UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Delivering the keynote address at the Blue Forum, held on the margins of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2026, Dr Patrick Herminie, President of the Seychelles, last week called for collective global action, urging governments, financiers, and innovators to work together through cooperation, innovation, and sustained investment to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable water and ocean systems.

TANZANIA: The Dar es Salaam Maritime Training Academy (DMTA) has requested accreditation to teach basic maritime courses as part of the country’s impetus to increase basic skills in the maritime transport sector.

SIERRA LEONE: Providing improved seismic data in Sierra Leone’s offshore basins, TGS has successfully completed the Sierra Leone Fusion 3D (Vision) multi-client reprocessing project.

SOUTH AFRICA: The Department of Transport released four separate pieces of draft regulations during the last week of December focusing on fishing vessel construction, fisher welfare and radio installations.

SOUTH AFRICA: The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is investigating an incident that resulted in the successful evacuation of 21 crewmembers from a fishing vessel that caught fire and grounded near Cape Recife Lighthouse off Port Elizabeth yesterday.

The global shipping industry is systematically squandering opportunities to slash fuel costs and emissions, not because solutions don't exist, but because perverse incentives and fractured organisational cultures make inefficiency the rational choice, according to a hard-hitting new report from the Global Maritime Forum.

KENYA: The United Nations Development Capital Fund (UNCDF), through the Global Coral Reef Fund (Gfcr), have signed two new financing agreements to expand coral reef-friendly businesses in Kenya helping to reduce the load of nutrients and pathogens in coastal waters, create local jobs, and boost the circular economy in the country.

SOUTH AFRICA: The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is actively monitoring the situation involving the seafarers aboard the bulk carrier MV Sea Lord, which has been detained in the Port of Ngqura since November 14, 2025, following a Port State Control (PSC) inspection that identified 42 deficiencies, including the non-payment of crew wages.