SSI’s Maritime News Update: September 2026

Welcome to your September 2026 look at the news shaping the shipping industry across the key themes of the SSI’s Roadmap: energy, people, oceans, finance, transparency and communities.

Feature article:

IMO Net-Zero Framework Holds Ground After Latest Round of Climate Talks (gCaptain)

The framework holding is meaningful in a pressured political environment. With December's carbon pricing decision approaching, the question now is whether 'holding ground' becomes a springboard for the level of ambition the science requires.

More Energy news we are following:

• Klaveness Adds Its First Wind-Assisted Combination Carrier Newbuild

• London Talks Raise Hopes for Green Shipping Deal

• Battle Over Cleaning Up Shipping Set to Resume at London Talks

• Backcasting Enters the Shipping Mainstream

• IMO Carbon Price Heads for December Showdown

• ISWG-GHG 22: US Signals Openness to Facility Alternative to IMO Fund

• UK Shipping Launches Alternative Fuels Coalition

• Alternative-Fuel Ship Orders Surge in August as LNG Drives Strongest Month Since 2024

• UK Ports Warn Grid Delays, Energy Costs Threaten Maritime Decarbonization

Feature article:

NorthStandard Joins SSI to Strengthen Focus on Seafarer Wellbeing and Human Risk (Safety4Sea)

SSI is delighted to welcome NorthStandard. P&I clubs sit at the intersection of risk, safety, and people; having that expertise at SSI creates new opportunities to connect seafarer wellbeing with the commercial and underwriting decisions that shape it.

More People news we are following:

• 'A Friendly Face in a Foreign Place': The Mission to Seafarers Brings Hope in Rough Seas

• Seafarers Must Be Free to Refuse War Zones

• AI-Assisted Analysis of 8,573 Maritime Incidents Puts Human Factors in Focus

• 2026 SEAFiT Crew Survey

• Shipping Traffic Collapses at Hormuz and Bab El-Mandeb

• MLC 2026 Amendments Explained: What Shipping Companies Must Know

• Crew Wellbeing and the Future of Hull Risk

• Four in Five Crew Deaths Linked to Illness, Britannia Finds

• Coast Guard's New Digital Mariner Credentialing Platform Set to Go Live

• LEDGID Unveils Portable Seafarer Identity Platform

Feature article:

Biofouling is Moving Up the Maritime Agenda (Safety4Sea)

The combination of invasive species risk, fuel penalties, and tightening regulation means biofouling can no longer be treated as a second-order issue, and the biosecurity consequences of the Hormuz disruption make that case impossible to ignore.

More Oceans news we are following:

• Jotun: Hull Performance Is the Lowest-Hanging Fruit for Lower Emissions

• Biofouling From Hormuz Shutdown Poses Major Invasive Species Risk

• Maritime Sustainability: Ensuring Oceans of Fish, Not Plastic

• PanStar Acro Enters Arctic Waters on 1st Korean Government-Backed Container Ship Trial

• Two Maritime Companies Fined $1.75 Million by U.S. Court for Discharging Untreated Oily Wastewater into the Ocean

Feature article:

COSCO Shipping Charts Greener Path for Sustainable Development (China Daily)

A major carrier putting structured sustainability reporting at the centre of its long-term strategy is a meaningful signal. The '1+N+M' framework is an ambitious commitment. The industry will watch how it builds verification and accountability as it scales.

More Finance news we are following:

• ‘Be ambitious’: Clarksons Securities Boss Sees More Whipping IPOs on the Horizon

• PPMI Closes Amid Decarbonisation Slowdown

• NORDEN Becomes First Maritime Carrier to Deliver Verified Emissions Reductions Through the RSB Book & Claim Registry to Microsoft

• SFL Locks in $750M with Hapag-Lloyd Extensions

• Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd Make Major Move Back to Suez

Feature article:

ESG Increasingly Seen as a Commercial Priority for Maritime Industry (Safety4Sea)

The shift from ESG as a reporting burden to a commercial differentiator is exactly the transition the industry needs. LR's framework gives companies the structure to make that case to clients and investors. The next step is for adoption to become the norm, not the exception.

More Transparency news we are following:

• New ESG Guidance to Help Maritime Industry Turn Sustainability into Commercial Advantage

• Sea Influence: White House Lobbying by Shipping Balloons Under Trump

Feature article:

Shipping Industry Welcomes Proposed Inclusion of Indian Ship Recycling Yards on the European List (CSN)

The proposed inclusion of Indian yards on the European list is a significant step. It expands compliant recycling capacity at a time when the volume of ships reaching end-of-life is set to increase sharply, and it rewards yards that invested in meeting the standard.

More Communities news we are following:

• GMS: Strong Buyer Appetite Persists as Ship-Recycling Supply Remains Thin

• Baltic Ports Organisation Discusses Green Corridors and Energy Transition in Turku

• US Maritime Regulator Visits Colombo Port to Discuss the Future of Global Shipping

• AMSA: Seafarer Welfare is Fundamental to Maritime Safety