ships

the funnel is a fatal trap knocking down only two ships

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In 1988, during the call Operation Praying MantisIn a single day, the United States launched the largest naval offensive since World War II in the Persian Gulf, destroying a large part of the Iranian fleet after a mine hit an American frigate. That episode, which seemed to close a chapter, ended up marking the beginning of a completely different form of understand war at sea. A lock to strangle… or expose yourself. The United States has opted for one of the most aggressive tools available: block traffic to and from Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to suffocate its economy, deploying a combination of aircraft carriers, destroyers, special forces and air support with the ability to intercept, board and detain oil tankers. The operation, however, does not consist of simply turning off a tap, but rather of monitoring and controlling a maritime funnel extremely narrow and saturatedwhere each movement forces high-value assets to move closer to the Iranian coast. This proximity, necessary to make the blockade effective, turns each maneuver into constant exposure to attacks, raising the potential cost of the operation from the first moment. The military paradox. A key point appears here, because, although the United States has devastated the Iranian conventional navy, sinking frigates, corvettes and large units, the true instrument of control of Hormuz still stands: the asymmetric fleet of the Revolutionary Guard. Talk later of more than 60% of their speedboats that remain operational, hidden in underground bases and specifically designed to operate in confined waters, launch lightning attacks, lay mines or harass commercial ships. In fact, this structure has not only survived, but has proven itself effectively. drastically reducing maritime traffic, making it clear that traditional naval power is not the decisive factor in this scenario. The strait turned into a weapon. This morning they counted the TWZ analysts that there is a wave of US minesweepers currently moving from Japan to the Middle East. The move is easy to understand, since Iran has transformed the strait in a hostile environment where any technological superiority loses part of its advantage in the face of saturation and difficulty of detection. Naval mines, explosive drones, ground-launched missiles and small fast vessels create a distributed threat network that does not need to sink large vessels to be effective. It is enough to generate uncertainty and constant risk to paralyze trafficmake insurance more expensive and deter shipping companies, as has already been seen with dozens of attacks and the drop in the number of daily crossings to minimum levels. Strategic funnel: control or get trapped. Because the US plan to “bottle” Iran on both sides of the Strait involves deploying forces in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to cut entrances and exits, but that same geometry makes the operation in a potential trap. As? A priori, the forces must operate within a corridor barely 30 km wide, under direct range of coastal missiles and surrounded by low-cost but high-impact threats. In this context, control of space does not eliminate risk, but it concentrates itforcing ships to remain within an area where the adversary has designed its way of fighting for decades. The critical point. Under that scenario, the logic of the confrontation favors Iran in one key respect, because it does not actually need to defeat the US navy as a whole, only to inflict limited losses, but symbolically devastating. Hence, as the retired admiral of the United States Navy, James Stavridis, explained, to CNNthe sinking or disabling of one or two Washington destroyers, or the damage to a single aircraft carrier, would not change the global military balance, but it would have an impact unprecedented political and strategicquestioning the entire operation in itself. In essence, a simple explanation: in an environment where attacks can come in the form of swarms of drones or relatively cheap missiles, the cost-benefit leans dangerously against whoever deploys the most valuable assets. Time, economy and global pressure. Not only that. While the blockade seeks to cut off Iranian income, its collateral effects are already hitting the global system: rise in oil prices above $100, tensions in fuel supplies, impact on aviation, fertilizers and industrial chains. Iran is precisely playing with this wear and tear, aware that prolonging the crisis increases the pressure on the United States and its allies, both economically and politically. In this scenario, every day that the strait remains altered reinforces the Iranian negotiating position, turning the blockade into a double-edged sword. Decades waiting for the battle. If you will, the latest analysis of the situation in Hormuz is perhaps the most disturbing for Washington’s interests. Far from being a surprise, the scenario fits exactly with the doctrine that Iran developed after the destruction of his fleet in the eighties: avoid conventional combat and dominate critical points through asymmetric warfare. The Strait of Hormuz is not just a strategic passage, but a battlefield custom designedone where the combination of geography, preparation and tools allows Tehran compensate for their inferiority in the face of an extremely superior naval power. Therefore, more than a decisive move, the US blockade opens the door to a confrontation on the ground where Iran it feels more comfortable and where the risk of an unpredictable escalation is maximum if Tehran is able to knock down a couple of “chips.” Image | Iran State Media In Xataka | The problem in Hormuz is not that it is closed: it is that Iran has “lost the keys” and without them the balance is broken In Xataka | The most buoyant market right now is selling streaming and satellite images of US movements to Iran.

