INSIGHT: Strategic and legal status of Bab el-Mandeb
RECENT reports that Iran has requested Houthis forces to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have once again exposed the fragile security architecture governing critical international...
OPINION: Strait of Hormuz blockades, cargo fees and impact upon supply chains
THE US plans to seize the Strait of Hormuz and reimpose a blockade on ships entering and departing Iranian ports. It also plans to impose a 20% fee for all cargo shipped through...
OPINION: Is Australasian shipping ready for the strongest El Niño on record?
El Niño has returned to the Pacific, and while much of the attention has focused on its impact on agriculture and regional economies, its implications for shipping deserve equal...
White elephants: Money wasted on port infrastructure in Timor-Leste
I RECENTLY watched a program on ABC TV about a ‘ghost airport’ in Timor-Leste, which was built in 2017 for the proposed Greater Sunrise gas project (its development is still in...
OPINION: Vessel spoofing - Indonesia’s maritime blind spots and Australian implications
IN ITS Maritime Domain Awareness report launch in Jakarta on 7 July 2026, the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) findings show that Indonesia’s maritime domain is...
US court ruling sharpens focus on detention fee fairness
COULD this significant decision out of the United States strengthen scrutiny of detention charging practices across the shipping industry? A U.S. federal appeals court has upheld...
OPINION: Key lessons for oil supply chains from the Strait of Hormuz shipping closure
FOLLOWING the memorandum signed between the USA and Iran to end the war, the Strait of Hormuz is expected to reopen for commercial vessels with the hope that the global oil supply...
Maersk restores Suez transit
THERE'S another container service is returning to the Suez Canal. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd have announced that their AE15 service, operated under the Gemini Cooperation, will...
Navigating 2026: The middle chooses a side
THE LOADSTAR’S newly published State of AI in Supply Chain survey, run across more than 200 executives worldwide, puts a number on where competitive advantage is heading: 65.8%...
TRADE LAW: DFAT unveils report of the Trade 2040 Taskforce
ON 29 June 2026, DFAT convened an event at Parliament House to announce the release of the report by its 2040 Trade Taskforce entitled Towards 2040: Navigating Australia’s Trading...
OPINION: The month that reminded me why seafarer welfare matters
JUNE has been one of those months that reinforces why our industry can never afford to take seafarer welfare for granted. At first glance, it has been a month of meetings,...
TRADE LAW: US tariffs continue to create uncertainty for Australian trade
ONCE upon a time, there was hope that the world was working towards a rule‑based, multilateral trading system in which customs tariffs on imported goods were being reduced as part...
OPINION: Australia-EU FTA and the EU de minimis threshold removal
CROSS-border e-commerce between Australia and Europe is entering a pivotal moment. As Australian SMEs and e-tailers increasingly look beyond traditional markets, the European...
OPINION: Illegal tobacco is thriving — legitimate importers are picking up the bill
THE ILLEGAL tobacco trade in Australia has become a significant national issue. Reports indicate that billions of illicit cigarettes and tonnes of illegal tobacco enter the...
OPINION: Why cyber resilience is critical for Australia's transport sector
AUSTRALIA'S transportation sector is rapidly modernising, driven by growing consumer expectations, pressure to reduce operating costs, and ongoing labour shortages. What was once...
