Over a dozen Western-sanctioned tankers have recently switched their flag to Russia's, seeking protection against U.S. interception and Ukrainian drone attacks. This marks a dramatic transformation of shadow fleet operations: vessels are moving away from open registries towards direct state protection.
Regulators have taken several measures against shadow fleets evading oil sanctions over the last week. EU targeted nine Russian-linked firms on December 31, while US OFAC sanctioned 29 Iranian vessels and four Venezuelan tankers; Finland also detained a ship carrying hidden Russian cargo highlighting risks in Baltic and Arctic regions; all this action aims to limit sanctioned oil revenues.
US Navy officials welcomed the 78th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Ted Stevens from HII Ingalls Shipbuilding into their fleet capabilities, increasing fleet capabilities. At the same time, Japan approved its record $58 billion defense budget on December 26, which will fund JMSDF vessel constructions, Aegis upgrades, and unmanned systems for coastal defense to combat regional tensions.
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.
ecoSUB Robbins has inked a license deal with the University of Southampton for a new underwater water sampler to a depth of 2,500m, and adding to AUV fleets for marine researchers. Recent to its bucket list of interesting dates they’ve chalked up are an impressive true dive down to that distance in Madeira, their OCEANS 2024 debut with the signing of a Canadian distributor, and recently trials of ecoSUBs in the least explored environment on our planet, under the ice in the arctic… just part of the long list of reasons that we think ecoSUB Robotics is a company to watch as they continue to deliver accessible autonomous underwater robots.
Rutter Inc has won $3.1M from Canadas Ocean Supercluster for their IoT tech and partnered with Wartsila and Seaspan on Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers, Orsted on CTV wave prediction prediction services for offshore wind farms and with OceanWaveS GmbH to enhance its offerings in ice navigation technology, oil spill detection and safety technology.
HD Hyundai also won its biggest container ship order since 2007, taking on a US$1.46 billion contract from HMM for eight ultra-large 13,400 TEU LNG dual fuel vessels. At the same time it extended US collaboration with an MOU with Huntington Ingalls Industries and Siemens partnerships to improve American shipbuilding capabilities.