Professional Mariner – August/September 2026

Fleetzero expands focus with autonomous vessel initiative

Innovations are often remembered not for what they were designed to do but for what they ultimately become. As technology moves from concept to commercial reality, operators often discover applications and markets that differ from the original plan. Fleetzero, an Alabama-based company that has promoted battery-electric propulsion as a pathway to lower-emission shipping, is broadening its focus to autonomous vessels…

Democratic senators back Chinese vessel fees

Support for rebuilding the U.S. maritime industrial base continues to cross traditional political lines, with Democratic lawmakers urging the Trump administration to reinstate fees on Chinese-built vessels despite concerns from shippers, retailers and agricultural exporters about higher transportation costs. In a June 7 letter to the U.S. Trade Representative, Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., argued that Section…

Halimar delivers inland towboat to Central Boat Rentals

A Gulf Coast shipyard has completed construction of a new twin-screw towboat for Central Boat Rentals, expanding the operator’s fleet of vessels serving the inland river system. In early summer, Morgan City, La.-based Halimar Shipyard completed construction of Mr. Bryan. The towboat is powered by twin Mitsubishi Tier 3 S6R2-Y3 diesel engines, each producing 803 hp at 1,400 rpm. According…

Wind-assist propulsion gains shipbuilding heavyweight

For decades, wind-assisted propulsion has occupied a curious position in commercial shipping: widely discussed, technically proven and steadily advancing, yet adopted far more slowly than many advocates once predicted. Interest from major shipbuilders has long been viewed as a key indicator of wind-assist propulsion’s commercial prospects. In 2019, International Windship Association Secretary- General Gavin Allwright pointed to early experimentation by…

Hines Furlong adds another towboat to fleet-renewal program

A Louisiana shipyard has delivered another towboat to Hines Furlong Line as part of the company’s ongoing fleet-renewal program, which includes nearly a dozen vessels being constructed at multiple Gulf Coast shipyards. The new vessel, Bob Nienhuis, measures 78 by 34 by 10 feet and is powered by three Mitsubishi S6R2 Tier 3 diesel engines producing a combined 2,400 hp.…

High-speed skimmer joins Delaware spill-response fleet

An Oregon-based shipyard has delivered a new oil-spill response vessel to the Delaware Bay and River Cooperative, providing the organization with a new, purpose-built fast-response skimmer designed to contain and recover petroleum spills in the Delaware River and Bay. The 70-foot Delaware Responder was designed specifically for spill-response operations and is equipped with specialized skimming and containment systems that allow…

NOAA updates decades-old Great Lakes surveys

A NOAA survey vessel has returned to the Great Lakes for the first time since 2022 to conduct hydrographic surveys in areas where navigational data in some cases dates back more than 80 years. The NOAA hydrographic survey vessel Thomas Jefferson is currently mapping portions of western and central Lake Erie and eastern Lake Ontario. Aboard the vessel, NOAA Corps…

NMC reduces projected processing delays

The National Maritime Center has shortened its published credential-processing timeline as it continues working through a backlog resulting from federal funding disruptions in 2026. “Effective immediately, complete applications are expected to be processed within eight months from the date received, an improvement from the previously published estimate of eight to 12 months,” the NMC said in a press release. The…

Shipping watches rapidly changing Hormuz crisis

Three weeks after warning that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz “could not be considered to exist,” the International Maritime Organization announced plans to begin moving more than 11,000 stranded seafarers out of the region in one of the largest seafarer evacuation and vessel-transit operations in modern maritime history. The plan represented an extraordinary step for the IMO, which…

Alaska moves forward with first deep-draft Arctic port

For nearly two decades, the idea of an American deep-draft Arctic port sat on paper, passed around in congressional hearings, quietly shelved by budget realities, and periodically revived as alarm about Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic grew louder. Now, after a series of landmark legislative actions, executive decisions and a construction contract worth nearly $400 million, Alaska’s ports…