WHEN ships confront an obstacle — a congestion-clogged port, a drought-stricken canal, a militia-harried strait — they just sail around it. US port fees on Chinese vessels, when they begin in October, are just another hindrance to circumvent, wrote senior maritime reporter Greg Miller.

Workarounds will be a burden for container lines, but they look doable under the watered-down version of the fee plan announced by the US Trade Representative on April 17. The big question is how China’s Cosco Group, the world’s fourth-largest liner operator, will fare — and how Cosco’s travails will impact the Ocean Alliance.

Flag hopping hits unprecedented levels among sanctioned fleet

Post-sanctions flag hopping has hit an unprecedented pace, with the average time between a ship being sanctioned and reflagging nearly halving in 2025, reported maritime risk analyst Bridget Diakun.

A Lloyd’s List analysis of Automatic Identification System data reveals the average time from initial sanction designation to a ship switching flags has dropped to 45 days for those sanctioned in 2025, compared to 85 days for those sanctioned in 2024. There have been 218 cargo-carrying vessels added to international sanctions lists so far this year. Of these, 78 have already reflagged.

Approximately half of all the flag changes that have been recorded since November 2024 involved vessels swapping MMSIs to affiliate themselves with the registries of Comoros, Guyana and Netherlands Antilles (which represents either Curacao or Sint Maarten).

False flags have been linked to each of these registries.

Höegh Autoliners prepares for hit from USTR port levy

Höegh Autoliners chief executive Andreas Enger said the company was working with clients and planning schedule adjustments to mitigate the impact of proposed port levies by the US Trade Representative port levy on the vehicle carrier sector, wrote markets editor Rob Willmington.

The USTR announced on April 17 that all foreign-built vehicle carriers will be subject to a fee of $150 per ceu with effect from October 2025. The announcement followed plans announced by the USTR in February, to introduce a port levy that was expected to discriminate only against China-built vessels.

While February’s proposals have since been watered down for most vessel sectors, the fee on effectively any deepsea vehicle carrier calling at a US port was unexpected.

Panama’s expedited sanctions purge a boon for Guyana’s fraudulent registry

The Panama Maritime Authority’s (AMP) crackdown on vessels involved in illicit activities has contributed to a flurry of flag hopping, with sanctioned ships seeking refuge in fraudulent registries and those registries with a history of accepting sanctioned tonnage, wrote Bridget Diakun.

In October 2024, the AMP announced it would automatically cancel the registration of “any vessel found to be involved in illegal activities or that changes its flag to evade sanction”, which was followed by a new legal framework that would allow the registry to quickly deregister ships. The AMPs enhancement of compliance efforts was in response to the inclusion of Panama-flagged vessels on the US Office of Foreign Assets Control list.

There have been 135 vessels added to international sanctions lists since the Panama flag announced its purge of ships engaged in illicit activities, and according to a Lloyd’s List investigation 73 of these vessels have since reflagged.

Global steel production up for first time in 2025

Global steel production increased 2.9% in March 2025, the first increase in this year, reported news reporter Joshua Minchin.

Production for the quarter is still down 0.4% on the same period last year, but that gap has been narrowed from -2.2% at the end of February. Last month’s increase was driven largely by big gains in Indian and Chinese production, which are by far the largest steel producers in the world.

USTR port fees: dry bulk gets reprieve, for now

Dry bulk will not be hugely affected by the port fees announcement outlined by the US Trade Representative last week, after the published plan was significantly watered down from the nightmarish original proposal, which would have seen China-built vessels charged per US port call, wrote Joshua Minchin.

Instead, vessels with a “bulk capacity” above 80,000 dwt owned by China-domiciled companies will be charged per rotation of US ports, rather than on individual calls. Crucially, ballasters are excluded.