the day ships stop arriving from the Middle East

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There is a date marked in red on logistics calendars across the continent: tomorrow, April 10. According to the projections of the analysis firm Argus Mediaaround this day the last shipments of aviation fuel (jet fuel) that managed to cross the Strait of Hormuz before its closure will dock in European ports. From that date onwards, entry volumes will plummet. The impact is no longer a theoretical threat. According to TVP Worldthe shortage is already palpable in Italy: the airports of Bologna, Milan Linate, Treviso and Venice have issued notices warning of possible restrictions on refueling due to the limited availability of fuel from their supplier, Air BP Italia. It is the first major warning of a domino effect that threatens to paralyze the European skies. The perfect storm in the Gulf. Since the start of the Third Gulf War on February 28 more than 20% has been canceled of the world’s seaborne jet fuel supply, and no less than 42% of seaborne imports from the European Union and the United Kingdom. The recent news of a “two-week truce” announced by US President Donald Trump has been received as a mirage in the industry. According to Politicalthe ceasefire will not solve the shortage in the short term. Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), warned that rebuild damaged refining capacity in the Middle East will take months. Among the infrastructures hit is the Al-Zour refinery in Kuwait, responsible for providing approximately 10% of Europe’s jet fuel imports, as pointed out BBC. Furthermore, maritime logistics is unforgiving. In the most idealized scenario where Hormuz is completely reopened today, ships would take 25 days to reach Europe sailing through a Red Sea where the Houthis remain a threat, or up to six weeks if they are forced to go around the Cape of Good Hope. Prices are skyrocketing. The price of aviation fuel in Europe reached last week an all-time high of $1,838 per ton, compared to 831 dollars before the start of the war. This increase translates into an immediate logistical problem on the landing strips. Anita Mendiratta, special advisor to the Secretary-General of UN Tourism, explains to Euronews a crucial technical detail: airports cannot store aviation fuel in large quantities. The entire system is designed to rely on continuous deliveries through refineries and pipelines. Any slightest interruption breaks the chain. The consequences are already visible on the exit panels. Just two weeks ago, we reported in Xataka that more than 25,000 flights canceled over the Middle East, while European airlines such as Scandinavian SAS have canceled at least 1,000 flights in April alone. For their part, giants like Delta Air Lines plan to absorb $2 billion in extra costs during the second quarter alone due to fuel, according to Reuters. How does it affect the passenger? Analysts of Barclays, in statements collected by Politicalthey end the era of “super normal” prices and cheap tickets. Airlines will also have to make drastic decisions about their fleets: Willie Walsh, in an interview with Bloomberganticipates that companies will be forced to evaluate the accelerated retirement of high-consumption aircraft, such as the gigantic A380. United States to the rescue (at the price of gold). In this survival scenario, Europe has found a lifeline on the other side of the Atlantic, although at a very high price. According to Financial TimesAmerican fuel already accounts for half of British imports (compared to the usual 7%). However, Europe is waging a fierce bidding war with Asia over shipments that, as it warns, Argus Media in the British environment, they will barely cover half of the gap left by the Middle East. Internally, the resistance goes in other directions. While countries with their own refining such as Poland are more protected, the calculations of Argus Media collected by Euronews They estimate that, without new shipments, commercial reserves will be exhausted in three months in the United Kingdom, in four in Portugal and in seven in Spain, Italy or Germany. Faced with this fragmented map, the EU is in tow: its spokesperson, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, has acknowledged to the same medium that Brussels still lacks a “complete image” of national reserves to be able to organize a solidarity plan. The lessons of a dependent industry. Beyond the April emergency, the crisis has uncovered deep structural flaws in global aviation. According to Aviation WeekMarie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s chief economist, was astonished at the world’s complacency in living “under the domination of this monopolistic industry that is oil.” Thomsen denounced the very serious lack of investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), pointing out that capital is overwhelmingly directed to sectors such as artificial intelligence. For his part, Willie Walsh launched a direct criticism of governments: while States maintain immense strategic reserves of crude oil to cushion global crises, “it does not seem that we have any strategic reserves of jet fuel,” collects Aviation Week. The underlying fear is not just a difficult summer, but a permanent paradigm shift. According to a European executive in the energy sector to Politicalthe “worst case scenario” is that the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, but under new rules: with Iran applying permanent restrictions or charging tolls that alter global energy dynamics forever. A summer on the wire The high summer season is just around the corner and the market is walking on the wire. A firm analyst Vortexa warns in the BBC that, if these interruptions persist, maintaining the current level of flights will be logistically unsustainable without drastic route cuts and massive fare increases. Starting tomorrow, when the last ships that managed to escape the blockade unload their precious fuel in the continent’s ports, European aviation will begin to fly with the reserve light on. The era of absolute vulnerability of the European sky has just taken off. Image | Unsplash Xataka | The canary in the mine of the new oil crisis are the airlines: they are already canceling flights due to lack of fuel

