FacebookTwitterEmailLinkedin The first half of 2026 was shaped by heightened geopolitical tensions, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in late February creating significant disruption across global shipping markets, according to Veson Nautical’s 2026 Mid-Year Market Report. The newbuilding surge seen between 2022 and 2024 has lost momentum, with contracting activity declining sharply across the five leading ordering nations. China, traditionally the dominant player in the sector, recorded its lowest level of activity in the dataset, suggesting owners are adopting a more cautious approach and exercising greater capital discipline. RelatedNews Fire breaks out aboard tanker off Mexico’s Baja California Sur New paper highlights Book & Claim as a pathway to scale green shipping fuels var jnews_module_21378112_0_6a5632df96aa8 = {"header_icon":"","first_title":"Related","second_title":"News","url":"","header_type":"heading_8","header_background":"","header_secondary_background":"","header_text_color":"","header_line_color":"","header_accent_color":"","header_filter_category":"","header_filter_author":"","header_filter_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_post_tag":"","header_filter_cpt_tribe_events_cat":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_category":"","header_filter_cpt_web_story_tag":"","header_filter_text":"All","sticky_post":false,"sticky_post_filter":false,"post_type":"post","content_type":"all","sponsor":false,"number_post":"2","post_offset":0,"unique_content":"unique1","include_post":"","included_only":false,"exclude_post":"21378112","include_category":"","exclude_category":"","include_author":"","include_tag":"471,2969,528,1573,239,1582","exclude_tag":"","exclude_visited_post":false,"post_tag":"","tribe_events_cat":"","web_story_category":"","web_story_tag":"","sort_by":"latest","show_date":"","date_format":"default","date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","pagination_mode":"disable","pagination_nextprev_showtext":"","pagination_number_post":"2","pagination_scroll_limit":0,"ads_type