A maritime accident involving a chemical tanker and a fishing vessel near Kobe occurred on February 11, 2026, The Maritime Telegraph reports, citing the Japan Coast Guard. The vessels made contact east of the Akashi Strait, close to the entrance routes to Kobe Harbor, leaving one fisherman injured.
Maersk has placed an order for eight large container vessels with a capacity of around 18,600 TEU each, reinforcing its ongoing fleet renewal strategy and focus on deployment flexibility, The Maritime Telegraph reports.
A Panamanian-flagged container ship sank off the coast of Phuket on February 7, prompting a rapid rescue operation by the Royal Thai Navy and local authorities. All 16 crewmembers were safely evacuated shortly before the vessel went under, avoiding casualties in what could have become a major maritime disaster.
A commercial chemical tanker has rescued 27 seafarers after a tuna fishing vessel caught fire and sank in the Eastern Pacific, highlighting the lifesaving role of merchant ships in open-ocean rescues, The Maritime Telegraph reports.
The United States has detained one Ukrainian crewmember from the oil tanker Marinera, formerly known as Bella1, following the vessel’s seizure in the North Atlantic, The Maritime Telegraph reports.
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A fire in the engine room of the Ro-Ro ferry Maria Felisa injured three crew members while the vessel was sailing through the Surigao Strait in the southern Philippines, reports The Maritime Telegraph. The incident forced the ferry to stop mid-voyage and rely on external assistance, highlighting once again the risks faced by seafarers during onboard emergencies.
Two crew members are still missing after the bulk carrier Changxin 198 capsized and sank off the western coast of Hainan Island, underscoring ongoing safety risks for bulk carriers operating in severe weather. The Maritime Telegraph reports that the incident occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin on 31 January 2026.
The shipping industry faces mounting retention and safety risks, Splash 247 reports, after new research from the World Maritime University (WMU) showed that nearly half of seafarers plan to leave the profession within five years – a trend that could deepen global crewing shortages.
Maersk Tankers has taken a practical step toward decarbonisation and fuel efficiency by completing its first wind-assisted propulsion retrofit, as reported by The Maritime Telegraph. The project marks the debut installation of bound4blue’s eSAIL technology on the medium-range tanker Maersk Trieste, under a wider agreement aimed at cutting fuel use and emissions across the fleet.
Seafarer abandonment climbed to an unprecedented level in 2025, leaving 6,223 crew members stranded aboard 410 vessels worldwide, as reported by The Maritime Telegraph. The figures confirm that the problem is no longer episodic, but a persistent and worsening feature of global shipping.
A crew member from the tanker Songa Pearl remains missing after falling overboard in the Elbe estuary, prompting a large-scale search and rescue operation that was later suspended. The incident was reported by The Maritime Telegraph.
