritime scene

The strait that taught the markets to fear shadows

13/05/202607/07/2026

The Strait of Hormuz no longer shapes markets through disruption alone. It shapes them through anticipation, hesitation, memory, and the rising global cost of uncertainty

Black-and-white photograph of a decaying wooden boat with graffiti, partially submerged near a quiet shoreline under cloudy skies

Decks and Deals Weekly #40

27/04/202630/04/2026

The period 20–25 April 2026 produced the most intense maritime standoff since the tanker wars of the 1980s: the Hormuz blockade turned fully kinetic, Brent crossed $100, and six vessels were seized

Global maritime traffic density map with illuminated shipping routes showing uneven flows and shifting patterns across major sea lanes

The conflict that doesn’t close the Strait — it rewrites the map

14/04/202607/07/2026

A silent transformation is reshaping global trade as geopolitical tension in the Middle East disrupts reliability, not flow, forcing shipping, energy markets, and supply chains to adapt to persistent uncertainty

Rusted iron sculpture on a coastal cliff overlooking the open sea, with a sailboat visible on the horizon

Decks and Deals Weekly #38

05/04/202606/04/2026

The week of March 29 to April 4, 2026 brought a missile into Qatari sovereign waters, the first Western vessel through the Strait of Hormuz, and bunker prices that rewrote their record book