The Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) meeting at the headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) whittled the proposals for mid-term policy measures capable of driving an energy transition in international shipping down to just three options, with a likely greenhouse gas reduction pathway selected next year. Among confirmed important agreed milestones at MEPC was an agreement to adopt key amendments to MARPOL Annex VI, designating the Canadian Arctic and Norwegian Sea as emission control areas (ECAs) for nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, and particulate matter. A three-day port strike across the US east and Gulf coasts came to an end after dockworkers struck a tentative deal with port operators. The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) announced that the union had reached an agreement with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) on wages, suspending their walkout until January. Norwegian open hatch specialist Gearbulk is now 100% controlled by Japanese interests. Following June’s news that Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) bought a 72% take in Gearbulk Holding, another major Japanese corporate, Marubeni Corpororation, came in this month to take the remaining 28% stake from Kristian Jebsen and his family. The Black Sea descended into a severe danger zone for merchant shipping with Russian military forces piling into the region and targeting Ukraine’s exports. Having gone all year without any merchant ships coming under attack, a string of commercial vessels have been hit by Russian forces in recent weeks. Ukraine appealed to the International Maritime Organization to send an international monitoring mission. The mystery surrounding one of shipmanagement’s great succession sagas came to a close this month with Fleet Management announcing a well-known name to take over the reins from founder, Kishore Rajvanshy. Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, the former president and group CEO of Malaysian flagship MISC, became Fleet’s CEO on October 21. In related shipmanagement news, Wilhelmsen Ship Management announced the retirement of Carl Schou after 19 years of service, including 16 years as CEO. Haakon Lenz, currently serving as COO, will assume the role of CEO on January 1. One of India’s top containerlines, Shreyas Shipping and Logistics, has rebranded to Transworld Shipping Lines to better identity with its parent company, Transworld Group. The UK started what could be the beginning of a greater Europe-wide scrutiny of Russia’s dark fleet. The UK’s Department for Transport is working alongside the Joint Maritime Security Centre (JMSC) and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to challenge shadow fleet vessels with what the government described as “suspected dubious insurance” to provide details of their insurance status as they pass through the English Channel. Failure to provide approved insurance could result in ships being detained. The president of Panama, Jose Raul Molino, issued an executive decree which will see the Panama Ship Registry, the second-largest shipping registry in the world, cancel any vessel on international sanction lists. The move comes after the US singled Panama out for its dealings with the so-called dark fleet. Swiss-based liner giant Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) struck a $768m deal via its subsidiary Shipping Agencies Services (SAS) to acquire a majority stake in Brazilian port and maritime logistics operator Wilson Sons. Synergy and Grace Ocean agreed to pay the US $102m in the f