build luxury cruise ships. And he’s doing it at full speed

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For decades, Europe has been without a doubt the world reference in the construction of cruise ships with four outstanding shipyards: in Italy, Germany, France and Finland. However, beneath those luxurious interiors hide ambitious works of engineering in the form of small (relatively) cities that navigate the oceans. China was already an authority in the construction of freighters and container ships, but cruise ships resisted it. three years ago timidly entered the sectorbut he is burning stages in record time. The Adora Flora City is almost ready. Last Friday the Love Flora City (in Chinese, Aida Huacheng), left dry dock in Shanghai. In short: only your test trips and final delivery are ahead of you on your roadmap, although tickets can now be reserved for their first cruises at the end of the year from Guangzhou. Everything is going as planned and at printing speed too: it was assembled in just nine months. This impressive luxury cruise ship has been built by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding Co. at the city’s shipyard and with Guangzhou Nansha as its home port. It is 341 meters long and 37.2 meters wide and inside there is capacity for 5,232 passengers, distributed in 2,144 cabins. Your design is inspired on the Silk Road and Lingnan culture, with floral motifs throughout the ship in a nod to Guangzhou. However, Huacheng is “City of Flowers” the nickname of Guangzhou. Why is it important. Because building a cruise ship is one of the most complex projects in naval engineering, which demonstrates its scarcity and the seniority of the classic European shipyards, and China has demonstrated both its technical power and its enormous learning capacity. And in what way: China has stepped on the accelerator on its learning curve. From the first to the second cruise it has shortened construction deadlines and reduced its external dependence, with a near date to be completely independent. Aid from the West has been a double-edged sword (for the West): it has helped create a competitor that, based on precedents in other sectors, can change the naval industry drastically. Context. Adora Cruises was born in 2015 as a joint venture between CSSC and Carnival Corporation, the largest cruise operator in the world. China provided shipyards and the market and Carnival provided its experience and the brand. But the pandemic disrupted plans, the relationship cooled and Carnival ended up withdrawing completely. When it was born, its goal was for the ships to be operated by the Asian division of Aida Cruises, a subsidiary of Carnival (hence its name Aida). At the beginning of this year, Adora integrated with other state operators under the China Cruises brand in a movement in which, although Adora maintains its recognizable name, it seeks to optimize its operational performance and consolidate its presence in the Chinese market. It is already an entirely Chinese project. The first cruise. He Love Magic City (Aida Modu) was the first large cruise ship manufactured entirely in China. Among its specifications, a length of 323 meters, capacity to accommodate up to 5,246 passengers on its 14 decks and 2,125 cabins with a style that combines Western with Chinese. In this case, assembling the helmet cost them a little more: 11 months. detaching from Fincantieri. But while for the Adora Magic City intensive technical support from the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, with the Flora City, Chinese engineering is almost on its own. The construction and coordination of work is now entirely Chinese. Ficantieri and the RINA classification society are still in the project, providing licenses, the design platform and some parts, but they are no longer supervising. What’s coming As reported by XinhuaLast Friday, China Tourism Group and CSSC signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a new cruise ship. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding plans to accelerate the construction of a cruise ship assembly base and already has in mind the date to deliver the first independent, that is, 100% Chinese, large cruise ship: in 2030. The idea is to pave the way to enter the mass production phase. In Xataka | We believed that the most incredible thing about megacruises is their size. It turns out that the real miracle is their kitchens In Xataka | From trips for honeymooners and retirees to Gen Z phenomenon: this is how cruises are being saved Images | Adora Cruises

One trick is unblocking the passage of ships in Hormuz without the need for drones or escorts. And the US is not going to be amused

