December 2025 witnessed significant activity in the offshore supply vessel market, such as DOF Group's $150M ROV support vessel contract with Petrobras, OceanPact's $90M AHTS charter for tanker offloading, and Russia delivering their multifunctional Kerch Strait vessel for Northern Sea Route support - these deals demonstrate robust demand across Brazil and Arctic regions.
China COSCO Shipping Corporation and CSSC inked an historic RMB 50 billion agreement for 87 new vessels on December 8th 2025, making this order one of the largest orders ever placed to modernize their fleet. On December 18th COSCO also strengthened Hainan Free Trade Port operations due to a newly introduced Island-wide Special Customs Operation system and increased logistics efficiency and global connectivity.
December 2025 witnessed significant advances in semi-submersible vessels, with Sembcorp Marine unveiling the world's largest semi-submersible passenger vessel Sleipnir and alligator, U.S. strikes against suspected drug trafficker semis, China unveiling their mysterious trimaran, and JSI Alliance's inaugural cargo operation taking place during this month. Allseas advanced their Grand Tour HTV project with orders and designs.
DP World announced major investments in December 2025, including R$1.6 billion to expand Santos terminal capacity by 25% to 2.1 million TEUs; launched a 36-hour Dubai-Iraq sea service; opened a Queretaro warehouse for nearshoring in Mexico's nearshoring operations; unifying marine brands; and expanding short sea shipping in Canada - moves designed to improve trade efficiency and sustainability across Americas and Middle East regions. These moves facilitated greater trade efficiency and sustainability.
In December 2025, the US Navy awarded several major contracts for autonomous surface vehicles such as Saronic's $392 million Corsair production deal and Textron Systems' TSUNAMI sale to NIWC PAC. Partnerships like HavocAI-SAIC and HII's ROMULUS milestone mark rapid scaling up of uncrewed maritime capabilities for defense missions.
On December 10, 2025, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held its inaugural Gulf of America offshore oil and gas lease sale with over $300 million bids and marked the beginning of an aggressive 30-lease program with reduced royalty rates of just 12.5 percent through 2040.
Mesotech has changed to Kongsberg Discovery Canada as its parent company Kongsberg Gruppen undergoes an expansive corporate restructuring. This change signifies the consolidation of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Kongsberg Discovery into one technology and defence-focused entity, while Kongsberg Maritime will operate independently going forward.
ABB's Marine & Ports division reported record order intake during the first half of 2025, due to strong customer demand for hybrid-electric systems and decarbonization technologies. A leadership transition also took place, while progress was made on fuel cell partnerships and Small Modular Reactor integration into maritime applications.
Late December 2025 saw two significant maritime incidents: a tanker collision in Turkey's Sea of Marmara and the grounding of a fishing vessel in California's Kalbajar-Alatepe collision resulting in one vessel running aground, and Sea Dragon II fishing boat being destroyed off Ventura Beach.
International Submarine Engineering Ltd. and Babcock Canada have collaborated on an innovative subsea charging and data transfer solution for submarines. This technology, specifically tailored for autonomous underwater docking, meets Canada's Patrol Submarine Project requirements without compromising stealthy operations under the ice.
December 2025 witnessed several serious vessel collisions along major shipping routes, with incidents taking place in the Sea of Marmara, Nile River and Swedish waters. These events highlight persistent navigation challenges in heavily trafficked waterways as well as the need for enhanced safety measures in high traffic maritime zones.
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Denmark reached agreements that exceeded EUR 100 million to supply Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defence Systems to fortify Baltic and North Sea defenses, and an ORCCA combat system deal on German and Norwegian 212CD submarines, totalling NOK 3.5 billion in value. Furthermore, Kongsberg acquired Zone 5 Technologies of US in order to boost affordable missile production capabilities.
Euronav recently signed a $1.15 billion deal to acquire CMB.TECH, strengthening their decarbonization efforts with 106 low-carbon vessels. CMB.TECH shareholders approved this transaction, marking an important step toward more sustainable shipping practices. It follows on VLCC sales to Frontline as well as new ammonia-fueled and secondhand vessel orders from Euronav.
Mediterranean Shipping Company implemented several freight rate increases on key routes between Far East, Europe, Africa and beyond since December 2025, taking effect December 1. These updates included service enhancements such as faster transit times on Western Cape Express and new port calls; as well as surcharges due to high demand and regulations. These moves reflect market pressures as well as operational adjustments.
Nexans Norway AS accomplished significant achievements in December 2025 with the hull launch of Nexans Electra at Ulstein Verft and Space Norway awarding them with a contract for Bodo-Fauske link fibre-optic cable installation work. These events underscore Nexans' central role in Norway's offshore energy and digital infrastructure sectors.
APM Terminals has announced enhancements to TERMPoint appointments at Port Elizabeth effective December 1st 2025 in order to enhance gate efficiency. In Nigeria, Barging Marine Solutions have expanded barge services as market growth increases demand. Finally, Apapa terminal issued holiday notices regarding early closures and uninterrupted operations over Christmas and New Year.
November 2025 saw significant advances in subsea cable infrastructure, from new vessel launches and cable installations for offshore wind to technological innovations across Japan, Europe and China. These events demonstrate how Japan, Europe and China maritime sectors are working towards improving offshore energy connectivity with increased offshore connectivity capabilities such as Jan De Nul and Asso.subsea at the forefront of these advancements.
The Trump administration announced in December 2024 that construction work on five major U.S. offshore wind farms had been suspended due to national security concerns, impacting billions in investment projects totalling billions total with Dominion Energy already filing suit to resume work on its largest windfarm project - this unprecedented challenge to an emerging offshore wind sector was taken as the ultimate result of such actions taken against construction of five offshore wind farms totalling billions in investments total.
Kraken Robotics announced approximately $12 million in purchases for synthetic aperture sonar and SeaPower subsea batteries from Teledyne Marine, Terradepth, and two NATO navies on December 2, 2025. Two days later on December 4, they appointed Kim Butler to their board and Bernard Mills as EVP Defence to further increase maritime security focus amid strong Q3 results.
Global offshore oil and gas investment is projected to rise steadily between 2026-2029 after experiencing a dip in 2025, with deepwater rig demand gradually picking up after postponed projects resume. China's Bohai Oilfield set new production records while European operators surge North Sea activity.