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The China-flagged research vessel JIDI operates approximately 265 miles northwest of Utqiagvik, Alaska, September 2, 2025, as seen from the medium-icebreaker USCGC Healy. U.S. Coast Guard Photo
Hello Club Members! Here is your weekly Dispatch with all the maritime news you need to know to end your week.
Ship Photo of The Week
The China-flagged research vessel JIDI operates approximately 265 miles northwest of Utqiagvik, Alaska, September 2, 2025, as seen from the medium-icebreaker USCGC Healy. U.S. Coast Guard Photo
The U.S. military has launched its first strike in the southern Caribbean since President Donald Trump ordered a major naval buildup in the region, sinking a Venezuelan vessel in international waters on Tuesday and killing 11 alleged members of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a gang Washington designated a terrorist group earlier this year. Trump called the target “narco-terrorists under the control of Nicolas Maduro” and vowed more strikes were coming.
Defense, er War, Secretary Pete Hegseth defended the operation as part of a broader campaign against drug cartels. “This is a deadly serious mission for us, and it won’t stop with just this strike. Anyone else trafficking in those waters who we know is a designated narco terrorist will face the same fate,” he said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the strike as “lethal,” while Trump claimed the boat was carrying “a lot of drugs,” though no evidence has been presented.
Legal and Political Fallout
A screen shot of video showing the alleged drugs smuggling vessel from Venezuela, as shared by President Donald Trump of Truth Social on September 2, 2025.
The Pentagon has not detailed how the vessel was destroyed—by drone, missile, or torpedo—nor whether narcotics were found. Legal experts say the strike may have violated international law, noting that drug interdictions typically fall to the U.S. Coast Guard, not the Navy. With no evidence provided, whether or not the attack was justified—or just political theater—remains up for debate.
Venezuelan Response
Tensions spiked further Thursday when two Venezuelan F-16s overflew a U.S. destroyer in international waters, which the Pentagon called a “highly provocative move.” Caracas denies TDA remains active, insisting it was dismantled in 2023, and Maduro accused Washington of seeking “regime change through military threat.” Trump, however, has labeled Maduro “a kingpin of a narco state.”
Military Buildup
The U.S. buildup in the region is the largest in years. Seven warships, a nuclear-powered submarine, P-8 Poseidon surveillance flights, and more than 4,500 sailors and Marines are already in place.
Adding to the pressure, U.S. officials confirmed the deployment of 10 F-35 stealth fighters to a Puerto Rican airfield by next week, giving Washington a decisive edge over Venezuela’s aging F-16 fleet.
With U.S. naval and air power surging and Caracas pushing back, the southern Caribbean is rapidly becoming the newest—and most volatile—front line in the Trump administration’s war on drugs.
Container Shipping Profits Tank as Tariffs Bite
The container shipping industry’s pandemic- and crisis-fueled profit boom is fading fast. Net income plunged to $4.4 billion in Q2 2025, down 56% from Q1 and 64% from the same quarter last year, according to maritime analyst John McCown. It’s the sector’s third straight quarterly decline, and McCown warns the worst is yet to come.
The culprit? Trump administration tariffs and trade policies. U.S. trade make up about one-third of global container miles, and new measures are already dragging down volumes. Inbound container traffic at U.S. ports has fallen 3.6% since January, and the National Retail Federation projects a full-year decline of more than 5% compared to 2024. That implies a sharp drop in the final five months of 2025 — a collapse McCown attributes entirely to tariffs.
The contrast with recent windfalls is stark: carriers pocketed $400 billion during the pandemic and another $50 billion from the Red Sea crisis, when diversions turbocharged rates. Those experiences taught operators to fine-tune capacity to protect earnings, but even discipline has limits. McCown now pegs Q3 profits at just $1.9–2.5 billion — a fraction of the $26.4 billion earned in Q3 2024 at the height of the Red Sea crunch.
And the storm clouds keep gathering. The USTR’s new ship fee plan will slap levies on Chinese-built and Chinese-operated vessels starting in October, threatening higher costs, capacity withdrawals, and fresh disruption on the Asia–U.S. West Coast corridor.
Yet despite mounting headwinds, carriers haven’t slammed the brakes on newbuilds. McCown credits their confidence to “increased discipline” in managing supply, though he notes many orders were placed before tariffs and fees loomed large.
His bottom line: buckle up. “The next year or so is certain to be among the most eventful periods ever for the container shipping industry,” McCown concludes — with ripple effects likely to offer an early read on both U.S. and global economic health.