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In 2023, some of the world’s largest oil tankers have already begun sailing with transponders off in risk areas to avoid being tracked, a known practice like “dark shipping” which makes it difficult to know what cargo they are transporting and where they are going. In scenarios of maximum tension, these opaque movements tend to multiply and anticipate deeper changes in how it circulates really the energy for the world. The new rules. Although it may seem like it, in reality, the Strait of Hormuz is not formally closed, but in practice it has stopped be a neutral space to become a conditional passage through Iran, where transit depends on implicit authorizations and specific routes under its control. In the midst of attacks, mines and a constant threat that has paralyzed hundreds of ships, some oil tankers have managed to cross a simple tactic: follow trajectories close to the Iranian coast, avoiding the usual corridors and suggesting the existence of a selective passage system that redefines who can circulate and under what conditions. Tehran’s invisible filter. The ships that manage to cross the strait do not do so by chance, but within a pattern increasingly clear: negotiated transit, “acceptable” flags and destinations aligned with countries that do not directly participate in the conflict or without directly “friends.” There it appears mainly India and China along with neutral actors who have begun to secure shipments through diplomatic contacts, while ships linked to the West remain outside or directly exposed. This model allows Iran to maintain a minimum flow of energy that avoids a total collapse of the market, but at the same time turns the passage into a tool of geopolitical pressure, where each transit is a concession and not a right. Minimum flow with global impact. Although the number of ships that manage to cross is still a fraction of the usual, that small trickle is enough to influence prices energy and avoid further escalation, especially towards Asia. That said, the bottleneck is enormous, with hundreds of ships waiting and logistics extremely limited in a passage that already functions as a two-lane highway. The constant threat of drones, mines or specific attacks maintains the risk at maximum levels and deters the majority of operators, consolidating a system where the exception, and not the normality, sets the pace of commerce. China in the lead. In this context, China emerges as one of the main beneficiaries of this selective system, absorbing much of the crude oil that manages to get out of the Gulf and using its ambiguous position to keep open supply lines that others cannot guarantee. In other words, the appearance of ships with Chinese ties among the few that cross the strait reinforces the idea that access to Hormuz no longer depends only on geography, but rather on political alignment, consolidating a transit network where Beijing gains margin while other actors lose access. The Eurasian plan B. In parallel, China and Russia are accelerating construction of structural alternatives to vulnerable routes such as Hormuz, promoting its own logistics corridors that include lto Arctic Route and terrestrial networks across Eurasia. With investments in ports, icebreaking vessels and independent logistics systems, both countries seek to reduce their exposure to bottlenecks controlled by third parties and create a commercial architecture more resilient and politically aligned. This strategy not only responds to the current crisis, but also aims at a lasting reorganization of global trade. An uncomfortable scenario for the United States. There is no doubt, the combination of a partially narrow controlled by Iranan energy flow that is redirected towards Asia and development of alternative routes Outside of Western influence, it sets up an increasingly unfavorable scenario for the United States. As Washington tries to respond with naval escorts and pressure international (although at the last minute started again back saying that it does not need help from the allies), its capacity to guarantee free transit is limited compared to a system where a mine or a drone is enough to paralyze everything. The result is a silent but profound change: the control of energy flows begins to depend less on direct military force and more of political and logistical networks that escape US control. Image | x In Xataka | The war with Iran is leading the US to a plan B that no one imagined: avoiding the nuclear objective at all costs In Xataka | The US nuclear supercarrier has a problem: its marines are sleeping on the ground in the middle of the war with Iran

Ships have been damaging the oceans with noise for centuries. Germany is working on silent propellers to solve it

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Every time a boat crosses the seas, it is accompanied by a continuous noise underwater: that of the propellers that propel it. The noise problem of propellers in marine ecosystems is identified academically since 2004, but its reason for being is even older: the first time they analyzed its cause It was in 1893. What there is no solution to that disturbing low-frequency sound that spreads for kilometers, disturbing fish, cetaceans and other marine living beings. And its reason for being is even older: the first time cavitation was analyzed was in 1893. A team from the Kiel University of Applied Sciences has set out to remedy it with its project MinKav. Brief notes on cavitation. To understand the problem, we must first see what happens to the blades of a propeller when they rotate at high speed. With their movement, the blades generate a pressure difference between their faces. Thus, on the back side the pressure drops so much that the water changes state, going from liquid to gas. More specifically, thousands of small vapor bubbles. The problem is when these bubbles leave that low pressure zone: they then implode violently, returning to the liquid state, which causes pressure waves that are transmitted at high speed through the water. If the waves collide with a surface, they can deteriorate it considerably. The phenomenon of cavitation is accompanied by vibration and noise, as if it were gravel falling on a machine. This sound is broadband, with low frequency components capable of traveling long distances. Why is it important. Of all possible aquatic pollution, human-caused acoustics are the least mainstream, but their effects are documented. A couple of concrete examples of the importance of sound for aquatic species: whales They use sound to communicate, orient themselves and huntthe fish for such essential tasks how to detect predators or spawning and crustaceans are sensitive to vibration in the background. To get an idea of ​​the magnitude of the problem, according to the International Chamber of Navigation There are approximately 50,000 merchant ships operating continuously around the planet and they all emit that sound. It is not something specific. And the research team adds a twist: a propeller with less cavitation is not only less noisy, it can also potentially be more efficient (cavitation is wasted mechanical energy). Less noise and fewer emissions. The discovery. The HAW Kiel team has identified when the problem originates: the sound peak does not occur when the bubble forms, but right at the end of the collapse. And its intensity depends directly on the speed at which this collapse occurs. The faster you go, the stronger the blow. Illustration of human, marine animal and environmental sound sources in the marine environment, with proportional sound waves. National Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration How are they doing it. The experiments are being carried out at the Naval Hydrodynamics Laboratory of the German university, in a kind of aquarium with a miniature propeller, so that they can reproduce the flow conditions around the propeller. Equipped with underwater microphones and high-speed cameras, they have determined where and when that noise peak occurs. The next step is computer simulations to experiment with designing different propeller geometries to reduce noise without sacrificing performance, efficiency or durability. The most obvious solution, lowering the rpm, is not an option: a commercial boat cannot afford to go slower. Pending subjects. However, MinKav started in January of this year, will last three years and have a budget of 390,000 euros, modest for a problem of global scale. Even if MinKav were to come to fruition, it would have to go from the laboratory to scale-up on a commercial ship. In Xataka | A Spaniard has patented a mast that transforms wind and waves into electricity: his invention challenges diesel in boats In Xataka | A “roomba” to clean rivers: the ship that the Three Gorges Dam has launched in China Cover | Pexels

