Russian oil tanker begins discharging cargo in Cuba’s Matanzas Terminal
A Russian-flagged tanker carrying some 700,000 barrels of crude docked in Cuba’s Matanzas oil terminal on Tuesday, shipping data showed, marking the first significant oil delivery to the island since President Donald Trump’s administration cut off its fuel supply. The Anatoly Kolodkin vessel, under U.S. sanctions, entered Cuban territorial waters late on Sunday not far from the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, despite U.S. restrictions on oil supplies to Cuba, including from Russia. The U.S. said it was allowing the tanker to deliver the crude oil for humanitarian reasons. The Aframax tanker entered Cuba’s largest fuel storage facility under mostly clear skies and light winds, LSEG data showed.
Pakistan weighs Hormuz options after iran clears 20 ships
Pakistan is considering options that include allowing other ships to ferry vital cargoes under its flag, after Iran said it would allow 20 of the nation’s vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — more than it currently has in the area. After discussions between Tehran and Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X over the weekend that Iran had allowed the country to take 20 vessels “under the Pakistani flag” out through the Hormuz waterway. US President Donald Trump referenced the same green light in an interview. But Pakistan does not have that many vessels in the Persian Gulf, according to ship-tracking data and the people familiar with the discussions, who asked not to be named as the information is not public.
Further Greek oil tanker exits Hormuz despite Iran’s blockade
Another Greek-controlled oil tanker has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, marking the fourth such voyage since hostilities in the Middle East began. The Suezmax Pola, which switched off its tracking system in the Persian Gulf on March 10, was detected again on Monday by the Automatic Identification System. The ship was sailing in the eastern Indian Ocean near the maritime corridor off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, according to vessel tracking data compiled by source.
Iran rejects US peace plan
Iran said it rejected a US ceasefire proposal and maintained attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab states, delivering a blow to Washington’s efforts to end a war that’s wreaked havoc across the Middle East and global markets.
A move by US President Donald Trump to start indirect talks is illogical and not viable at this stage of the conflict, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday, citing informed sources it didn’t identify.
Iran is focused on achieving its objectives and only if those are met will an end to the war — not a ceasefire — be possible, Fars added.
The US has compiled a 15-point peace proposal, which Pakistan delivered to the Islamic Republic, according to people familiar with the matter, highlighting urgency within Trump’s administration to resolve a conflict it started alongside Israel almost a month ago.
Brent crude prices rose to near $100 a barrel after the Fars report, as hopes faded of a quick resolution to the conflict. Iran has effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, triggering a global supply shock. That’s sparked fears of an inflation crisis and worldwide food shortages.
Iran demands crew, cargo details
Vessels seeking to transit the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian protection are being asked to provide lists of crew and cargo, along with voyage details and bills of lading, in order to secure a green light from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The process is still idiosyncratic and can vary from ship to ship, according to accounts from people familiar with the trade, but it points to Iran’s increasing efforts to assert control over the vital maritime channel with a semi-formal system as the conflict in the Persian Gulf extends into its fourth week.
Iran has requested payments from some but not all ships, according to the people, asking not to be named given the sensitivity of the discussions. These demands — channeled through intermediaries, and of differing size — are generally reserved for oil tankers, gas carriers or other vessels with high-value cargoes, they said.
Equinor kicks off deepwater drilling for $9bn Brazil gas project
Equinor has officially moved into the drilling phase of its massive Raia gas development offshore Brazil, marking a key step forward for one of the country’s most strategically important energy projects.
The Valaris DS-17 drillship began operations on March 24 in the pre-salt Campos Basin, about 200 kilometers off the coast, where water depths reach roughly 2,900 meters—making it the deepest water project currently in Equinor’s portfolio.
The campaign will include six wells and underpins a development expected to unlock more than 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in recoverable gas and condensate. Once online, Raia is projected to export up to 16 million cubic meters of natural gas per day—enough to meet around 15 percent of Brazil’s anticipated demand by 2028.
Sixty minutes catches up to America’s shipbuilding crisis long flagged by maritime industry
The U.S. shipbuilding crisis broke into the national spotlight this week as 60 Minutes took a closer look at the growing gap between American shipyards and their Asian rivals—something maritime industry insiders have been warning about for years.
The timing isn’t accidental. The Trump administration has made shipbuilding a core part of its national security strategy under its “Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance” agenda, arguing that the steady erosion of U.S. industrial capacity now poses a real strategic risk.
That policy shift follows a sweeping Section 301 investigation launched in 2024 by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative under the Biden Administration, which concluded that China’s state-backed push to dominate global shipbuilding and maritime logistics—through subsidies, preferential financing, and industrial policy—has distorted competition and eroded U.S. capabilities. The findings helped set the stage for a broader push to rebuild domestic maritime capacity.