New England States Sue Trump Over Offshore Wind Halt
Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Orsted-backed Revolution Wind LLC have sued the Trump administration after an Aug. 22 stop-work order froze the nearly finished $5 billion Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island.
Connecticut AG William Tong called the move part of Trump’s “all-out war” on wind, blasting it as “utterly unlawful and baseless — and frankly senseless and stupid.” Revolution Wind says the halt violates due process and could trigger $1B in losses.
The lawsuits underscore Trump’s broader offensive on offshore wind: blocking leases, pausing permits, rolling back tax credits, and even launching a probe into imported turbine parts. Orsted has been hit hard — its stock is down 85% since 2021, it faces $15M+ weekly losses from stalled U.S. projects, and it just secured $9.4B in emergency funding to avoid a credit downgrade.
“It’s going to be a long, tough journey to reerect Orsted,” Chair Lene Skole warned, as the company’s future hangs on the outcome of this legal battle.
China Opens Fast Lane Through the Arctic
An AIS track of the Istanbul Bridge’s voyage across the Arctic.
A Chinese-operated Panamax containership has blazed across Russia’s Northern Sea Route in just 6 days, completing a 25-day Europe–Asia transit that bypasses the Suez Canal.
The Istanbul Bridge, operated by Haijie Shipping, left St. Petersburg on August 18 and is due in Qingdao on September 12. Later this month, it will inaugurate the China–Europe Arctic Express, offering an 18-day Ningbo–Felixstowe service — less than half the Suez transit time.
Despite lingering sea ice, the 4,890 TEU vessel maintained speeds up to 18 knots with its low 1C ice-class, even overtaking stalled LNG carriers. Haijie says the first Arctic Express voyage is fully booked, as shippers rush goods to Europe ahead of the holiday season.
The route remains seasonal, but Haijie plans to expand service next year. Major Western lines like Maersk and MSC continue to shun the Arctic on environmental grounds — leaving China to seize first-mover advantage on the polar fast lane.
U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Shadows Chinese Ships
The Liberia-flagged Chinese research ship, Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di, operating over the delineated U.S. Extended Continental Shelf, approximately 230 miles north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, Aug. 31, 2025. U.S. Coast Guard Photo
The race for the Arctic heated up this week as the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted two Chinese research vessels operating off Alaska’s northern coast — part of a broader surge of Chinese activity in polar waters.
Between August 31 and September 2, the medium-icebreaker USCGC Healy and a Hercules patrol aircraft monitored the Chinese-flagged JIDI and the Liberia-flagged Zhong Shan Da Xue Ji Di as they operated over the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf, roughly 230–265 miles north of Utqiagvik. They are among five Chinese vessels active in the Arctic this summer.
“This operation highlights the value of our ice-capable fleet,” said Rear Adm. Bob Little, warning the U.S. needs more icebreakers to defend sovereignty. The deployments came under Operation Frontier Sentinel, the Coast Guard’s effort to counter adversary activity in U.S. Arctic waters.
The patrol follows the commissioning of the icebreaker Storis in Juneau and a joint Arctic mission by cutters Waesche and Healy. With China running Arctic shipping experiments — including the new Arctic Express liner service — Washington is signaling it won’t cede the high north without a fight.
U.S. Threatens Tariffs Over UN Shipping Emissions Deal
Washington is turning up the heat on global shipping. The Trump administration has warned countries to reject a U.N. marine fuel emissions-cutting deal or face tariffs, visa restrictions, and port levies, according to U.S. and European officials.
The target is the IMO’s “Net-Zero Framework,” a draft pact that would slap fees on ships breaching carbon standards. The U.S. pulled out of negotiations in April, arguing the plan would burden carriers while doing little to curb emissions. By August, the administration vowed retaliation against any country backing the deal.
In recent days, the State Department privately warned governments, including the Netherlands, that support for the framework could trigger trade penalties. “We are actively preparing remedies,” a spokesperson said, urging allies to follow suit.
The IMO, which regulates global shipping, says the October vote will be the key moment. With 90% of world trade moving by sea — and shipping emissions already 3% of the global total — the fight pits climate ambition against hard-edged U.S. trade leverage.
As always, we’d love to hear your feedback. Email [email protected] with any questions, comments, tips, or concerns. Don’t forget to check out the Club Discord and gCaptain.com for the latest maritime news.
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