The world needs to get oil out of the Middle East by any means possible. Their only hope is 30 giant ships queuing in Yanbu

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The landscape off the coast of Yanbu on the Red Sea has completely changed in a matter of days. The area is now taken over by VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers), colossal supertankers capable of swallowing two million barrels of crude oil. They are not there just passing through; Its massive concentration responds to a single objective: to carry out the largest and most urgent evacuation of oil in recent times. A fleet to the rescue of the market. To understand the magnitude of this rescue operation, just look at the figures that provides Financial Times: What is happening is a real “flotilla of supertankers” sailing against the clock. About 30 of these giants head to Yanbu, when the usual thing is that only two arrive a month. The reason is that traffic in the Persian Gulf has come to a “stalemate” following the Iranian attacks. The maritime tracking data it handles Bloomberg give an idea of ​​the urgency: In just 48 hours, at least 25 of these giants have headed to the Saudi port. We are talking about a fleet with room to load some 50 million barrels that, otherwise, would have no outlet. It is an essential escape valve right now. The blockade has already caused world production to fall by 6% and the plug is so big that neighbors like Iraq and Kuwait they have had to start closing wells because, simply, they have run out of room in their tanks to store the oil. The “sea bridge” to avoid Iran. How do these ships load oil if they do not enter the Gulf? The answer is in the desert, but the result is seen in the port. Saudi Arabia is using your pipeline East-West like a turnstile. The crude oil travels overland 1,200 kilometers to Yanbu, where the “army” of ships awaits it to distribute it to the world, especially China and India. According to Wall Street Journal, This infrastructure has become “one of the most critical pieces of the world economy” overnight. The CEO of Saudi Aramco, Amin Nasser, confirmed in this medium that they are reaching their maximum capacity: 7 million barrels per day flowing westward. Of them, 5 million are destined directly to be loaded on these supertankers for global markets. The risk does not disappear, it just changes coordinates. But sailing to Yanbu is not a safe ride. As he warns Financial Times, The ships must now “challenge the notorious hotspot of Houthi attacks.” To leave for Asia, these supertankers have to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Although the Yemeni group had signaled a pause in its attacks, experts from EOS Risk They assure that the tankers continue to assume an “enormous risk”, since the area is within reach of Iranian missiles. Even the port of Fujairah in the Emirates, which is also trying to act as an escape route, is already has suffered damage from drone attacks last week. The message is clear: the alternative is less dangerous than Hormuz, but it is not immune to war. The limits of the plan. The big question for markets is whether this armada of ships and desert pipelines can prevent economic collapse. The closure of Hormuz has taken 20 million barrels per day off the board and physical reality imposes its limits on the alternative route. On the one hand, there is a critical funnel in the port itself. According to data from the Argus Media agencyalthough the Saudi pipeline manages to transport up to 7 million barrels, the Yanbu terminals only have real capacity to load between 4 and 4.5 million a day on ships. Inevitably, supertankers will have to queue. On the other hand, the distillate crisis looms. As experts cited by Middle East Eyethe East-West pipeline transports crude oil, not refined products. No matter how many ships fill up in Yanbu, markets like Europe are left without their vital supply of diesel and aviation fuel, which is usually processed in the unreachable refineries of the Middle East. According to Sparta Commodities in statements for WSJwith this route only half of the problem has been “solved.” There are another 10 million barrels that are still trapped with no possible way out. Therefore, it is no longer “crazy” for a barrel to reach $200. The demand for oil is “inelastic”; the economy cannot stop consuming it from one day to the next, which generates brutal upward pressure. The geopolitics of “the worse the better” While ships maneuver in the Red Sea, in Washington the focus is purely strategic. Donald Trump has made it clear that stopping Iran is the priority, even above the price of gasoline. “We make a lot of money when prices rise,” the president even published on his social networks, emphasizing that the US, as a large producer, can afford a resistance that other countries do not have. For its part, the historic opening of the IEA’s strategic reserves (400 million barrels) attempts to “buy time,” but as analyst Javier Blas says, nothing replaces to the actual opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Image | Photo by Khristina Sergeychik on Unsplash Xataka | China has just found a hole in the US’s quietest weapon: an algorithm has hacked its B-2s in Iran

