Pacific Zircon Image via Vessel Finder
This story has been updated with more information from U.S. Central Command.
U.S. Central Command and Israeli officials are blaming Iran for a Tuesday attack on an oil tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire off the coast of Oman. Read More
Bluefields under the previous name Ormidale, predating 1938. NOAA Photo
The Valor in the Atlantic Expedition will livestream its survey of the historic wrecks of SS Bluefields, a freighter and U-576, a German submarine. Read More
Graphic by H I Sutton used with permission
Mega-wealthy owners of the superyachts value privacy and discretion and keep as low a profile their vessels allow and recent events in Ukraine have increased the desire of some superyacht owners to hide their movements.
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The Navy in partnership with the Oxnard Harbor District (OHD) is providing resources onboard Port Hueneme in direct support of decreasing port congestion in Los Angeles County and reducing the national supply-chain shortage on Nov. 22, 2021. US Navy Photo
With Southern California seaports overburdened by commercial ships and pandemic and supply-driven delays in moving cargo, the Navy agreed to allow cargo-carrying vessels to use one of its military wharves at Port Hueneme, Calif. Read More
USS Benfold (DDG-65) as the ship transits the South China Sea conducting routine underway operations on Sept. 8, 2021. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Navy is disputing a claim from China that it chased an American warship out of the South China Sea after the U.S. vessel performed a freedom of navigation exercise. Read More
The following is the National Transportation Safety Board recently released Safer Seas Digest 2020 that summarizes major maritime accidents and lessons learned including the 2017 collision of USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62) off Japan and the collision of then-under construction USS Delbert Black (DDG-119). Read More
USS Lassen (DDG-82) escorts the merchant vessel Tomahawk through the Strait of Hormuz on Nov. 18, 2019. US Navy Photo
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Electronic spoofing, jammed communications and navigation systems, armed drone attacks and pirates are challenges American crews on U.S.- flagged ships in the Ready Reserve Force and Military Sealift Command already face, a panel of maritime experts said Wednesday. Read More
Daniel Murphy, a deck cadet with United States Merchants Marine, supervises as cargo is transported into the Green Cove with equipment being sent to the Distribution Management Office Yermo, Calif., on July 6 at Naha Port in Okinawa, Japan. MSC Photo
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted why mariners – from ferry crews to masters of Triple E-class container ships – are “essential workers,” while questioning future shipbuilding and threatening the survival of smaller shipping companies, two experts in maritime commerce told USNI News. Read More
A crew aboard Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco’s Forward Operating Base Point Mugu MH-65 Dolphin helicopter conducts an overflight near an anchorage site off the coast of Los Angeles, Calif., on April 23, 2020. US Coast Guard Photo
While handling 90 percent of the global economy daily, maritime industry ashore and afloat remains increasingly vulnerable to cyber disruptions and attacks from “neerdowells and bad actors” that threaten financial markets and the country’s national security, the head of the Maritime Administration said last week. Read More
M/T Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel from both an Iranian Sea King helicopter and the Iranian auxiliary vessel Hendijan (1401) on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
Iranian forces were looking for 1.1 million barrels in petroleum products seized by the U.S. Justice Department when they took over a merchant tanker in the Gulf of Oman earlier this week, DoJ officials confirmed to USNI News. Read More
