Shipping Industry News

France released the seized oil tanker GRINCH after imposing a multi-million euro penalty on the vessel's owner for suspected involvement in Russia's shadow fleet evading European oil sanctions.

The latest session of the IMO’s Pollution Prevention and Response Sub-Committee didn’t deliver sweeping new rules, but beneath the technical drafting work, PPR 13 signaled a clear shift toward performance-based environmental oversight. From biofouling and Arctic black carbon to scrubber discharges and low-load engine certification, the focus is moving beyond installed equipment to how ships are actually operated, maintained, and managed over their full lifecycle.

A merchant vessel transiting about 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden, Yemen reported an encounter with armed skiffs on Tuesday, briefly raising alarm before authorities downgraded the situation to “suspicious activity.”

The International Chamber of Shipping is backing efforts to revive U.S. shipbuilding but warning that proposed port fees on foreign-built vessels—projected to raise up to $1.5 trillion—could disrupt global trade and raise transport costs.

Here’s what corn, wheat, and soybean traders need to watch this week, including weather conditions in South America, the U.S., and Europe.

Wheat is down across the three markets, with Chicago leading the charge lower so far on Tuesday morning. The wheat complex closed Friday with losses across all three markets. Chicago SRW futures were 9 to 10 cents lower, as March was still 19 cents higher last week. Open interest was...