Iran is planting sea mines in Hormuz. And what threatens to blow up is not ships: it is the world economy

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On the maps it looks like just a gap of water between deserts, but it passes through that narrow corridor every day. a gigantic portion of the energy that moves the planet. So narrow that in some sections the ships navigate in maritime lanes of just a few kilometers, constantly monitored by radars, drones and military fleets. For decades, any tension at that point in the Persian Gulf has been capable of shake up prices of oil in a matter of minutes. Imagine if will plant mines. A war also at sea. As bombings and missiles focus attention on the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran, a parallel battle has begun to unfold in the Persian Gulf. From the start of the warUS intelligence services They detected signs that Tehran could try to disrupt maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz by deploying naval mines and small fast boats. The threat is serious enough to have triggered public warnings of Washington and preventive military operations against Iranian ships suspected of participating in these maneuvers. In this context, the control of this narrow maritime corridor has become one of the strategic points more delicate of the conflict, because any disturbance there has immediate repercussions on the global energy supply. The strait, the global energy artery. There is no doubt, the tension is explained by the central role that Hormuz plays in the global energy system. Approximately a fifth of the oil consumed by the planet circulates through this strait of just a few dozen kilometers, in addition to a similar proportion of the international trade in liquefied natural gas. Every day they go through it in normal conditions about twenty million of barrels of crude oil from the producing countries of the Gulf heading to Asia, Europe and America. Powers like China, India, Japan or South Korea depend largely of this step to secure its energy supply, which turns any threat in these waters into an immediate global problem. It is no coincidence that even rumors or minor incidents in the area provoke immediate reactions in the oil markets. The new war. In that scenario it has begun a new phase of the conflict: that of oil tankers navigating between the risk of mines capable of shaking the planet’s economies. American intelligence reports indicate that Iran has begun deploying dozens of these explosives in the strait and keeps intact most of its fleet of small boats capable of planting hundreds more in a short time. The Revolutionary Guard controls much of the area next to the Iranian navy and has a combination of speedboats, minelayer boats, drones and coastal missile batteries that can turn the sea passage into a navigation trap. The goal would not necessarily be to sink large numbers of ships, that too, but to create enough uncertainty enough to paralyze global energy traffic, raise transportation costs and trigger a shock in international markets. In other words, a well-placed mine in these waters can have an economic impact that goes much further of the ship that hits it. First shocks. Faced with this threat, Washington has chosen for acting before mine deployment reaches a larger scale. The US military has confirmed (with videos included) a few hours ago the destruction of at least sixteen Iranian vessels involved in mining operations near the strait, in what US officials describe as pre-emptive strikes based on intelligence about Tehran’s operational plans. These actions seek to prevent Iran from turning the strait into a practically closed area to navigation before the deployment of explosives multiplies. At the same time, the White House has warned that any attempt to block the flow of oil will provoke a much more forceful military response than the operations carried out so far. Trapped oil and markets in panic. The economic consequences are already beginning to become visible. Since the start of the war, oil transit from the Gulf has seriously upsetwith millions of barrels per day that cannot leave the region normally. Countries like Iraq or Kuwait depend almost exclusively of this route to export its crude, which amplifies the potential impact of any interruption. Energy companies have started diverting ships or to look for alternative routeswhile Saudi Arabia tries to compensate for part of the problem by increasing the use of its oil pipeline to the Red Sea. In parallel, the International Energy Agency studies a massive liberation of strategic reserves to contain the impact of the energy crisis. A few kilometers to shake the world. The fragility of the situation is also explained by the geography of the enclave itself. At its narrowest point it barely has 34 kilometers wide and the navigation lanes through which the ships circulate barely exceed three kilometers in each direction. This narrowness makes the place extremely vulnerable to mines, drone attacks or coastal missiles. It is not the first time this has happened, in fact, since how do we countduring the so-called “tanker war” in the eighties, Iran already used mines in these same waters to pressure its adversaries during the conflict with Iraq. History, therefore, suggests that these types of tactics can be surprisingly effective in destabilizing global trade. A planetary blow. The extreme sensitivity of the energy markets to any news coming from Hormuz was fully demonstrated very recently, when a wrong message on social media suggested that the US Navy had successfully escorted a tanker through the strait. The simple rumor caused an immediate collapse of crude oil prices and a shake-up in financial markets before authorities clarified that no such operation had occurred. The episode illustrates the extent to which the world watches every movement in these waters with nervousness. In a global energy system so dependent on a few strategic corridors, the mine threat in the Strait of Hormuz has opened a new dimension of war: one in which fate of the world economy it may depend on a maritime corridor just a few kilometers wide. Image | nara, Picryl, naraNZ … Read more

