Maritime News – Page 2 – Professional Mariner

New West Coast-built pilot boat enters service in Honolulu

The Hawaii Pilots Association (HPA) has added a new pilot boat to its fleet, continuing a decade-long relationship with a Pacific Northwest boatyard. In late 2025, HPA took delivery of Mamala Bay from North River Boats in Oregon. The vessel is named for the busy stretch of water off Honolulu’s south shore where commercial traffic converges and pilots conduct much…

Eastern Shipbuilding showcases multisector momentum with SOV conversion, escort tug launch and ferry newbuild

Eastern Shipbuilding Group is demonstrating the scope of its capabilities with recent milestones spanning offshore wind, escort tug construction and passenger ferry work — a cross-section of projects that highlights the yard’s growing role in serving multiple corners of the U.S. maritime industry. In late December 2025, Eastern announced the re-delivery of HOS Rocinante, a first-of-its-kind U.S.-flagged service operation vessel…

NOAA marks start of construction on second new charting and mapping vessel

Uniformed officers and civilians alike held welding masks to their faces as sparks and smoke flared from a workbench. With an audience at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans watching intently in early December 2025, a welder engraved the initials of retired Rear Adm. Evelyn Fields, the sponsor of Navigator, a new charting and mapping ship for the National…

New Polar Code rules take effect as ice conditions grow less predictable

Shorter, less stable navigation windows in polar waters are colliding with a new set of international safety requirements set to take effect in 2026, as sea ice at both ends of the planet remains well below historical averages. Data from recent months show Arctic sea ice forming later, thinner and more unevenly than in previous years, while Antarctic sea ice…

Despite technical gains, remote pilotage stalls on risk and trust

Despite years of development, some flashy demonstrations of crewless vessels for limited purposes and the growing use of similar technology — such as aerial drones — the remote pilotage of ships remains at the same technological impasse where it has lingered for decades: It is possible, but not quite feasible. This is perhaps the takeaway from the sudden halt of…

AI tool helps ships avoid whale strikes, now leading cause of whale mortality

No mariner wants to collide with a whale, but as vessel traffic increases and global maritime trade is projected to triple by 2050, ship strikes have become a leading cause of whale mortality. The toll of whale strikes is estimated at more than 20,000 each year, according to research conducted by the nonprofit Friend of the Sea — though the…

Smarter radar uses AI to reshape situational awareness, with autonomy on the horizon

Marine radar, long considered the most mature and least glamorous of bridge technologies, is amid one of its most consequential evolutions yet. What was once a single-purpose collision-avoidance tool, which used a magnetron-powered spinning antenna that painted echoes on a display, is now becoming a high-fidelity data source for machine learning, augmented reality and, eventually, autonomy. Across the maritime industry,…

Rise in spoofing incidents highlights vulnerability of GPS

On June 17, 2025, the distinct black smoke of an oil fire rose from a spot in the Gulf of Oman, about 15 nautical miles from the United Arab Emirates’ coastline. Front Eagle, which was carrying 2 million barrels of crude bound for China, collided with another oil tanker, Adalyn, which erupted in flames. The UAE coast guard evacuated its…

MarAd still lacks permanent leader as nomination shifts continue

Nearly a year after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the U.S. Maritime Administration (MarAd) remains without a permanent leader — a prolonged vacancy that underscores both the agency’s unusual position within the federal bureaucracy and shifting political priorities around maritime policy. In March, the administration nominated Brent Sadler, a retired Navy submarine captain and senior fellow at…

Evolution rather than revolution: IHO’s S-100 is navigation game changer

Digital marine data will take a major step forward in January 2026 when ships will have access to the new S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model in their Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems. Developed by the International Hydrographic Organization, the S-100 standard will first be legal to use on a voluntary basis. Starting in 2029, the International Maritime Organization will…