The United States has found how to protect its most vulnerable ships on the high seas: with escort drones

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The planet’s oceans and seas are anything but a pond of oil, and not precisely because of the climate: the Black Sea with the war between Russia and Ukrainethe Baltic Sea with hybrid warfare and ghost fleets, Strait of Hormuz tensions through which 20% of the world’s oil passes or the Red Sea crisiswith Houthi drones and missiles. And those are just some of the hot spots that cause logistics and merchant vessels to face serious problems in carrying out their functions. The possibility of sending the navy as a companion for those routes where the atmosphere is heated is obviously not an option. So the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has contracted to a company to solve it with an autonomous escort system with drones. Context. If the Strait of Hormuz is a strategic point for international trade, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is not far behind: 12% of world maritime trade passes through it, according to the Middle East Research Center. But since 2023, passing through there is a minefield, which has led to thousands of boats (according to Wikipedia citing Pentagon sources) follow an alternative route that involves going around all of Africa passing through the Cape of Good Hope. That’s 20,000 extra kilometers, ten more days of travel and the consequent expense in fuel. This specific case is not a mere example: it is what has led DARPA to make the decision to count on Raytheon to unclog this bottleneck as soon as possible, as explains the company’s president of Advanced Technology, Colin Whelan. Why is it important. Because 80% of world trade circulates by sea and there are a series of straits that are critical and that, in the event of conflict, act as bottlenecks due to their vulnerability. And the effects are immediate in the form of delays in supplies and prices. The protection of merchant ships to date required a naval escort in a slow, expensive operation and for which there are not enough troops to allocate them to that mission. What Pulling Guard proposes is autonomous protection without requiring extra crew or structural modifications. What is Raytheon? That company is not any: Raytheon is the arms division of the RTX group, the largest aerospace and defense company in the world, with 180,000 workers and $88 billion in turnover in 2025. With more than a century behind it and headquartered in Virginia, it has missiles such as the Patriot or the Tomahawk on its resume. It is one of the Pentagon’s Big Five contractors and is a regular in DARPA contracting. What is Pulling Guard. Pulling Guard is the system developed by Raytheon, a semi-autonomous platform towed by the ship it protects. From this, a drone operates with electro-optical and infrared sensors to detect potential threats and transmit information in real time to remote operators on the ground or on board. The latter are in charge of making decisions without the crew exposing themselves. It has two phases: in the first it is an advanced surveillance system and in the second it integrates weapons. Pulling Guard is neither a passive shield nor a preventive warning system: it is, in short, a light autonomous combat unit attached to a civilian ship. What we still don’t know. Beyond technical unknowns such as the budget, the phase schedule or the type of integrated weapons, this proposal raises two tricky questions: international law and gray areas. Without going any further, from issues such as what rules of engagement apply to the remote operator from the ground authorizing fire, who is legally responsible for the attack or what happens if the system acts in the waters of a third state. Not to mention something more mundane like flag registrations or insurance companies. Or something even more basic: does the ship lose its civilian status by carrying this system? In Xataka | The US Navy already knows how to fool enemy radars: drones that create ghost fleets In Xataka | The US is preparing a new radar for Greenland with one objective: to monitor every movement of Russia and China in the Arctic Cover | Raytheo

Lockheed has created an underwater drone that clings to ships like a lamprey. And when released, it launches torpedoes

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The lamprey is a fish that has survived 360 million years thanks to a simple strategy: sticking to its prey to suck its blood. Lockheed Martin has taken that idea literally to name its new weapon, and the analogy is quite literal. The new thing from Lockheed is called Lamprey Multi-Mission Autonomous Undersea Vehicle (MMAUV). It is an underwater drone just over 7 meters long, capable of traveling attached to an allied ship or submarine with a lamprey-like system. While attached to the host ship, it can recharge its batteries using its built-in hydrogen generator. Stealth or attack The Lamprey MMAUV does practically everything, although it is primarily designed for covert missions. It can remain on the seabed, monitoring the enemy without being detected thanks to its acoustic signature profile. practically invisible when sonar. When the time comes to act, the Lamprey can do almost anything: it deploys decoys to confuse the opponent, it is equipped with anti-submarine torpedoes and, if it rises to the surface, it can also launch aerial drones. What makes the Lamprey especially striking is that it concentrates in a single system capabilities that until now were distributed across different platforms: surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, deception, attack and aerial reconnaissance. It can operate in a swarm coordinating with other unmanned systems. And it can do so autonomously, making decisions without direct human intervention. Autonomous submarines The Lamprey will not be the United States’ first unmanned underwater vehicle. There are antecedents like Boeing Orca submarinewith the difference that it cost eight years and 885 million dollars to develop it, all so that today it is not clear if it will end up becoming a program in the US Navy. The Lamprey has been funded internally, which Lockheed vice president Paul Lemmo said has allowed them to “iterate at lightning speed and deliver to the Navy a truly multi-purpose weapon that detects, disrupts, deceives and attacks on its own.” Furthermore, he presumes that Its cost is significantly lower than that of other manned platforms. But the United States is not the only power exploring unmanned vehicles. China has been developing its own fleet of underwater drones for some time and at the military parade in September 2025 presented the AJX002an unmanned underwater vehicle between 18 and 20 meters capable of operating autonomously, laying mines and networking with other attack systems. In Xataka | The US wants to give up bringing the most valuable samples collected on Mars. Lockheed promises to do it for less than half Image | Lockheed

A third of the planet’s ships depend on a single Norwegian company. And they have chosen Alicante for their global expansion

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In the world of shipping, there is a silent giant whose technology is responsible for ensuring that a third of the world’s fleet is not lost at ocean or collided in port. This is Kongsberg, the Norwegian conglomerate controlled mostly by its State, which has turned the province of Alicante into an indispensable piece of its global chess board. Today, more than 30,000 ships they are capable of plowing the seas thanks to systems that are managed, maintained and repaired from offices located between La Vila Joiosa and the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante. A strategic divorce to conquer the stock market. The news that has shaken the foundations of the industry this year is the segregation of the matrix. According to the company itselfKongsberg Gruppen ASA has decided to split into two independent entities to gain agility: on the one hand, the Defense and “Discovery” division (fishing and research); and on the other, Kongsberg Maritime, the jewel in the crown dedicated to navigation systems, which will begin trading separately on the Oslo Stock Exchange on April 23, 2026. This financial independence is backed by solid figures on Spanish soil. According to the newspaper The Informationthe Spanish subsidiary invoiced a total of 31.7 million euros in 2024, with a profit of more than five million. It is not surprising that Lisa Edvardsen Haugan, future CEO of the new independent company, claim that they are “unitarily positioned for value creation in the global maritime sector.” Why Alicante and not Vigo or Algeciras? The story of how a Nordic power ended up installing its nerve center in the province of Alicante has a component that is as human as it is strategic. In 1995, the company was looking for a headquarters in Spain. Although ports like Vigo or Barcelona seemed logical options, the executive in charge of the expansion opted for the coast of Alicante. The reason was the existence of a historical and consolidated colony of Norwegians in municipalities such as La Vila Joiosa or Altea. However, what began as a small delegation for the fishing sector—under the name Simrad Spain— has mutated into something much more ambitious. After the purchase of the maritime division of Rolls-Royce, the structure became too small. Today, the move of Kongsberg Maritime to the NOBO business center in the capital of Alicante responds to a need to attract talent. Miguel Ángel González, general director in Spain, points out that this change seeks to increase the attractiveness of the firm to retain engineers and software developers, in addition to reducing emissions due to staff travel by 30%. The brain of the autonomous boat. Alicante is not a simple administrative office; It is one of the only three resource hubs that the group has on the planet, along with Poland and Norway itself, capable of serving ships around the world thanks to its strategic position between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. As explained by the company itselfnaval autonomy is not new — they have been developing Dynamic Positioning Systems (DPS) for 40 years that allow a ship to remain stationary at an exact point in the ocean without using anchors — but now the technology has reached a “critical mass.” Yara Birkeland: The world now look in amazement to the world’s first fully electric, autonomous and zero-emission container ship, developed by Kongsberg together with YARA. Reach Remote: This is a series of unmanned surface vessels (USV) that are controlled from a remote center. According to senior designer Erik Leendersthis allows a single captain to control several ships at once from dry land. The “Jewel in the Crown”: The DPS system is what allows that Sasemar (Maritime Rescue) oil platforms or rescue ships operate with extreme safety on the high seas. The horizon. The future of navigation involves electric motors that generate your own energy with the rotation of the propellers. To manage this complex flow of data, the firm Kognifai has launchedan Artificial Intelligence platform that optimizes ship operations. Although the technology is ready, the company’s technical report warns that the biggest current challenge is not engineering, but legislation. As the firm warnswe are in “uncharted territory” and the IMO still needs to define the rules for these ships without humans. What was born in 1995 as a fishing office in La Vila has become in 2026 the command post from which Norway and Alicante dictate the rules of the future of global trade by sea. Image | Kongsberg Xataka | The ships of the oil “ghost fleet” turn off their GPS to avoid being detected. Malaysia is going to hunt them with drones

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